Artists’ BookMarket 2018
Sat 17 and Sun 2018, 11am–6pm
This year for Artists’ BookMarket The Fruitmarket Gallery and Stills have partnered, allowing more space for a curated approach to the different strands of artists’ book practice and giving greater prominence to artists who work with photography. And it’s not just the stalls that have multiplied, with an enlarged programme of talks, events and workshops across both galleries, make time to visit each venue.
The artists’ book is a form that came into its own in the twentieth century. While early artists’ books were either sketchbooks, or a form of limited edition, illustrated or hand-printed book, it was the work of conceptual artists of the 1960s and ‘70s that gave the book the status of an art object in its own right. At this time, artists’ books served as a means of circumventing the constraints of the commercial art world, offering a space for experimentation and an affordable way for collectors to acquire artworks. Often handmade or self-published, the artists’ book can explore ideas and forms, as well as offering a glimpse into an artist’s wider practice.
Today the field has broadened considerably, and in the UK there are strong networks of artists who work with books for many different reasons. One example is the Centre for Fine Print Research (CFPR) at the University of the West of England (Bristol), which conducts research into artists’ books and print culture in the UK and beyond. In Scotland, there is a healthy contingent of book artists working in Fife, exploring form and printmaking, as well as in the Borders, in the area of letterpress printing. Scotland’s cities and institutions also play host to much activity in the area of artists’ books, across galleries, libraries, studios and art schools.
The Fruitmarket Gallery
Joanna Robson, Book Works, Elaine Fullerton / Skerrypress, Marion Archibald, Stichill Marigold Press, MÄ Harel, Stephen Livingstone, UNIT Collective, Road Books (Judy Kravis), Moschatel Press, Henningham Family Press, Reed Contemporary Books, Rudy Kanhye / Charlotte Wendy Law, Stef Mitchell, Jennifer Pettigrew, bound:unbound, Artists Book Club (ABC), The Caseroom Press, C.A. Hiley / Cécile Simonis, Elizabeth Willow, Seeing Poetry, point and place, Pat Hodson, Kerry Douglas & Frances Douglas, ECA Illustration: Bookmark, Hamillustration, John Taylor / Tricia Willder, Lucy Roscoe – The Book Tree Press, Crisps / O Panda Gordo, Iona Sherwood, Susie Wright / Anupa Gardner, Dot and the Line, Andrea Allan / Sarah Tulloch, Anna Yevtukh, David Faithfull, Rhona Taylor, Battenburg Press, The Gutter Press (Sarah Bissell), Mhairi Braden.
Stills
Less Than 500 Press (Mark Beechill), Weproductions (Helen Douglas), Ian Mitchell, Gordian Projects, Jessie Churchill, Adam Geary/AGLU, Shona Grant, SOFTBOX COLLECTIVE, Ag47 Press, George Logan and Christine Partridge, The Pupil Sphere, The Democratic Camera Club (John Sumpter), Fresh Focus, Volumes (Sara Alonso).
Workshops
We will be running a series of talks and workshops to accompany the Artists' Bookmarket. Please see our events listings for more details.
