CONTINUUM | Pressing Matters: vol. 1

University of Nebraska at Omaha | UNO Art Gallery
A Book Arts Exhibition | September 1 - October 27, 2023

Creating and engaging with handmade books and other printed media is an opportunity to slow down and connect to the present via more traditional technologies. In a contemporary world, this operates as a response to our increasingly digital age, where we are inundated with a never-ending desire for immediacy. Presenting a variety of art forms that fall under the vast umbrella of Book Arts, this experience surveyed the rich collaborative history of the UNO Book Arts program and introduced its future through an evocative compilation of works by several students, faculty, and local book arts professionals.

Pressing Matters | Vol. 1 offered a peek into the vast world of Book Arts while offering QR codes for further research. Visitors were presented with a variety of art forms that fall under the umbrella of “book arts” including artists’ books, altered books, fine press books, sculptural book forms, zines, letterpress, broadsides, and interactive installation. This experience also surveyed the rich collaborative history of the UNO Book Arts program.

Featured artists included Denise Brady, Laura Capp, Harry Duncan, AB Gorham, Chelsea Herman, Karen Kunc, Kyle Nobles, Bonnie O’Connell, and Neil Shaver.

Curated by Patricia Davis, Curator and Manager of UNO Gallery & Collections in collaboration with guest curators Kyle Nobles and Parker Herout.

Pressing Matters | Vol. 1 also launched a new exhibition series titled CONTINUUM. This series will utilize the gallery to bridge community and classroom while highlighting the creative problem-solving, collaboration, and innovation that lies at the heart of the School of the Arts at UNO.

Download a copy of the exhibition guidebook here.

BEHIND

THE SCENES

This exhibition marked a pivotal moment in my gallery career—my first opportunity to transform the exhibition itself into a work of art. I wanted the experience to be immersive and inviting, pushing the boundaries of what people expect from a traditional white-box gallery. Above all, I aimed to create a sense of play.

I invite you to enjoy these behind-the-scenes moments, which capture both the joy and the frustrations we faced as we brought this vision to life in three and a half months! This wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible collaboration of my co-curators, Kyle Nobles and Parker Herout, as well as the dedicated (student) gallery staff and volunteers who embraced my sometimes obsessive ideas for the show: UNO alumni Kim Marx, Andrew Lindgren, Tess Houser, Clarissa Wetizel, and Kiara Hernandez, and UNO Professor of Art, Howard Paine.

PROGRAMMING

Programming for this exhibition was designed to immerse visitors in the world of book arts, offering opportunities for education, play, community engagement, and thought-provoking discussions.

Assistant Professor of Book Arts and Papermaking, AB Gorham hosted a Halloween-themed card making workshop, allowing folks to drop by and print their own card!
We hosted local artist, printmaker, book artist, (Willa Cather Professor of Art + Professor Emerita - NBD (!!)) retired print faculty of University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
and Owner/Director of Constellation Studios, the world-renowned Karen Kunc. She gave an informal talk and showed a fantastic sampling of her amazing books and some other works on paper!
I interviewed Chelsea Herman, visual artist and educator specializing in the art of the book. She is also proprietor of Flight Path Press, a private press in Council Bluffs, Iowa specializing in limited edition artists’ books with a focus on how language shapes human relationships to land and how image, text, and hybrid mark-making can be used to chart self- transformation in the midst of unprecedented environmental change.
Dave Richards, dean of library services at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, also brought his History of the Book students by for an informal talk and in-depth look at the exhibition.