Letterpress: Books & Broadsides
March 5 – 28, 2021
First Friday opening, March 5, 6:00 – 8:00pm
This exhibition presents the power of letters impressed into paper to print text for posters, prints, bookworks, and broadsides. These works are drawn from the Constellation Studios collection and includes poetry, images, and timely assertions, as beautifully crafted objects, or ephemera from events or announcements. These are captivating for the graphic nature and physical dimension of the printing, hand-produced by a variety of artists and designers.
For 500 years, from Gutenberg to the 1960’s, movable type of metal and wood held sway, yet printing technologies evolved to offset lithography and digital processes, which are more commercially prevalent now. This left space for the renaissance of letterpress today, as artists and designers use the “reclaimed” metal and wood type and vintage presses for quality and hands-on directness. Now this historic printing technology moves into the 21st Century as artists strive to maintain and preserve the cultural legacy of fine press printing while advancing it as a living art form, becoming self-publishers that embody the power of the press, literally.
The exhibition is curated by Kyle Nobles, assistant at Constellation Studios.