An International Exhibition of Movable Artist Books
September 22 - October 30, 2010
Pop-up books captivate and excite the child in all of us. They come to life as three-dimensional works of art hidden inside the pages of a book. Pop-Up Now! will feature handmade artist books that pop-up, move, slide, twirl, whirl, light up, or even sound off. This juried exhibition of handmade movable artist books will be held at 23 Sandy Gallery in conjunction with the biennial conference of the Movable Book Society held in Portland, September 23-25, 2010.
According to Wikipedia, “The term pop-up book is often applied to any three-dimensional or movable book, although properly the umbrella term movable book covers pop-ups, transformations, tunnel books, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs, and more, each of which performs in a different manner.”
Pop-Up Now Featured on Two TV Shows
Exciting news! Pop-Up Now was featured on two very special television shows. Here are the links so you can watch these amazing books come alive.
AM Northwest is our local ABC affiliate morning show. Special thanks to KATU video journalist Bob Bullock who discovered us while strolling the neighborhood. Catch the clip here.
Oregon Art Beat is an award-winning PBS TV program that created an Art Beat Extra just for us. They loved the pop-up book show so much that they created a special way to fit us into their regular weekly program. You can view the clip here. We'd like to thank producer Katrina Sarson and her merry crew for creating such a fun segment.
Congratulations to Our Prize Winners
Best of Show, Unique (One-of-a-Kind) Book - Kevin Steele for The Movable Book of Letterforms
Best of Show, Editioned Book - Mary Jeanne Linford for Tool Box
Juror's Choice Award - Sue Collard for her Small Museum of Nature and Industry
Juror's Choice Award - Kitty Maryatt and Her Scripps College Press Students for Arch
Juror's Choice Award - Linda Johnson for Blessing Bowl
Gallery Choice Award - Elsi Vassdal Ellis for There Goes the Neighborhood
Kevin and Mary Jeanne both will receive a copy of The Movable Book Society's 10th Anniversary Special Limited Edition boxed set. (Thank you Larry Seidman and Ann Montenaro for donating these treasured prizes.) All award winners will receive a one-year membership to The Movable Book Society. Elsi also wins a solo show in the gallery sometime in 2011.
A Word from The Movable Book Society
 The Movable Book Society is proud to be a co-sponsor of Pop-Up Now! Since 1993 the Society has been a forum for collectors, artists, curators, booksellers, book producers, and others to share enthusiasm and exchange information about pop-up and movable books. The nearly 400 worldwide members have an interest in all types of movable paper: commercial pop-up books, artist books, business and greeting cards, advertising, and more. Movable Stationery, the member’s quarterly newsletter, includes feature stories about historical texts, paper engineers and book artists, articles about individual new and old movable books, and lists of forthcoming titles. Additionally, the Society has held biennial conferences since 1996 and has been a part of significant exhibits in many of the conference locations. In 2000 the Society produced Brooklyn Pops Up with the Brooklyn Public Library, and in 2004 issued A Celebration of Pop-up and Movable Books, a limited edition work commemorating 700 years of movable book history. More information about the Society can be found at www.movablebooksociety.org.
Juror’s Statements
Ellen G. K. Rubin discovered pop-up and movable books and paper over 20 years ago and has been avidly collecting them ever since. Today, she has more than 6,600 books and thousands of un-cataloged movable ephemera. She tell us this of her experience, “being a juror for Pop-up Now! is my first experience at judging artist books. Not an artist myself, I have always been in awe of the creative process. My own collection is made up of those book objects that use movable paper elements to enhance their ideas or story, incorporating them not for their own sake. The books submitted for Pop Up Now! used pop-ups and movable paper to great advantage. They were a feast for the eyes! It has been a great pleasure and honor to be part of this process. I know visitors will be excited by the wide diversity of movables and topics.” Ellen's web site is www.popuplady.com.
Larry Seidman, M.D. is an avid collector and seller of antique movable books, ephemera, puzzles, and pre-cinema optical toys.
He has an interest in the preservation of these fragile books and works with a restorer to carefully heal these broken books and bring them back into circulation. He has been a member of the Movable Books Society since its inception, and has been a board member for the past four years. He has collected artists books for over 20 years with a main emphasis on miniature and movable titles. Larry tells us, “it was a pleasure and great fun to judge the level of artistry and paper engineering of the participants. They fell into two main categories, both of which were labors of love: those handmade, one of a kind, artist books and those printed in limited editions often by letterpress, hand bound and hand colored. Some were suitable for commercial publications. It was very helpful to see videos of the books in action. The bar has been raised over the 25 years that I have collected artists books, becoming paper structures, expanding the definition of “book”—pop ups are not for children anymore!” Larry's website is www.larryseidmanart.com.
Jill Timm is a full time, award-winning book artist focusing on small editions of handcrafted books, often using interesting
structures and non-typical materials to convey the essence of the place or subject. Jill tells us, “There were a lot of terrific
books, there were even a few really great pop-ups that were not books. I looked for books that had really great movables,
but equally important, I looked for the book content to be well done and to be completely integrated with the movables and work seamlessly together. Last I looked at craftsmanship.” Her web site is www.mysticalplaces.com.
New to this Show: Video Links!
Watch for this symbol to see a video of the book in action.
Catalog Image Credits: Paul Johnson (left), Kevin Steele (center), Elizabeth Sanford (right) |
