In the art book world, good surprises are rather scarce these days. So let me seize the opportunity to signal (at last) an outstanding release: Wade Guyton’s Black Paintings, published by JRP Ringier. More than an illustrative project, it is a true artist book, for which everything (from the paper and binding to graphic design) seems to have been thought over in details.
As the publisher’s description states, “for this volume, Wade Guyton first had the book designed, and then printed it on the same ink-jet printers he used for his large-format serial prints on canvas. These pages were then scanned and printed by offset”. The result is that the physical object in itself corresponds well with Guyton’s approach, focused on imperfections. Even better, it is an extension of the work, on the same level than a printer’s drawing or a canvas.
With “Black Paintings” (not to mention the two publications made for Museum Ludwig and Vienna Secession), Wade Guyton clearly fulfills an ambition many contemporary artists are neglecting: making good artist’s books. It sheds a fine light on a very coherent body of work, making him much more than a hot speculative artist.
PS: the closest link I could find with another artist book is Christopher Wool’s Maybe Maybe Not, in which Wool included Polaroids of his paintings, photocopied and photocopied again. Obviously, making art in the age of mechanical reproduction is everyone’s challenge…
Images: courtesy JRP Ringier
