Antoine d'Agata, New York 1989-93, Andre Freres Editions, Marseille, France, 2016

A very powerful accordion from this well-known French photographer comprised of mostly black and white images, with five color works added to the mix. The book opens with a photo of his beloved grandfather with a bunch of his mates, and then on the second page is half a portrait of his mother's face joined by the page's fold with another half portrait of his father overleaf, all of which creates a third person, namely d'Agata himself. From there the book descends into some dark spaces with images of drug taking accompanied by a deep sense of despair and loneliness.

In a booklet that comes with this accordion d'Agata writes about his family, and his mother and father's deep connections to Sicily. His teenage years were troubled and marked by a variety of different jobs along with copious drug taking. D'Agata sums up this period, "I listened to the Sex Pistols and threw cocktails Molotov in supermarkets and enjoyed fights the cops, the rich kids, the people demonstrating in the streets, the shopkeepers... everybody I guess."

This accordion is the first in a planned series of twelve, with one commentator noting that d'Agata has specifically chosen the accordion format because he "...rejected the idea of having them in a classic format forgotten on a shelf. Instead, an accordion-folded format allows for the book to be displayed on a table or a wall."

24 single-sided pages, individually 7" x 5.25", and when fully open 10ft 6".

back cover with numbering indicating this is the first in a series of twelve

Norman Behrendt, Greetings from Turkey, Hartmann Books, Stuttgart, 2017, ed. 800

This is a quietly political book from this Berlin-based photographer and this accordion consists of 17 detachable postcards each featuring a photograph of a recently built Turkish mosque located in the suburbs of Ankara and Istanbul, with additional information on the back about where they are located and when they were completed. This book is a small sampler of works from Behrendt's future book "Brave New Turkey." This project was started in 2014 with this accordion edition published in two colors: green with the EU visa facilitation, and the red with only the biometric symbol indicating it's a biometric passport. 

On his website Behrendt includes an article by Suzy Hansen from the New York Times Magazine (June 18th, 2017) titled "Reading Erdoğan's Ambitions in Turkey's New Mosques," illustrated also by Behrendt's photographs. Hansen expertly explores the deeper implications of Erdoğan's mosque building boom stating: "Returning Turkey to the glories and origins of its Ottoman past and ending Atatürk’s secular constitution has been one of the primary goals of Recep Erdoğan throughout his long rule of Turkey since 2003, first as prime minister and now as president with growing executive powers. Thanks to the country’s economic boom, between 2010 to 2017, which was driven by cheap capital following the global financial crisis, the AKP, Erdogan`s party, has improved healthcare, urban infrastructure and prosperity, but on the other hand has made control of religious affairs a priority." Reading Erdogan’s Ambitions in Turkey’s New Mosques - The New York Times

For more information about this fascinating project see Behrendt's website at: Norman Behrendt

17 double-sided pages, individual pages 4.25" x 5.25" and when fully open 7' 1/4". 

                                                            

On the book's back cover there is a rather pointed quote from Turkey's Constitutional Preamble that flies in the face of what Erdoğan is doing on the ground.
 

Magali Attiogbé, Magreb (2021), Africa (2017) & Latin America (2019), Editions Amaterra, Lyon, France

Three very cool books for young audiences with all of them illustrated by Attiogbé's exquisite works. The combination of the size of the books, the heavier board book pages coupled with the beautiful artwork, and the smart choices of objects to illustrate from each cultures' histories, all wrapped up within a lean design, lifts these books into a unique and rarified aesthetic space all their own.

Attiogbé was born in Togo to a Togolese father and a French mother. At the age of three she moved to France and would later develop an interest in drawing at school that would eventually lead her to obtaining a DMA in illustration in 2002. Magali writes that "alongside my job as an illustrator, I practice sewing and singing, sometimes even both at the same time." For more of her works follow this link: Magali Attiogbé - IllustratorMagali Attiogbé | Illustrator

15 double-sided pages, each page 6.25" x 4.75", and when fully opened 5' 11.25"

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Schomer Lichtner, Ballet Celebration Drawings, Milwaukee, 1991

This is a joyous and fun filled accordion by the well-known Milwaukee artist and teacher who died in 2006 at the age of 101. Lichtner and his artist wife Ruth Grotenrath (1912-1988) were the city's power art couple for many decades with both of them having studied under Gustave Moeller at the Milwaukee State Teachers College and in the mid-1930s both were employed by the WPA (Works Progress Administration). In the Sheboygan post office at 522 N. 9th Street in Wisconsin, there's still a 1939 mural by LIchtner titled "Indian Life."

Lichtner's two consuming subjects were cows and ballerinas, and this accordion is dedicated to ballerinas, with two images of cows slipped in at the end. Lichtner was the official artist, and artist in residence of the Milwaukee Ballet. After his death the ballet created The Schomer Lichtner Scholarship "...in honor of longtime friend of the Milwaukee Ballet and local artist, Schomer Lichtner."

A big thank you to Annemarie Sawkins for passing on to me this cool accordion!

14 single-sided pages, individually 5.5" x 4.25" and when fully open 4' 11.5"

The inside flaps of the front cover

Back cover

Andrew Alexander, The Man Maker [codex], Cram Books, Brooklyn, 2022

Above is Alexander's accordion with a 'bellyband' cover that displays the title of this Risograph book. This is a kind of slapdash work done very loosely in the style of a faux Mayan codex with a narrative that is all about becoming an artist and the associated desire for recognition, as well as the accompanying agonies & uncertainties involved in believing in yourself as an artist. Alexander says this book is based on a Jorges Luis Borges short story "The Circular Ruins," available at this link: Microsoft Word - Borges, The Circular Ruins.docx

Alexander has "...been a working printmaker for over a decade working with David Sandlin, Gary Panter and dozens of other artists to make books, prints, and clothings." He graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 2016, and then attended their MFA Illustration and Visual Essay program.

16 single-sided pages, individually 10.25" x 7.25", and when fully opened 9' 8".

Cover page of the book

the final page

Course of the Moselle from Trier to Koblenz with side descriptions (Strip Map), Karl Rud. Bremer & Co., Koln, Germany, nd

It's only very recently that I came across a whole new genre of accordion publications called "strip maps." This rather unique form of cartographic representation has been around for quite a long time, as early as 2000 B.C. The panoramic feature of the accordion format is clearly well-suited to mapping things like the Great Wall of China or the Berlin wall, but strip maps are more traditionally associated with travel. This example illustrates one popular type, the strip map of a river. 

If you are interested in going deeper into the fascinating world of strips maps, this great article by Alan M. MacEachren titled A Linear View of the World: Strip Maps as a Unique Form of Cartographic Representation (1986), is the place to start: download

12 single-sided pages, individually 6.25" x 3.75" and when fully opened 3' 9".

The accordion strip map open at the first page