Lire

Info

A work about the visual properties of the printed word. Taking the simple word of the title, Anselmo varies its size scale on the page until a progression is established. The result finds the viewer ‘reading’ in the same manner he/she sees. The word, its lettering, the ratio of print to page, the relationship of white to black: Anselmo produces a veritable taxonomy of the book. Ref.1

‘Read’ is the title and this is what you’ll do. Written by a founding member of the Italian movement, Arte Povera, ‘Lire’ makes physical the act of reading one word . Ref.2

Giovanni Anselmo (1934 Italy) is an Italian artist and member (?) of the Arte Povera movement.
Anselmo uses granite, wood, metal, anthracite, leaves, flesh and neon, among other things, which he incorporated in highly contrasting proportions. Natural processes and phenomena such as gravity and magnetism often play an important role in the way these materials interact. In the 1970’s, the artist also uses language, in which written, projected, filmed or photographed words bridge the gap between idea and image. Ref.3

Imschoot Uitgevers En 1987, la maison d’édition Imschoot (Gand – Belgique) a lancé une série exceptionnelle de livres d’artistes réalisés par des artistes internationaux (Giovani Anselmo, Sol LeWitt, John Baldessaris, Lawrence Weiner, Hanne Darboven, Robert Barry, Christian Boltanski, Dan Graham, etc.) Réf.4
En plus de l’édition régulière à couverture souple (500-1000 exemplaires), une édition à couverture rigide de luxe a également été publiée dans une édition très limitée, numérotée et signée par les artistes.
La maison d’édition a cessé ses activités en 2006.

Imschoot Uitgevers In 1987 publishing house Imschoot (Ghent- Belgium) started an exceptional series of artists’ books made by international artists (Giovanni Anselmo, Sol LeWitt, John Baldessari, Lawrence Weiner, Hanne Darboven, Robert Barry, Christian Boltanski, Dan Graham, a.o.). Ref.4
In addition to the regular softcover edition (500 to 1000 copies), a deluxe hardcover edition was also issued in a very limited edition, numbered and signed by the artists.
The publishing house ceased its activities in 2006.

References

• Ref.1: Imschoot, uitgevers Catalogue 1993-1994, IM-Series, The IM-series is a collection of artists’ books, published on the occasion of the exhibition series ‘Affinités Sélectives’ at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, organized by Bernard Marcadé. / The artists were given complete freedom to develop their project, not necessarily matching their exhibition. A constant format of 14,8 x 21 cm was adopted. / The IM-series presents a choice of French, Italian, Belgian and American artists.
• Ref.2: Imschoot, uitgevers [2002] Catalogue
• Ref.3: Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis, rkd.nl/nl/explore/artists
• Ref.4: Johan Pas (Een essay door -), Het kunstenaarsboek in België: de voorzet tot een geschiedenis, Kunstenpunt
• Ref.5: The same problem exists at Peter Downsbrough’s Photographs where Imschoot indicates 45 copies. The catalog Peter Downsbrough – The book(s) 1968-2010 indicates an edition of 30 copies which corresponds to the numbering in the book itself.