Sophie Guerrive, Batailles (Battles), ION Edition, France, 2017

pouch cover

This is a really wild 18 foot panoramic accordion that serves as a frieze for mankind's lust for war, killing, exterminating each other, and the nonstop BATTLES through which war is waged. And men is the operative word here, as there are almost no women depicted in this bloodthirsty narrative that takes us from ancient times up to the modern period. But despite this horrific history, Guerrive manages to inject a strong dose of humor, and indeed charm into the way she's drawn the people and events in this horrific history. Personally, I loved the little scenario in the bottom corner of one page in which a naked couple wake up and recoil at the terrific battle taking place outside their boudoir in the valley below, and you see them trying to work out what to do next!

Guerrive was born in  Marseille in 1983 and studied at the University of Aix en Provence and then at the School of Arts Decoratifs in Strasbourg. A lover of comics from an early age she has published a number of other books that feature her illustrations and stories: ION EDITION » Médiévales

The accordion comes in a pochette (pouch) which is also depicted here.

22 pages, single-sided, individual pages 10" (t) x 10" (w), and when fully open 18' 4".

back of pouch cover

Kris Ruhs, Untitled Theatre, Richard Green Gallery, New York, 1986, ed. 300

An accordion catalogue with hand-painted elements that echoes and mimics the form of an accordion that Ruhs published in connection with his installation at the Richard Green Gallery. 

After turning the gallery into a theatre for his Performing Characters, Ruhs describes the scene, "...there was a little stage where the audience could act out their own plays with members of the cast like the Accordion Player, the Saxophonist, the Performing Dog, the Tumbling Characters, the Magician and more. These wooden toys were joined at shoulders, waist and knees so that they could perform their intended act when manipulated." [krisruhs.com]

8 pages one-sided, individual pages 10" (t) x 7" (w), when fully open 4' 8".

back cover

Takashi Nemoto, Honeymoon, 2020, ed. 150 and Pakito Bolino, Bolturi, 2011, ed. 200

Two very  sharp silkscreen books by the incomparable Le Dernier Cri based in Marseille. Aside from publishing a number of accordion books (some in this blog) I've found that quite often they're incorporating fold-out pages into their other books, and the two publications featured here personify this technique. And, while I'm not claiming these are accordion books, there is a surprisingly accordion-like effect that happens when you fold out the pages of these books. Just saying!

                                 ________________________

                           Takashi Nemoto, Honeymoon, 2010

    19 pages, double-sided, individual pages 11.75"(t) x 8.75"(w)

front cover

back cover

                                      _________________________

    Pakito Bolino, Bolturi, 2011

21 pages, double-sided, individual pages 8"(t) x 8"(w)

front cover

back cover

Andrea Zhang, A Mere Gesture, 2020

I received this powerful little accordion in the mail recently and below are the contents of the note that accompanied it.

My name is Andrea Zhang and I am an undergraduate senior from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I heard about your accordion publications from my professor, Robert Clarke-Davis. Taken from his advice, I have made an accordion book for you. 

This book is from a project I have been working on called A Mere Gesture. In traditional Chinese medicine, hair is made from the surplus of blood and essence. Therefore, touching and joining hair suggest intimacy and union. I use hair as a symbol to describe the limits and possibilities of human connection across space and time. I've been collecting hair from people around me and scanning them on a flatbed scanner to make photographs.

14 pages, single-sided, individual pages 5" (h) x 2.5" (w), and when fully open 2' 11".

The College Book Art Association (CBAA), Exploring The Artists' Accordion Book: Part 2, December, 2020

FOLD: Artists' Accordion Books,
Villa Terrace Museum, Milwaukee, WI,
March 1 - June 3,  2018

I was recently asked to contribute a text on artists' accordion books to the CBAA's Book Art Theory blog. This is Part 2 and Part 1 is immediately after this post, both posted Dec., 2020.

Here's the link: College Book Art Association - EXPLORING THE ARTIST'S ACCORDION BOOK: PART 2 

The College Book Art Association (CBAA), Exploring The Artists' Accordion Book: Part 1, December, 2020

FOLD: Artists' Accordion Books,
Villa Terrace Museum, Milwaukee, WI,
March 1 - June 3,  2018

I was recently asked to contribute a text on artists' accordion books to the CBAA's Book Art Theory blog. Part 1 is here, and the second Part 2 is coming later this month (Dec.,  2020), enjoy!

Here's the link to their site: College Book Art Association - EXPLORING THE ARTIST'S ACCORDION BOOK: PART 1 // Stephen Perkins

Alexandra Exter, Panorama de la Côte, Flammarion, France, 1938/this edition date na

This accordion was one in a set of three that were designed by Alexandra Exter (1882-1949), a Russian born artist who emigrated to France in 1924 and established her own atelier in Paris. 

A prominent figure in the early Russian avant-garde she had also lived in Paris in the early years of the century where she met many of the avant-garde artists of the time, including the Cubists and Futurists and she took their ideas back to Russia when she returned home. A successful painter during this period she took part in numerous exhibitions across Russia, France and Italy.

Some years later she began working in the theatre creating costumes and stage design and her innovative ideas enlivened the stage scenery of the period.  She would later move into fashion design as well. Alexandra held assorted teaching positions throughout her career,  including Moscow's Higher Artistic-Technical Workshop (VKHUTEMAS) and in Paris after she emigrated she was a professor at Academie d'Art Contemporain, a free art school established by Fernand Leger and Amédée Ozenfant in 1924.

Alexandra was working as a book illustrator for the Flammarion publishing company and I'm assuming this is how she came to pitch the idea for these three panoramic accordions. Commentators on her work speak about discovering elements of her painting style in these illustrations, and that the sense of scale and geography was influenced by her stage designs and their use of space. Either way the illustrative style she used for this work complements the issues involved in displaying a large expanse of seascape and landscape, and with the images and texts on the back giving more detailed information about this coastal geography.

10 pages, double sided, individual pages 9.75" (h) x 9.75" (w), and when fully open 8ft 1.5".

the back of the accordion

back cover

the original set of three panoramas (photo credit: na)

Lothar Meggendorfer, Vor dem Thore (Outside the Gate), Verlag J.F.Schreiber, Germany, 1893/ca 1980

A fun children's accordion by this bestselling children's book author from the turn of the century.  Depicted as one long street scene with all sorts of small and large events taking place, as the reader wanders flâneur-like through this sea of bustling activity. Each page is also accompanied by a short poem at the bottom.

Meggendorfer (1847-1925) was particularly well known for his children's pop-up books in which different parts of the page's illustrations move in unexpected ways, all of which displayed his research and experimentation, and the key role rivets & levers played in creating the movable parts. 

6 pages, single sided, individual page 8.5" (h) x 11.5 (w), and when fully open 7ft. 8".

back cover