Barbara Bloom 1951 USA
Ghost Writer – Und Wenn Sie Nicht Gestorben Sind (1988)
Ghost Writer’ is Bloom’s way of illuminating the central themes of her work without discussing the work directly. It includes an essay on ways of reading between the lines – a short story by Susan A Davis that is full of red herrings – Joseph Alsop on art forgery – Brian Wallis on photographic evidence – correspondence between Jane Weinstock and Bloom about love letters to and from Flaubert. Double-sided artist’s book. The centre insert is a four page work in braille over photos and sheet music. 120pp, 23.2 x 17.5. English and 120pp German, 1 colour and 76 b&w reproductions. Edition of 1,200 unsigned and unnumbered. Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD, Berlin.
Grahame, Noreen (ed.) 1991, Artists’ Books – The Catalogue, grahame galleries + editions, Brisbane.
The Reign of Narcissism (1990)
The Reign of Narcissism’ guides us through what appears to be a 19th century museum room where everything we see is covered with traces of the artist’s likeness. Self-portraits take the form of vanity mirrors, chocolates, designs from her tombstone, commemorative stamps, even period chairs upholstered with a pattern of Bloom’s dental X-rays. The texts delve us into the disparate worlds of Hegel and Virginia Woolf, Ovid and Oscar Wilde. ”The book is a collection of texts, images, and photographic reproductions of the many objects through which she posed her investigation of the terms (particularly the gendered terms) of artistry and identity in Western art. Using her own profile image as a basic icon and pattern she had all manner of things fabricated – from chocolates to textiles, cameos and wallpaper, statuettes and decorative medaillions – in order to make an environment in which the artist’s image was everywhere. Presented as a handbook to the collection, the book functions as a mini-gallery and compendium. The fact that the work reflects upon the nature of the collection and catalogue gives it an extra self-reflexive dimension. Bloom makes one aware of a catalogue’s conventions through the book’s obsessive character, and as a consequence, it is fully self-sufficient”. Drucker, The Century of Artists’ Books. Published to accompany exhibition, 244pp, 20.5×14.2cm, 9 colour and 191 b&w reproductions, envelope containing sheet with personalised watermark. English/German. Württembergisher Kunstverein, Stuttgart.
Drucker, Johanna 1995, The Century of Artists’ Books, Granary Books, NY.
Grahame, Noreen (ed.) 1991, Artists’ Books – The Catalogue, grahame galleries + editions, Brisbane.
Esprit de L’Escalier (1988)
Book published to accompany exhibition of same title. “esprit (sprightlines, wit) – de l’escalier esprit de l’escalier: – witty remark which is thought of too late; good retort conceived after the event. Literally translated: spirit of the stairs, the inevitable staircase one is descending when the realisation comes of exactly what should have been said.” 23 x 15.5cm, 36pp, with gold leaf insert. Hallwalls,Buffalo, NY.
Grahame, Noreen (ed.) 1991, Artists’ Books – The Catalogue, grahame galleries + editions, Brisbane.