Artists' Books in Crossett: F-G

Letterpress with French sans serif extra wide wood type circa 1925 and printed on obsolete sea charts by Dikko Faust. Design by Esther K Smith. One folded continuous sheet of obsolete sea charts. Faust used extra-wide French wood type, circa 1925, to letterpress print the alphabet, printing both upper and lower case of each letter. 3" x 2 .5" closed, extends to 104.25"; 32 pages including self-wraps. Edition of 40. Signed.

Active in New York City from 1991 to 1995, fierce pussy was composed of a fluid and often-shifting cadre of dykes. Core members included Pam Brandt, Nancy Brooks Brody, Joy Episalla, Alison Froling, Zoe Leonard, Suzanne Wright, and Carrie Yamaoka. Adamantly low-tech, fast and low-budget, fierce pussy relied on modest resources: old typewriters, found photographs, their own baby pictures, and whatever material they could get donated. Much of the work was produced using the equipment at their day jobs. Emerging during a decade steeped in the AIDS crisis, activism, and queer identity politics, fierce pussy brought lesbian identity directly out into the streets in a manner characterized by the urgency of those years. Published on the occasion of the collective's 2008 exhibition at Printed Matter, this poster book reproduces 16 classic posters from fierce pussy in an over-sized format with spiral binding. Offset Printed. Edition Size 1000. Pages
17 p. Dimensions 43.5 x 28 cm.

An artist's book by the Swiss duo dedicated to the questions that everyone asks themselves once in a while: Can something be unbelievable? Should I get drunk? Could I be Japanese? Is the freedom of birds overrated? Am I a farmer in winter? Does unease grow by itself? Should I crawl into my bed and stop producing things all the time?

43 facsimiles of color envelopes decorated by Jean-Michel Folon, addressed to his Italian friend Giorgio Soavi. 24 x 12 cm. Perfect binding.

On the Other Side is a collaborative work between French artist Claire Fouquet and American book artist Patty Smith that addresses issues of emigration. The concept originated as a response to the fences built by the United States to keep out illegal immigrants and by the French government’s policy on immigration. The book is a two-sided accordion with the recto side listing the fears that might be experienced by the emigrant. The cut windows entice the viewer to turn the concertina inside out. The verso side describes potential advantages, opportunities, and joys that might lead one “to appreciate the unfamiliar”. The work is also a comment on internal anxiety that prevents us from moving forward in our personal lives. Some obstacles, seemingly threatening and impossible to surmount, may be the product of our fear of failure or the unfamiliar. These illusions, manufactured by uncertainty, can be transcended through personal resolve and collective effort. 4 " x 5 1/2 ". Edition of 50. Crossett own number 24. Silkscreen. Folded paper enclosure. Binding: Accordion.

After completing The Americans in 1958, Robert Frank has worked almost exclusively with Polaroids, exploring the collage and assemblage possibilities of the instant photograph. Seven Stories brings together sequences of single images Frank has been compiling to create books of new work. As always the photographs and stories relate to Frank’s life and milieu, his homes in Mabou and New York, or a trip to China or Spain. This collection of small books is a new stage in the practice of this remarkable artist who continually challenges the limits of photography and film and strives to avoid repeating himself. 7 paperbound photobooks of reproductions of polaroid photographs by Robert Frank. 7 volumes in slipcase; 11 x 14 cm.

A poem by Pablo Neruda translated by Elsa Neuberger illustrated with woodcuts by Antonio Frasconi. Tipped in frontispiece print on handmade Goyu paper and signed by Frasconi in pencil. Printed at the Spiral Press under the direction of Joseph Blumenthal; signed by Frasconi and Blumenthal in the colophon. Type: Emerson. Paper: Rives mouldmade. Slip case with label. Signed edition of 300. Crossett owns number 182.

This tiny book (2.75" x 2.75") chronicles the sometimes dashing, often unruly hair styles of four American presidents and their assassins. Illustrated, written, designed & bound by the artist. Printed by the artist on a Heidelberg GTO offset press

García photographed hundreds of New York street signs and then used language from his images to compose a poem-like list of text. A single line of text from one New York sign appears on each fold of the accordion book. The paper Garca selected for the book transitions from bright green to blue to orange to red to yellow -- creating a verse-like effect for text on each color of paper. It was created as part of an Artist-in-Residence program 2021 at Center for Book Arts, NYC and used and 45 metal type specimens from the Center for Book Arts collection. 91 p.; 21.5 x 346.7 cm.; Edition of 200 signed and numbered. Crossett owns number 30. Accordion Binding. Letterpress Printed.

In Tarot, García has collected and compiled advertisements for tarot card reading services around Querétaro and other parts of Mexico. The advertisements are uncanny conglomerations of the occult and capitalism, illuminating the ways in which spirituality is used and sold to people as a remedy for a wide range of issues and ailments. Gold Rain Books, the publisher, is an imprint of Da Substanz, an artist-run space and gallery based in Querétaro, Mexico. 38 p.; 28 x 21.7 cm; Risograph printed; Edition of 60. Signed and numbered.

