 | This image is among many on view in the Arts of the Book Collection's exhibit titled "Poison America: Sharon Gilbert Bookworks." A photocopied image of her hands is visible in this image as in many of her books. |
An exhibition examining the career of Sharon Gilbert (1944-2005), who used the medium of artists' books to address some of the most pressing social issues of her time, is now on display in the Arts of the Book Collection at Yale's Sterling Memorial Library, 120 High St.
Titled "Poison America: Sharon Gilbert Bookworks," the exhibition will be on view through Sept. 27.
Originally a sculptor, Gilbert undertook her first book project, "3-Mile Island Reproductions," in 1979 in the wake of the accident at the nuclear plant. The hand-made pamphlet consisted entirely of Xeroxed images, a medium that made the work both inexpensive and easy to distribute. Her subsequent book projects tackled other controversial issues. The Yale exhibit takes its title from her book "Poison America," which criticized the government and corporations for toxic waste dumping.
In an essay accompanying the exhibition, guest curator Courtney J. Martin writes: "... Gilbert probed the nation's ills, and its eccentricities, in her bookworks. She engaged forms of modernism -- notably, repetition and collage -- with one of the nation's most democratic devices, the photo-copy machine. The presence of her hands in her books, as seen in the environmental exposé 'Poison America' (1988), cast her as a concerned citizen who is exacting her right to confront her nation and inform its population." The full text of the essay can be found at www.library.yale.edu/aob/SharonGilbert/PoisonAmericaExhibitEssay.html.
In addition to a selection of Gilbert's books, the Yale exhibition features books by Dona Ann McAdams, her contemporary colleague in the political art collective "Political Art Documentation & Distribution Archive (PAD/D)," and other "copy-art" artists including Mariona Barkus, Louise Neaderland and John Wood.
Martin will speak about the exhibition at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 20. Currently completing a doctorate on late-20th-century British art at Yale, Martin was previously interim head curator at the Cold Spring Whaling Museum and worked in the media, arts and culture unit of the Ford Foundation in New York. Most recently, she curated the exhibition "C-Series: Artists' Books and Collective Action" at the Nathan Cummings Foundation in New York; the show later traveled to England and Italy.
The Arts of the Book Collection, located on the first floor of Sterling Memorial Library, is open to the public 1-4 p.m. Monday-Friday through Sept. 5, and Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Sept. 6-27. For further information, visit the website at www.library.yale.edu/aob.
T H I S
Exhibit highlights career of artist
who 'probed the nation's ills'
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Gift of $10 million to support work of China Law Center
Studies cast new light on problems, treatment of childhood obesity
Bias against overweight youths can have lasting impact
Weight management program shown to cut diabetes risk
Students' summer projects designed to serve city's needs
Tennis center being transformed into state-of-the-art facility
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE NEWS
Yale scientists part of 'dream team' investigating hypertension
New genome technology can identify patients with . . .
Study: Virus has 'bystander' effect
Phyical conditioning shown to improve older drivers' on-road skills
Conference speakers examined the 'ethical dance' . . .
Paul Genecin reappointed as director of YUHS
Postdoc honored with fellowship for research on drug delivery
Architecture School to begin new year in temporary home with talk, exhibit
Exhibit showcases diverse incarnations of Kipling's books
Manuscripts provide window into pre-20th-century Islamic life, learning
Alumni earn Yale Medals for service to their alma mater
Newly renovated Cross Campus Library to open in the fall
Exhibit highlights career of artist who 'probed the nation's ills'
Pilot Pen tournament to bring top-ranked players to Elm City
Ira Millstein is again named 'Corporate Lawyer of the Year'
MacMillan Center awards book prize to French professor Maurice Samuel
In Memoriam: Peter H. Marris
Memorial service for Helen Simpson Culler
Documentary on the creation of Peabody Museum's Torosaurus . . .
Yale Books in Brief
Campus Notes
Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events|In the News
Bulletin Board|Classified Ads|Search Archives|Deadlines
Bulletin Staff|Public Affairs|News Releases|
E-Mail Us|Yale Home