Press Release – Exhibition
EPILOGUE,2024
Eva Gonggrijp & June Gibbs
How to become a book (Michael Gibbs)
Everything, in the world, exists in order to end up as a book, Stephane Mallarmé
Michael Gibbs was a poet, publicist, artist, performer and critic (+2009). His partner and daughter made, with Michael Gibbs’ ashes mixed with transparent ink, a ‘blanc book’ (edition of 5). The pages were screen-printed as full-face. This action will soon put Gibbs where he felt most at home, among books.
Eva Gonggrip is a multidisciplinary artist and curator.
An exhibition has been curated for the occasion, in which the works engage in a poetic dialogue with space and time.
Carlijn Mens & herman de vries
TRACES OF JOY, 2013
Across a large sheet of paper, Carlijn Mens and herman de vries danced towards each other, their feet blackened with charcoal. With the dead ashes of a once-living tree and with their living bodies, they create an image in which the dynamism and joy of their performance become legible.
Carlijn Mens and herman de vries share a deep fascination for charcoal. Carlijn draws light spots on the bottom of a forest by putting down paper and framing the light with charcoal and making it visible. herman shows burnt wood as the final stage of a tree, making new life possible.
Erik Kessels
A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE EMPTY CHAIR, 2022
A book about absence is wedged under the seat of a white chair. The book is a collection of found images of an empty chair in the midst of a company. The words EMPTY CHAIR are carved into the backrest. The empty chair can refer to the photographer, but also to someone no longer present. As soon as you sit down, the text disappears
Erik Kessels collects photography, which he categorises thematically in his own way and publishes in the form of artist’s books. He makes photo installations in museums worldwide.
Jan Voss
POEM FORTY BLACK HOLES, 2024
A poem, consisting of 40 words, printed on 40 cards, signed and dated.
The cards are attached next to 40 holes Voss found in the wall of the exhibition space.
Holes are thus transformed into readymade. Jan Voss is an artist, publicist and co-founder of
Boekie Woekie, the iconic artist bookstore in Amsterdam.
Jules Coumans
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, 2022
Two white plaster tablets, slightly apart and supported by five green wooden beams, catch and transmit light; a monument. In his works, Coumans recreates sculptural situations that he encounters in public space and documents photographically. He mostly uses the same materials as in the original situation. Under his hands, the objects acquire an autonomous status.
June Gibbs
MOVED OUT OF FOCUS, 2022
Handmade booklet arising from a research project on mourning. The next step was to create a costume, as a prelude to a collection. June studies Fashion Design at the KABK.
Sophie Calle
SOUCI, 2009
The word souci was the last word of the last sentence uttered by her dying mother: Ne vous faites pas de souci (Don’t worry). Calle often appropriates things and texts she has seen or heard. She thus preserves a fleeting but meaningful observation.
BACKGROUND
The book launch EPILOGUE on 17 March last was provided with context by two lectures.
Moritz Küng spoke about his publication Blank. Raw. Illegible… Artists’ Books as Statements
(1960-2022). A follow-up to Gibbs’ publication All or Nothing. An anthology of blank books.
Cees de Boer spoke about the (unfinished) project Le Livre / The Book by French symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898); which was a great inspiration for Michael Gibbs’ art practice.
