Tetsunori Tawaraya, Midnight Explorations, Le Dernier Cri, Marseilles, France, 2023, ed. 150

cover

Measured by any criteria this is a totally wild & incredible silkscreen book, and it should come as no surprise that it sold out soon after its publication. While its not an accordion - what I want to concentrate on is the 4 page double-sided folded cover, which has certain accordion features, but really its more about the role of the fold in an artwork of this kind. Either way I had to feature this wonderful artists' book on this blog.

Tetsunori lives in Japan and in the late 90s he started drawing portraits of people and musicians in San Diego, CA. In 2002 he formed the Tokyo-based noise rock duo 2up. Apparently he's been on a roll ever since. For more information about Tetsunori and for purchasing his incredible prints, stickers and T shirts go to: tetsunori tawaraya

4 double-sided pages, individually 12" x 8" and when opened up 2ft 8"

folded cover and inside of the book

cover opened up and body of the book

the inside of the folded cover

the outside of the folded cover

Nigel Peake, Strip, Nigel Peakes and Nieves, Zurich, 2017

front cover

"Strip was drawn over a two week period in Paris, defined by the size of the room and the table. Made from observations of facades from some places and how they could be if side by side.” [Nigel Peake]

"It’s hard to summarise the work of artist, or as he has suggested it ‘drawer’, Nigel Peake because there is so much of it and it’s varied. Nigel, who grew up in Ballytrustan (County Down) and currently lives between there and Paris, originally studied architecture in Edinburgh for six years and in 2013 lived in Switzerland for a period to teach an architectural studio.  In the past 10 years he’s written and drawn 41 books, both for publishers Laurence King and Phaidon as well as under his own steam, covering cycling, bridges, cities, shapes, patterns, maps and much much more. His distinctive drawings have also appeared on work for Hermès, New York Times, FLOS, Tate, and the Royal Horticulture Society and he’s had exhibitions in New York, San Francisco, Paris, Shanghai and London. He once cycled from Edinburgh to Budapest and it’s probably fair to say that both architecture and cycling are a heavy presence in his extensive body of work." [Publishers statement]

A subtle and delicate work and I like that the title 'strip' resonates with the medium in which it's been realized — an accordion strip.

11 single-sided pages, individually 10" x 7.5" and when fully open 6ft 10.5inches.

back cover

Sharon Pettus, Gentleman, Choose Your Weapons, Autodidact artpress, St. Louis/Tuscon, 1995, ed. 150

                                                                                       photo credit: Printed Matter

cover without ribbons & miniature gun

I'm going to let Pettus' artist statement that accompanies this accordion serve as the introduction to this rather unique hand-stamped & collage work, with the issues & concerns she addresses even more prescient here in the United States, where the mass slaughter of innocent citizens continues unabated.

"A hand-stamped accordion fold book on the subject of gun control, specifically hand-guns and assault weapons. The book is held closed with red and black satin ribbons on which a miniature mixed-metal revolver is tied. The cross on panel fourteen consists of live uncanceled thirty-two cent American postage stamps, each placed upside down denoting the international symbol of distress."

As an addenda to the above here is a link to the USA's: Mass Shootings in 2023 | Gun Violence Archive. It makes horrific reading and it's going on right now. I myself am one of the unwitting members of a community of people all across this country, whose lives have been touched by mass shootings. Mine was quite early in the 'pandemic,' on the campus of the University of Iowa, Iowa City in 1991. [University of Iowa shooting - Wikipedia]

16 single-sided pages, individually 3.5" x 2.75 and when unfolded 3ft 10inches.

back cover