Beauty and Pleasure

John’s apples

Walter Hamady. John’s apples: thirteen paintings. By John Wilde; twelve poems by Reeve Lindbergh. [Mount Horeb, WI]: Perishable Press Limited, 1995.

Ruth Lingen. Comundone: being a complete and reliable descriptive collection of the perilous explorations and also important discoveries made in the wildest territories upon the face of the earth, encountering savage men, ferocious beast, poisonous reptiles, etc, etc. Et al. Covering period of twelve months 1988-1989. By Henrik Drescher. New York, NY: Poote Press, 1989.

Marta Gomez. Cheops. Madison, WI: Tiramisu Press, 1992-93.

Jeffrey W. Morin. Dear Mr. Clifford: excerpts from a letter upon the occasion of the 1948 Philadelphia Exhibition from Henri Matisse. [Madison, WI]: Sailor Boy Press, 1986.

Mark Wagner. Smoke in my dreams. Delafield, WI: Bird Brain Press, c1998.

All of these book artists use their skills to perform delights for the eye and mind of the reader. In each instance book elements have been used in surprising and inventive ways. There is something deeply satisfying about these books where the craft of their making appears effortless.

The pulp painted and shaped pages Ruth Lingen produced for Comeundone are an unexpected and energetic presentation of Henrik Drescher’s doodle-like line work.

Jeff Morin’s sophisticated pop-up illustrations in Dear Mr. Clifford are a balancing act of the artist’s abilities as he manipulates materials such as paper and wire.

In Smoke in my dreams Mark Wagner deconstructs a pack of Camel cigarettes and collages it into a series of visionary sequences.

In her visual book Cheops Marta Gomez creates intricate paper-sculpted page spreads that for all their incisive delicacy have a totemic, monumental quality. Walter Hamady perforates the cover of the bookJohn’s apples, taking a visual bite out of the fruit revealed within. His use of bare book board, and exposed spine sewing are a commentary (as is much of the book’s interior) on the process of book production.