An exhibition of artists’ books and multiples
Curated by David Faithfull
Text by Neil Cameron
(download text.pdf here)

Highly acclaimed and ground breaking exhibition of Artists Books Prints and Multiples at Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh, Scotland.


Introduction


INKUBATOR, a critically acclaimed exhibition held at Edinburgh Printmakers from 17 March to 05 May 2007, highlighted some 200 artists’ books and multiples created by a variety of contemporary international artists. Curated by the Edinburgh-based artist David Faithfull, it aimed to broaden exposure and accessibility. Most of the works were presented on open display and available to be handled by visitors, thereby allowing a refreshingly direct, hands-on experience.

The approach was to classify the works according to three distinct but inter-related themes – The Study, The Log Cabin and The Landscape. These were signified by creating an installation using elements such as specially designed wallpapers created at Edinburgh Printmakers by David Faithfull and Nicola Murray, along with handmade floor-coverings, chairs and other faux-domestic paraphernalia. This allowed the gallery space to be structured thematically and provided a backdrop of rich but subversive visual interest, and allowed the books on display to be perused as though the gallery had been transformed into a personal rather than institutional space. The Study was decorated with a wallpaper designed by Nicola Murray which transformed genetically manipulated allotment vegetables into a William Morris-style pattern, while David Faithfull connoted The Log Cabin with a wallpaper of repeated oak-branches to evoke a sense of an entangled, mystical forest. This theme was also evoked in the catalogue, designed by David Faithfull and Neil Cameron, the text of which was set in Gutenberg type and enlivened with imagery derived from the first Penguin edition of Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

Highlighting work by artists including Frans Baake, Pavel Buchler, Otto Dettmer, Helen Douglas, Zoe Irvine, Wiebke Loeper, Colin Sackett and Miranda Schofield, the exhibition was described by one reviewer as “the best means of looking at this most underrated and misunderstood art-forms I have ever seen.” (Iain Gale, Scotland on Sunday, 22.4.07)