Jim Bertolacini, Jimmyfofingas, Madison, 2023, ed. 1, and Andrily Liashcuk, Tamara Turliun & Chantal Rems, One Day You Will Grow Back Your Thumb, 2022, ed. 500

I never thought I would be posting on this blog two accordions that take as their subject matter missing digits, in the case of Bertolacini its his first forefinger that he lost to cancer, and for Liashchuk its a thumb he lost while crafting wooden birds to sell in support of the Ukrainian war effort.

Bertolacini dealt with his loss by good-humouredly taking 'Jimmyfofingas' as his artistic nomme de geur and he's used this moniker to promote his artistic career as well as a positive way to forge his new identity as a 'four fingered' person.

For Liashcuk, his loss has incurred a humorous search by his friends for a prosthetic replacement for his missing thumb. On the back of each of the perforated cards is a description of the nondescript objects and collage elements used to replace his missing member. 

Humor seems to be the common element to both these artists' accordions and I can well imagine how 'humor' is a necessary aid in getting through this kind of traumatic event. Bravo to both of these brave artists who've turned their 'loss' into a gain, and produced these singular accordion books for all of us to enjoy!

reverse side

back page

6 double-sided pages, individually 5.25" x 4.75, and when unfolded 2ft 4.5"

             ____________________________________________________

back of accordion

14 double-sided pages, individually 4" x 3", when fully open 3ft 6".

Karry Awn, Paradise of the Violet Crown (Visa del Sur), Austin, nd

My mate Scott Macleod just relocated with his partner from their longtime home in Oakland to Austin, Texas, and as can be seen from this accordion he sent me he's settling into his new environs. As the cover asserts this accordion reproduces Awn's mural which tells the story of the city of Austin, with lots more detailed information on the reverse.

10 double-sided pages, individually 5" x 3.75", and when unfolded 3ft 1.5".

reverse side with info about mural's subjects

back cover

Anette Aurell, Untitled (exhibit announcement), Colette Gallery & Paul Ritter Design, New York, 1997

With a sharp layout by Paul Ritter Design, this accordion strip of perforated postcards constitutes the announcement card for an exhibition of Aurell's photographic works between May 12 - 31, 1997.

6 double-sided pages, individually 5.75" x 4.25" and when fully opened 2ft 1.5".

  

Reverse side

Rachel Whiteread, Luhring Augustine Tribeca, New York, March 10 - April 22, 2023

A really clean and elegant accordion exhibition catalogue featuring some recent work by Brit artist Rachel Whiteread - famous for her sculpture titled "House", 1993. A short text by Mohammed Sami is included in this catalogue.

5 double-sided pages, individual pages 8.75" x 5.5" and when fully open 2ft 3.5".

reverse

back cover

Nico Lootsma, 8 candy wrappers found in amsterdam, 2022, ed. 10

                                        

Lootsma is an Amsterdam based conceptual artist who is rumoured to have a Shoebox gallery. 

6 single sided pages, individual pages 3.5" x 3.5" and when fully open 21 inches.

Karl Young, sub super cross and inter linear to...., nd

A rather simple looking letter-sized piece of paper folded four times that belies the complex construction of this language/text work and the different ways it can be read. With texts on each page that require the reader to read it both vertically as well as rotating it to the right and the left in order to read the texts printed along these two axis.  Additionally, the perforations on the back and the reproductions of postage stamps on the front make explicit the works connection to communication and networking.

Karl Young (1947-2017) was an important poet, printer, publisher, writer, co-founder of Woodland Pattern in Milwaukee, editor of Kaldron (1976-1990) an early journal of visual poetry and language art, amongst many other accomplishments in the field of visual poetry and beyond.

5 pages, double-sided, individual 8"x2.25" and when fully opened 11.25".

reverse side with texts to be read in the mirror

LL'Editions: The Leporello Series: #6: Maurizio Nannucci, #8: Jonathan Monk, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2022

The Leporello Series is a really smart series of artists' accordions published by the Swedish LL'Editions. Inhabiting a space between the book and paper sculpture, the leporellos are printed on delicate Mohawk Eggshell paper. Each volume in the series is limited to 250 numbered copies and come in a bespoke rigid box, with the title hot foiled both onto its front and its spine, allowing it to sit comfortably in a bookshelf when not on display. [from publisher's statement]

For The Leporello Series, LL'Editions has been inviting a select group of international artists to contribute. Each artist is given carte blanche, restricted only by the accordion format and its ten panels. Previous issues featured the following artists: #1: Heimo Zobering, #2: Micah Lexier, #3: Fiona Banner, #4: Ryan Gander, 2021. Here's a link to 4 other LL'Editions in this blog: LL'Editions: The Leporello Series, #1: Heimo Zobering, #2: Micah Lexier, #3: Fiona Banner, #4: Ryan Gander, 2021- , Gothenburg, Sweden

                     Leporello #6, Maurizio Nannucci, 2022

This is a curious work by this Italian contemporary artist known for his photography, video, neon & sound installations, artists' books and more broadly his conceptual and concrete poetry language practice. This text work with its doubling effect and its circularity left me feeling unsatisfied, coupled with the sense that Nannucci had missed an opportunity to create something much more engaging with the accordion's wonderful format.

10 single-sided pages, individual pages 5.5" x 4", when opened 3' 4"

upside down view

back of the box

              Leporello #8, Jonathan Monk, 2022

Brit appropriationist and concept artist gives us his sly interpretation of the iconic artists' accordion book — Edward Ruscha's Every Building on the Sunset Strip (1966). The original featured images taken from a car of both sides of this historical 'strip' printed at the top and bottom of the accordion with a large white space between them indicating the space of the road coupled with the street numbers of each building.  Monk in this leporello gives us only one side of the street accompanied with the street numbers for both and then he reveals that he shot this work from the original accordion "...with an iPhone 12 in pano mode." This piece makes me smile. 

Check out Monk's other works on this site — People Looking at Art (2021) is a good one to start with: accordion publications: Jonathan Monk, People Looking at Art, Fifth Syllable, UK, 2021, ed. 50

10 single-sided pages, individual pages 5.5" x 4", when opened 3' 4"

back of the box