Since 1967, when British printer and publisher Ron King formed the Circle Press "to draw together a circle of like-minded people" to make books, he has worked with over 100 artists, writers and poets.
The Yale Center for British Art now holds a complete set of the works of Circle Press and is celebrating that event with the exhibition "Cooking the Books: Ron King and Circle Press," which will open on June 15. The exhibition is also being offered in conjunction with the Arts & Ideas New Haven international festival (see page 5).
King and his wife, the sculptor Willow Legge, donated their archive of material related to Circle Press to the Yale Center for British Art in memory of their son, Daniel, who died of cancer at the age of 15 in 1972. The collection will be known as The Daniel King Circle Press Archive.
In addition to giving the public "an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the creative process," the exhibit also commemorates the gift of the archive by King and Legge, according to Elisabeth Fairman, curator of rare books and archives.
"In a remarkably generous gesture, Ron and his wife ... have donated archival material that relates to the projects created by or for the Press," she says. "The extraordinary collection includes drawings, plans, experiments, prototypes, texts, correspondence, posters, blocks, plates, cutting and creasing forms, and some wood and metal type -- and much of it will be in the exhibition."
Visitors to the exhibit will be able to trace King's idea for a production from his first doodle in a spiral-bound notebook through its various permutations and to its eventual emergence as a work of art. "We see how he 'cooks the books,' carefully working out the details of every publication before production begins," explains Fairman.
King has described his artistic process by saying, "My ,mind is like a cauldron. There's a great stew of things going round and round. In the end I serve up a dish."
The printer has worked with such artists and writers as John Christie, Ian Tyson, Julia Farrer, Birgit Skiöld, Roy Fisher, Kenneth White and John Berger. The materials he donated includes works by these and other artists and makes the Yale Center for British Art's holdings the most comprehensive collection of Circle Press in the world.
"[O]ur most ardent support has always come from the United States, without which we never would have been able to survive as an independent self-supporting 'workshop,'" says King, adding that having his collection "under a British roof in a very fine building on American soil couldn't be more appropriate or gratifying."
King says the archive serves as a memorial to his son, whom he described as "an extremely bright, intelligent young man with a highly developed social conscience, a good draughtsman and a keen stamp collector." He adds that since the family has "no headstone or plaque for him, an archive in his name, made available mainly to young people, seems a fitting alternative and one of which he would approve."
A fully illustrated catalog, available for sale at the center's museum shop, serves as a comprehensive record of the work of Circle Press since its founding. It includes commentary on the individual works by King as well as a cover and special inserts he designed.
Several special events are being offered in conjunction with the exhibit. King will open the exhibition on Friday, June 14, with a lecture titled "Hole, Horse and Hellbox: A Journey Through 35 Years of Circle Press" at
5:30 p.m. The following day, he will host a children's workshop, "An ABC of Pop-Ups," in which he will help children create their own pop-up letters out of paper. This event will take place 10 a.m.-noon at the center.
King will also lead an adult workshop, "Drawing in Wire and Card," on Monday, June 17, 10 a.m.-noon. Participants in this event will create their own puppets. On June 18, King will discuss the exhibit in an Art in Context tour at 12:30 p.m.
Other offerings include a performance of "Anansi, Spiderman of Africa" by the Crabtree Puppet Theater on Sunday, June 16, and a concert of Afro-Latin, Caribbean, Brazilian, flamenco and original music by the Latin ensemble Sol y Canto (Sun and Song) on Tuesday, June 18. See the Calendar section of this newspaper for details on these and other events.
"Cooking the Books: Ron King and Circle Press" will run through Sept. 8.
The Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. It is closed Mondays and major holidays. For a recorded listing of weekly museum events, call (203) 432-2800 or visit the center's website at www.yale.edu/ycba.
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