Books in Minnesota: Special Exhibitions

"What happens to a book when it outlives its purpose on the shelf? If it falls into the right hands, it is transformed into an art object that may or may not resemble its original form as a book. An altered book is any book, old or new, that has been recycled by creative means into a work of art. Works created by national and international artists, college students, community members and Minneapolis youth will be exhibited at galleries throughout Minneapolis from January through March 2008."

Minneapolis Central Library
Cargill Gallery, 2nd floor
300 Nicollet Mall
January 12 - March 30, 2008

For related exhibitions see Arts at MPL.

Posted by Michael Hancher at 09:10 AM | Permalink

"The Exquisite Book features selections from Helmut Löhr’s ongoing project, The International Library. For this project, Löhr created a series of altered books with their torn pages on the outside and their covers on the inside, and sent them to a number of artist-collaborators around the globe who were charged with further transforming them and returning them to Löhr. The Exquisite Book features collaborations with such internationally renowned artists as Lawrence Weiner, Buzz Spector, and Doug Beube. Also featured are several Twin Cities-based artists including James Conaway, Harriet Bart, and Nancy Randall.

"The Exquisite Book considers these objects in the contexts of both book art and collaborative art practices. The production of handmade and altered books became an important part of an alternative art world in the 1960s. Mail art, characterized by the transferring of works by post, and collaborative art were closely related experimental practices. The International Library is an example of the intersection of these creative and social impulses.

"The Exquisite Book is presented in conjunction with area altered-book workshops, exhibitions, and programs in spring 2008, including an altered-book exhibition at the Central branch of the Minneapolis Public Library, and the Public Library Association’s annual conference, to be held this year in Minneapolis."

Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum
333 East River Road, Minneapolis
December 8, 2007 - March 30, 2008

Posted by Michael Hancher at 08:36 AM | Permalink

"A public exhibit of rare, original documents related to early travel, including the James Ford Bell Library’s original 1507 Waldseemüller gores globe, the first map to include the word 'America.' 2007 is the 500th birthday of the Waldseemüller globe, created by German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller and printed from an engraved woodblock to depict newly-discovered lands in the western Atlantic. The map’s details were drawn from sailors’ charts and other documents, including the popular account of explorer Amerigo Vespucci. It was purchased in 1954 by Minnesota industrialist James Ford Bell and is now part of the collection of the University of Minnesota’s James Ford Bell Library. The exhibit also includes an original version of the Cosmographiae Introductio (the 1507 book printed to explain and accompany the Waldseemuller map), original 16th-century manuals and texts on navigation, and other period documents."

T. R. Anderson Gallery, James Ford Bell Library
4th floor, Wilson Library, University of Minnesota

October 1 - December 31, 2007
(Monday-Wednesday, Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m.)

Posted by Michael Hancher at 12:39 PM | Permalink

"The illustrations, maps, and graphs published in government documents identify significant features of the nation’s geographical, political, biological, cultural, and human landscapes. This exhibition highlights the breadth of resources published in government documents over the past 140 years, from finely detailed illustrations of copper-bearing rocks, to documentary photographs of bird wings, to graphs describing crime statistics."

Gould Library, Carleton College
One North College Street, Northfield, MN

September 21 - December 15, 2007
4th Floor

Posted by Michael Hancher at 12:11 PM | Permalink

Curated by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., this exhibition "showcases the work of African American artists using the book format and related book arts to communicate humanistic responsibility, social justice, cultural consciousness and spirituality."

Minnesota Center for Book Arts at Open Book, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis
July 21 - September 22, 2007
Free and open to the public

Posted by Michael Hancher at 12:52 PM | Permalink

A selection of books and broadsides by a leading wood engraver and fine printer.

T. R. Anderson Gallery, 4th Floor, Wilson Library, University of Minnesota
July 5 – August 31, 2007
Free and open to the public

For details see University of Minnesota Libraries Events.
See also Midnight Paper Sales, Gaylord Schanilec's web site.

Posted by Michael Hancher at 12:34 PM | Permalink

"This special exhibit commemorates the 300th anniversary year of renowned Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). Among other important innovations, Linnaeus devised the naming system that is used to classify and name plants and animals. Linnaeus, unlike many scientists, became legendary in his own lifetime. The exhibit includes a number of Linnaeus’ original works plus reproductions of the plants, animals, birds, and shells that he named."

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Through November 4, 2007; open during Arboretum hours
Free (with paid Arboretum admission) and open to the public

For details see University of Minnesota Libraries Events.

Posted by Michael Hancher at 12:26 PM | Permalink

Materials from the Sherlock Holmes Collection at the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Exhibit gallery, Elmer L. Andersen Library
Through August 20, 2007; open during library hours
Free and open to the public

For details see University of Minnesota Libraries Events.

Posted by Michael Hancher at 12:19 PM | Permalink