LIBRARY OF ARTISTS' BOOKS FROM HUNGARY

 

	Library of artists' book from Hungarz
	Hungarian Artists' Books in Frankfurt
	Fine art project for the presentation of Hungarian artists' books
	The history of Hungarian artists' books

 

 

 

Curator of the exhibition: Ilona Kiss, artist

Works of the following artists will be displayed in the exhibition:

Ilona ÁRVA, Rozi BÉKÉS, András BUTAK, Tibor BUDAHELYI, István DAMÓ, Ágnes HAÁSZ, István HARASZTI, László HEGEDŰS 2, Ilona KISS, Péter Balázs KOVÁCS, Bandy LÁSZLÓ, András LENGYEL, István MOLNÁR, Rezső MÓDER, Tibor PATAKI, Mandula PÉLI, Valéria SÓVÁRADI, Krisztián STROE, Margit SZILVITZKY, Wanda SZYKSZNIAN

The book will be represented by the following persons present at the exhibition:

Ilona Kiss, curator and designer of the exhibition

Valéria Sóváradi, András Butak, fellow artists

According to the plans, several books of the following artists will be found in the cabinets:

András BUTAK, István DAMÓ, László HEGEDŰS 2, Ilona KISS, Bandy LÁSZLÓ, Tibor PATAKI, Mandula PÉLI, Valéria SÓVÁRADI

According to the plans, a few books of some of the artists above will be in the "Lesesaal", namely those of:

Ilona ÁRVA, Rozi BÉKÉS, Tibor BUDAHELYI, Ágnes HAÁSZ, István HARASZTI, Balázs KOVÁCS Péter, András LENGYEL, István MOLNÁR, Rezső MÓDER, Gizella SOLTI, Krisztián STROE, Margit SZILVITZKY, Wanda SZYKSZNIAN

 

 

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HUNGARIAN ARTISTS' BOOKS IN FRANKFURT

 

One of the true delicacies of the Frankfurt Book Fair is the review of artists' books. Individual artists (Brig Laugier-Paris, Marty Brito-Chile, Katharina Pieper-HomburgJägersburg, Kova-Hamburg, Sine Semljé-Engen, Barbara Fahrner-Frankfurt/London), groups of artists (Unica T-Frankfurt), workshops (ZYPresse-Köln), booksellers (Druck und Buch-Tübingen), publishers (Bartkowiaks Forum Book Art-Hamburg, Boza Editor-Barcelona, Pré Nian-Nantes) and art collections (Neues Museum Weserburg Bremen) will arrive from numerous countries around the world who are definitely specialised in this topic.

Since Hungary will be the guest at this event the Hungarian artists' books will be displayed in this wonderful and international environment in October 1999. Our bookworks are not unknown in the world since Hungary had organised international artists' book exhibitions several times, had introduced itself in Paris, Bucharest and Prague, too. The venue at the Frankfurt Book Fair will be a great opportunity to represent the living, contemporary artists' books. The artists - individually possessing distinct world concept - are grouped into a loose unity by the "Bibliothek" exhibition project. Its cabinet system is capable to introduce some outstanding artists who had themselves proved - by a great number of artists' books or bookworks - their devotion towards the genre and their high-ranking professional standards in several individual exhibitions. (András Butak, László Hegedűs 2, Ilona Kiss, Bandy László, Valéria Sóváradi...)

The main material of the exhibition is created by definitive members of the Hungarian Artists Association of Books as Art Objects such as Ilona Árva, Rozi Békés, István Damó, Péter Balázs Kovács, Tibor Pataki. Mandula Péli young artist with a diploma, will also have the opportunity to introduce herself. This is a great opportunity for her to try herself in a rich and high-ranking array of European artists creating artists' books.

The material will be enriched by those artists represented by a few books, who achieved recognition in other fields of art with their sculptures or paintings, but who also have significant manifestations concerning artists' books. (István Haraszty, Margit Szilvitzky, Wanda Szyksznian, András Lengyel, István Molnár Iscsu, Gizella Solti, Tibor Budahelyi, Rezső Móder...)

The presentation is waited for with great expectation, a successful appearance may attract collectors and galleries, and above all, later it may be the precursor for a museum exhibition - for what there is a great chance indeed.

Ilona Kiss
artist
curator of the artists' book exhibition

 

 

FINE ART PROJECT FOR THE PRESENTATION OF HUNGARIAN ARTISTS' BOOKS

 

Once in the lifetime of every "book artist" there is a moment (after having completed 50-100 book works) when he starts thinking in terms of a "library".

Series of ars poetic library projects constitute a nice tradition. Apart from its poetic and art-historic relation, the idea of an "Artists' Book - Bibliothek" together with its practical and useful structure is an ideal basis for an artists' book exhibition. Taken all these aspects into consideration I recommend to the visitor of the Frankfurt Book Fair the project entitled:

"BIBLIOTHEK"

It is with its cabinet structure, capable to introduce numerous books of a couple of artists with a considerable life-work. The separate cabinets are vaguely linked with a central "Lesesaal", where artists who had not yet created long series may have the opportunity to introduce themselves with a few works at this significant event. On the other hand, the "Lesesall" excellently fulfils the important function of the presentation of the books and gives the possibility for the pages to be turned which is an essential feature in the category of atrists' books.

The presenting table and its surroundings appear as pieces of art, too. When designing the cabinet system, I considered the specific artists who possess a characteristic collection within the "Library" since their works so far suggest categories such as: "Poesie" (Poetry), "Geschichte" (History), "Natur" (Nature), "Technik" (Technics), Philosophie" (Philosophy), "Kunst" (Art), "Phantasie" (Fantasy) and "Psychologie" (Psychology). Seen from the passage, the "Table", the open reading-room is in the centre, we may look into all the cabinets surrounding it, therefore it provides a uniform visual character with the cabinets showing only a minimal difference in their tints.

The wall on the two sides of the entrance of the exhibition turn towards the interior in order to form a "gate", to provide for a place to post a sign or to display a few emphasised pieces, and also to stress the separation from the material of the neighbouring stands and exhibitions.

With its rich possibilities to highlight details, the "Bibliothek" program also refers to the humane relations of artists' books which should be preserved and which harmonises with the wonderful Hungarian libraries and art traditions, since in a recent view and in an abstract sense, a collection containing old books and codices is an "Artists' Book - Bibliothek" itself.

 

 

THE HISTORY OF HUNGARIAN ARTISTS' BOOKS

 

I.

The aims of the Association are to unify the best traditions of the universal book culture and fine arts, to elaborate the history of Hungarian artists' books, to develop it further in an artistic manner and to inherit this intellectual treasure to future generations.

II.

The Hungarian Artists Association of Books as Art Objects was founded on 24th September, 1993 in Budapest. Deriving from the framework of book works, the major goal of the Association is the unification of the best traditions of the universal book culture and fine arts, the special formulation of our world through individual artist's works and its preservation for future generations.

The significant tradition of the Hungarian book culture and rich fine arts empower us to carry out these goals, and at he same time they oblige us to develop further this noble value in an artistic manner.

We respect the activities of our predecessors in this genre; we research and protect the documents of previous editions. Our intention is to represent - worthily to its importance - the artists' book which, for years, only existed by its connections to other genres (mail-art, concept-art, object, book-design). We consider it important to keep connections with foreign artists of a genre, which is also in its renaissance abroad.

We think it is our responsibility to treat the Hungarian history of book works, to describe, expertly, old and new works, to classify them artistically and to represent the intellectual treasure collected in this manner by publications and exhibitions.

It was a common intention of the founders to form the Association as well as to operate it in the future.