Exhibition of student art inspired by rare books

Students from Raluca Iancu’s ArtIS 355x / 555x: Letterpress Book Arts class visited Special Collections and University Archives in February to learn about the history and materiality and to explore a variety of historical, fine press, and artists’ books to inspire their own accordion book projects. You can see the fruits of their labor on display in Parks Library through the end of the spring semester.  

Dimensions of Dialogue is a student art exhibition that features pairs of accordion books in dialogue with one another through their binding, form, scale, materials, or use of imagery. They are responding to an element of a particular rare book from Special Collections that inspired their work. These artists’ book “conversations” can be seen in the glass exhibit case in the lobby of Parks Library to the East of the Main Desk, near the window wall.

A closing reception for the exhibition is planned from 2:15-4:15 p.m., May 7, in Room 198, Parks Library. Students will give individual presentations about their accordion books and the semester-long research projects into the work of a book artist. The reception is free and open to the public.