Lea Heinrich, Peacock Island, Berlin, 2007

A curious comic book accordion by this German freelance comics artist and illustrator, who works between Berlin and New York.

4 pages, double-sided, 8.25"(h) by 6"(w), when open 2ft.

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Picasso Gaglione, Untitled, Stamp Art Gallery, 2015.

A smart and humorous little kinetic accordion book by Picasso Gaglione. A creator of boxed artists' multiples, designer of artists' rubber stamps and publisher of artists' stamp periodicals, Gaglione long ago staked out his territory in the multiples and stamp fields, along with his post-dada, post-fluxus sense of humor and way of doing things!

6 pages, 5"(h) by 3"(w), when opened 11.25".  

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Jean Michel Folon and Milton Glaser, The Conversation, Harmony Books: New York, 1983.

Here's a book that bubbles with the playfulness resulting from this collaboration between these two accomplished artists and friends. Folon (1934-2005) was a noted Belgium artist and illustrator, and Glaser (1929-2020) was a towering figure in the world of American design. 

On Glaser's website he writes about this genesis of this book, "Glaser and the French artist Jean Michel Folon were great friends over a long period of time. They decided to celebrate that friendship by creating a book where one would start a drawing and the other would finish it. It's an accordian fold that celebrates an affectionate relationship."

35 pages, single-sided, individual pages 9.25"(h) by 6.25"(w), when opened 19ft 3.25".

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Juan Sebastian Agudelo with Susan Viguers, On Collecting, Shandy Press, 2004, ed. 75.

A beautifully designed book that is a meditation on stamp collecting, and collecting more generally, with the stamps on one side and a poetic meditation by Agudelo on his collection, on the reverse.  The rather poignant ending to his story is that the value of his collection has more to do with his grandmother's encouragement to collect, and his emotional investment in these objects, than real world values. Either way, this book provides a wonderful visual feast of images to wander through.

16 pages double-sided, individual pages 8"(h) by 5.75"(w), when opened 8ft 7.5".  

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Timothy Hyman, A Book of Emblems, London, 2009, ed. 300

An interesting accordion dedicated to the memory of the Indian artist Bhupen Khakhar (1932-2003), by this English artist and art historian. The book features 38 images by Hyman created over a five-year period, and the whole book has a really homey sketchbook feel. A friend and admirer of Khakha, the artists' work often addressed openly gay themes, and Hymen's works in this book reflects something of the artists' sexy and erotic works.

Khakhar was a self-taught artist who started painting later in life, and would go on to achieve an international reputation with works that addressed gender identity issues accompanied with references to Indian mythology and mythological themes.

It was interesting for me to discover that Khakhar also created at least 2 accordion books, please see below.

32 pages double-sided, 5.5"(h) by 3.5"(w), and when opened 9ft 7.5".

         

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The following accordions were created by Khakhar. 

'Visit to Sri Lanka," 2003, Sarjan Art Foundation

'Untitled,' c. 1990, photo: Pablo Bartholomew

Amit Ambalal, Man ki..., Archer Art Gallery, Ahmedabad, India, 2013, ed. 500.

A really beautiful accordion that's printed on quality archival paper, and uses the panoramic qualities of the accordion format to its fullest advantage in reproducing these sketches by Ambalal of langoor monkeys.  One side features works in color and on the reverse the works are in pencil only. There's a wonderful sense of freedom in both the watercolor works and the drawings, and all of this coupled with a lively sense of movement as the monkeys careen across the pages of this unique accordion book.

Ambalal's title plays on the human-like features of the monkeys with a hint of their similarity to 'man,' and in Hindi the title pertains to that of the mind.

13 pages double-sided, individual 4.5"(h) by 5.75"(w), when opened 7ft 2.25".

Amit Ambalal, Out of mind, out of sight, Archer Art Gallery, Ahmedadad, India, 2018, ed. 100.

Described as a 'story-board,' with the finished paintings on the front and the working drawings on the reverse. The endnote states that Ambalal "...while painting monkeys he becomes one with them." A delightful series of works on pages comprised of stiff boards.

4 pages double-sided, 7.5"(h) by 10"(w), when opened 3ft 4".