CBBAG The Art of the Book '98

A juried exhibition of members' work
celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the
Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Hart Massey (1918-1997) for his support of and contribution to the craft community in Canada and his support of the Guild's Art of the Book exhibitions.

L'exposition en français

THE CANADIAN BOOKBINDERS AND BOOK ARTISTS GUILD is pleased to present The Art of the Book '98, its third juried exhibition of members' work, marking the Guild's fifteenth anniversary. The increasing number and quality of the entries attest to the continued resiliency of the book as a repository for ideas and as a flexible form for artistic expression. The categories for the exhibition include fine binding, calligraphy, fine printing, paper making, paper decorating, box making and artists books. These distinct yet related fields composed the hand book arts.

In this electronic age with its emphases on newness and rapidity, it is refreshing that people still will make a strong commitment to the creation of beautiful and functional objects. That they are willing to take the time and learn the skills in order to make these original items is reassuring in this age of virtual reality and instant book production by click and copy. Our society is the richer for their dedication.

The Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild is made up of many members of the book arts community such as bookbinders, printers, marblers, calligraphers, papermakers, conservators, archivists, librarians, and bibliophiles. Formed to promote hand bookbinding and its related fields in Canada, the Guild's objectives, are to strengthen communication among those working in the hand book arts, to raise levels of education and excellence, and to increase awareness of the book arts among the public. The Art of the Book and other Guild exhibitions and our publications are major factors in binding our national membership together.

The Guild, other art organizations, and ultimately the people of Ontario benefit from the support provided by the Ontario Arts Council for exhibitions, publications, and public programmes. The Guild would like to acknowledge the support of the Ontario Arts Council for this exhibition. Their assistance is greatly appreciated.

The City of Toronto, through the Toronto Arts Council, has supported many activities of the Guild, including this exhibition. As well, many of the other exhibiting locations for this exhibit receive support from municipal, provincial, and federal funding agencies, allowing the Guild to travel its exhibitions across the country. We are most grateful for this support.

The Massey Foundation has generously supported the Art of the Book exhibitions, since the first in 1988. We are honoured to dedicate this exhibition to the memory of Hart Massey in recognition of his support of all the crafts in Canada.

An exhibition of this calibre could not occur without the diligence and hard work of the Exhibitions Committee composed of Shelagh Smith and Susan Corrigan, and the jurors, Carol Barton, Robert Jekyll and Michael Wilcox. The Guild would like to thank them all for their thorough and excellent efforts on behalf of this exhibition. Now come with us and enjoy the Art of the Book '98!

Ann Douglas
President of CBBAG
from the Foreword to the catalogue

Exhibition Schedule

June 11 - July 25, 1998
The Canada Trust Gallery, Toronto Reference Library
978 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario

September 5 - October 11, 1998
La Galerie d'art Stewart Hall Art Gallery
176 Lakeshore Road, Pointe-Claire, Québec

November 5 - December 6, 1998
Centre Culturel Franco-Manitoban
340 Provencher Blvd, Winnipeg, Manitoba

February 11 - March 13, 1999
The Triangle Gallery of Visual Art
800 MacLeod Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta

April 6 - May 22, 1999
Harriet Irving Library
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton

June 18, - July 25, 1999
Saskatchewan Craft Gallery
813 Broadway Ave, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

August 7 - September 11, 1999
Alberta Craft Council
10106 - 124 Street, Edmonton, Alberta

September 27 - November 19, 1999
Killam Memorial Library
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Introduction to the Online Exhibition

There are 74 pieces in the exhibition including one from each of the Jurors. The 14 prize-winning entries are shown in colour (as they are in the printed catalogue), and the remainder are in black & white (or greyscale). Because of the enormous demands to be made on your browser (and your patience), the webmaster has divided the exhibition into several smaller groups: the entire exhibition can be viwed on one page as a series of thumbnail images linked to larger versions of the entries. The captions accompanying the thumbnails indicate title, artist, category and, in the case of the prize-winners, the award won. If you prefer you may view one page showing the prize-winning entries, and individual pages for each of the categories (Prize-winning entries, Fine Binding and Artists' Books are lengthy so be prepared). Each of these pages, in addition to the information given on the thumbnails page, also includes a description, dimensions, and date for each piece accompanied by a large-scale image.

There is also a page each for the Curators' Statement and an essay by Susan Warner Keene.

At the bottom of every page is a group of links to help you navigate throughout the exhibition.