Last minute entry. An exhibition for your diary

After so many weeks struggling with snow and ice and the general process of keeping life going in the wilds of the Wye Valley, our thoughts now turn to events where our books can be seen and handled. As we have often said, books really need to make physical contact and their pages need to be turned before their full impact can be felt .

There will be a number of major opportunities during this year when we shall be showing Old Stile Press books. Each occasion attracts very different people and this we find stimulating. It is good to see the books in the midst of painting, printmaking and fine art generally; also as a modern expression of the world of fine books throughout history;and not least when we are with other people working at present in a manner similar to ours.

The first is almost upon us. We were offered a table at the Watercolour/Works on Paper Fair somewhat at the last minute. We have shown at this fair before but they moved to the Science Museum where it seemed there was no suitable space for Artists’ Books or Private Presses. However, this year they have altered the layout so that we can be included (appropriately, next to a Columbian Press) - apparently we were missed!

SO, if you are in London or can make the trip, it is usually a very good and lively show. Details are below and an invitation which allows free entry can be sent to you on request







Later in the year we expect to be Downstairs at the Olympia Exhibition Centre for the London International Antiquarian Book Fair from Thursday 9 - Saturday 11 June.

Back Room Heroine

All too seldom does Frances (without whom . . . ) get a mention for all the quiet and endless labours she has performed so that the OSP could operate through all these decades.

Packing of parcels is a good example. I would myself admit to tearing open the packing on parcels sent to me with scant regard for whoever did the packing let alone an empathetic understanding of the labour involved.

Just at the moment we have the (happy) task of sending almost all of the Special Copies of the recently published The Old Stile Press . . . the next ten years to their destinations and Frances has been labouring long hours at the parcel-face! The little pile in the photo below looks all very neat and efficient but I hate to think how many hours it took to create.

Some of our Artists having Exhibitions during 2011

It is always exciting to see more of the work produced by artists with whom we have created books and 2011 seems to promise several.



Opening on 11 January at Pallant House, Chichester, Garrick Palmer is having a retrospective. The gallery is well-known to those who share our love of neo-romantic painting, having a considerable permanent collection of modern British works. These are housed in a new, award-winning building for which Garrick created a photographic archive of each stage of its construction. This exhibition, however, celebrates his lifetime of wood engraving and books. Included among his many engraved books on show will be LAND and The Ballad of Reading Gaol – the books he has produced with us.

Garrick Palmer: A Life in Wood Engraving 11th January 2011 – 13th March 2011 The De'Longhi Print Room (Free Entry)

A retrospective exhibition of prints and book illustrations from across Palmer’s career, demonstrating the artist’s mastery of wood engraving and distinctive view of the English landscape.

Pallant House, http://www.pallant.org.uk
www.garrickpalmer.co.uk




January 4 - 30 2011
Harry Brockway is among the group of Six Contemporary British Wood Engravers showing at the Washington Printmakers’ Gallery at Pyramid Atlantic in Silver Springs.

http://washingtonprintmakers.com/exhibitions/2011
www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org







Opening on 22 January between 12 and 2 at MOMA Wales, Susan Adams is showing works with the title There are receivers in the Woods. The exhibition runs 24 January - 19 March 2011.
Quoting from the catalogue for the show – ‘Now more than ever the air could be said to hold intelligence that could be life-transforming. While masts call out from the hilltops, satellite dishes reach to the sky like boney believers hungry for a crumb of celestial knowledge.’
Susan’s book with us - Duke Bluebeard’s Castle - has magnificent and disturbing images combining traditional woodcuts printed over computer generated images derived from photographs. These complement the text which is the powerful and many-layered libretto of Bartok’s opera.

MOMA Wales www.momawales.org.uk
www.susan-j-adams.co.uk







Looking a little further, into May, there will be a retrospective of Clive Hicks-Jenkins work to celebrate his 60th birthday. This opens at the National Library of Wales (the Gregynog Gallery) on 7 May and runs to the 20th August. This also coincides with the expected publication, by Lund Humphries (http://www.ashgate.com), of a book of essays on his work. Clive’s Artlog has many fascinating details of paintings from his archive which he has been describing and photographing and give an enticing lead-in to what promises to be a magnificent event that will include readings of poetry inspired by his pictures and some which have inspired him to paint. There will be full evidence (in a small gallery leading into the main space) of his collaborations with us in The Affectionate Shepheard, The Mare’s Tale, Richard Barnfield’s Sonnets and, most recently, Sir Peter Shaffer’s Equus.
His covers for the two volumes of our Bibliography are wonderfully neo-romantic to suit our own predelictions, if not the entire range of books described within the book!

http://www.hicks-jenkins.com



This talk of our new Bibliography leads, as a postscript to this post, to mention of the fact that the book caught on in a big way during the few weeks since publication and has brought forth many generous comments.

Have you got your copy yet? . . . !

Click here for further information.