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Phoenix Art Museum To Exhibit Self-Published Photobooks
16 November 2016
Phoenix Art Museum will present the second triennial INFOCUS Juried Exhibition of Self-Published Photobooks in partnership with INFOCUS, a support group that raises funds to benefit photography exhibitions and educational programming at the Museum. The exhibition, opening Dec. 2 and on view through April 9, 2017, features over 100 self-published photobooks of artists from the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Chile, Japan, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Spain.
Photobooks also explores the ways some artists, curators and museums are interacting with new technologies in photography. Visitors are invited to handle the art as the photobooks will be displayed in a gallery space modeled after a neighborhood bookstore where you can settle in and take your time paging through the selected books.
"The self-publishing tools that photographers have at their disposal allow them to move beyond pure images," said Christian Waguespack, who coordinated the exhibition. "As judges in this exhibition, this is what we want -- we like to look for photo books that are interactive, that have been treated as art objects in themselves."
Copies of many of the books on view are available for purchase through the artists, their galleries, or distributors. The exhibition Web site will include links to purchased selected books.
For more information see the news release below.
Phoenix Art Museum, INFOCUS Present Juried Exhibition of Photography Books
December Exhibition explores the art and science of self-published photobooks from artists around the world
PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Phoenix Art Museum will present the second triennial INFOCUS Juried Exhibition of Self-Published Photobooks, in partnership with INFOCUS, a support group that raises funds to benefit photography exhibitions and educational programming at the Museum. The exhibition, opening Dec. 2 and on view through April 9, 2017, reveals a fascinating mix of technological and creative innovation in contemporary photographic practice. Featuring over one hundred number of self-published photobooks of artists from the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Chile, Japan, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Spain, Photobooks explores the ways some artists, curators and museums are choosing to interact with new technologies in photography. With a commitment to producing a deeply personal, engaging art experience, visitors are invited to handle the art of this exhibition; the photobooks will be displayed in a gallery space modeled after the comfortable, familiarity of a neighborhood bookstore, to encourage visitors to settle in and take their time paging through the selected books.
"We are looking forward to presenting photobooks by some of the most up and coming names in photography today," said Gilbert Vicario, the Museum's Selig Family Chief Curator. "Our aim is to create a welcoming space in the galleries that encourages visitors to explore these books to learn more about contemporary photography and the thoughtfulness that goes into creating these unique works."
In an increasingly digitized world, few artistic media have been affected quite like photography. The art form began in the 19th century as a cumbersome chemical process, available to a privileged few. Today, thanks to a multitude of new technologies, photographs can be taken, published, shared, liked and consumed instantaneously, by anyone, anywhere.
Curated by members of INFOCUS in concert with Becky Senf, PhD, the Norton Family Curator of Photography, the selected books had to be entirely self-published and submitted by the artists themselves. Books of all subjects have been considered for submission, including retrospectives, project-based books, souvenir albums, fictional narratives, exhibition catalogues, poetic, biographical or children's books, as well as collaborative or collective books in addition to those by a single author.
More than typical books, the exhibition has previously featured truly unique, innovative approaches to publishing, including a book printed on a deck of cards, evidence of how artists utilize new technologies in the service of creating a more intimate art experience than one might have with larger-scale art. It is this goal of meaningful engagement that sets these books apart in a generation of selfies.
"There is more than enough accessibility in the photography world, so that's not our focus," explains Christian Waguespack, who coordinated the exhibition and is a photography graduate student at the University of Arizona. "What's exciting is being able to create a personal connection with an art object. The photography medium has a long history with books and lends itself well to a book format."
In addition to preserving art, the books themselves receive the same dedication and commitment to detail and creative imagining. "The self-publishing tools that photographers have at their disposal allow them to move beyond pure images," Waguespack adds. "As judges in this exhibition, this is what we want -- we like to look for photo books that are interactive, that have been treated as art objects in themselves."
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to spend time with any or all of the selected books, with ample, comfortable space in the Museum's Norton Gallery to sit and leisurely peruse through the wide assortment. "We were inspired by the idea of the used bookstore," Waguespack says, "that place where you can go and spend an afternoon and truly get lost in a book." Copies of many of the books on view are available for purchase through the artists, their galleries or distributors. The exhibition Web site will include links to where each book can be purchased as soon as they are selected.