"Philadelphia artist Judy Gelles first encountered the beach boxes of Melbourne, Australia in 2001. These structures, passed down for generations, have distinct compositions and colors identifying specific family ownership. Gelles’ photographic documentation of the beach boxes investigates their vernacular architecture and pays homage to the historical and artistic beauty they convey. The artist begins with a straight photograph, then digitally removes the color from the background, heightening the color of the boxes and delivering an eerie and beautiful composition." "One Picture Book series was conceived in 1998 as a way to make original artwork affordable. The series consists of uniformly designed, modestly-sized hardcover books, comprising 16 pages that serve as a “canvas” for the artist to display one cohesive body of work. Each One Picture Book is published in an edition of 500 numbered copies, and each contains an original tipped-in photograph, signed on the verso by the artist; hence the name of the series." 19 cm. Edition of 500. Crossett owns number 315.

Esopus asked artist Robert Gober if he would consider creating a multiple for the publication. After several months of deliberation, Gober decided to create a piece that not only fit within the custom cardboard mailer we use to mail copies of Esopus; he actually made the mailer itself a part of the work. 5-color lithograph printed with light-fast, color-sensitive inks on acid free paper, mounted to archival board.

This limited-edition print portfolio was produced by Godzilla: Asian American Art Network in 1999 and features 46 signed works by 48 artists. The portfolio was designed to complement the collective’s installation “From Basement to Godzilla,” as part of the Urban Encounters exhibition at the New Museum, in which Godzilla paid tribute to Basement Workshop, a grassroots artist-activist group founded in 1970 and one of the formative predecessors to Godzilla. The portfolio is modelled after Basement Workshop’s legendary Yellow Pearl, a boxed collection of graphics, poetry, song lyrics, and photographs published in 1972. The portfolio is comprised of members of Godzilla and Basement Workshop and includes works by Diyan Achjadi/Cheri Gandy, John Allen, Tomie Arai, Todd Ayoung, Keiko Bonk, Emily Cheng, Fay Chiang/Xian Chiang-Waren, Janice Chiang, Jean Chiang, Alex Chin, Ken Chu, Allan de Souza, Ming Fay, Great Leap, Skowmon Hastanan, Arlan Huang/Fay Chiang, Jason Kao Hwang, Michi Itami, William Jung, Byron Kim, Franky Kong/Jenni Kim, Nina Kuo, Bing Lee, Colin Lee, Corky Lee, Cynthia Lee, Lanie Lee, Robert Lee, Sally Leung, Franky Liu, Stefani Mar, Fay Chew Matsuda, Yong Soon Min, Philip Tajitsu Nash, Helen Oji, Athena Robles, Carol Sun, Kim Tran, Audrey E. Wong, Maureen Wong, Virgil Wong, Theodora Yoshikami, Mimi Young, Charles Yuen, Susan L. Yung, Zhang Hongtu. Housed in an archival box and hand stamped with the logos for Yellow Pearl and Godzilla, From Basement to Godzilla was originally printed in an edition of 250. However only half were assembled and distributed at the time. In 2022, Primary Information partnered with members of Godzilla to complete the assembly of the edition and provide 100 copies for sale. Offset lithograph on paper; 11x 11x3/4 inches overall.

"The Testament Project is an exploration and re-conception of the contemporary black experience in America. The first part of this series deals with black men, who are portrayed in the extreme- either as very rich or very poor, they are demonized, infantilized, ridiculed, idolized or hyper-sexualized; and within the art canon there is a noticeable scarcity of black male representation. I give control of the color and lighting to my subjects, in order to create a space that is participatory and empowered. By including my subjects in the creation of the scene in the use of color, I seek to create photographs that portray individuality in addition to their blackness. In the more traditionally lit studio portraits, the subjects are named for their professions to emphasize the depth of their identities, beyond race." Kris Graves. 64 p. Paperback.Perfect Binding. Edition of 200.

The Testament Project is an exploration and re-conception of the contemporary black experience in America. More often than not, black people are portrayed in the extreme—either as very rich or very poor, they are demonized, infantilized, ridiculed, idolized or hyper-sexualized; and within the art canon there is a noticeable scarcity of black representation. "In these glowing portraits, control of the colored lighting is given to my subjects, in order to create a space that is participatory and empowered. By including subjects in the creation of the scene and the altering of color, I seek to create photographs that portray individuality in addition to their blackness." Kris Graves. [52] p. Perfect Binding

The Map of Neighboring Bodies is a book of invented iconography related to bodies of water. The artist plays with the definition of territory by breaking down boundaries across an open sea and systematically rebuilding them with pictograms. With these symbols, the book maps the natural, political, historical, and fantastic regions across five environments. The result is a reflection on the utility of maps as fictional devices and our longstanding need to create boundaries in order to make sense of the world around us. Graham’s interest in symbolic imagery hearkens back to an early affinity for 8-bit video games and ancient cartography. Designed to be cyclical, the book connects along a seamless path that wraps horizontally around the entire book. A key is provided on the front side to help the reader decipher the environments.17 cm x 14.6 cm x 2.54 cm [35] p. Silkscreen. Accordion fold. Edition of 65. Crossett owns number 15.

Vanessa Graham’s comics function as puzzle-like intersections of image and text that carve out rituals through personal iconographies. Her bold sense of design and composition allow each spread to stand alone, weaving graphic elements together and apart across its curious vertical layout, which references the turnings of a calendar, measurements of the interminable and ritualistic passage of time. The book opens with a warning—“It’s a very very very narrow world”—accompanying its visual table of contents, or “Spell Index.” The titles listed seem to resonate with the spreads but don’t quite correspond with them; their subtle disjunctions give the sense of putting something together, making thematic connections that may not be entirely there. The graphic motif of the contents is answered in the figure of a woman painting her face with the phrase, “You’re going down.” Indeed, the book is an inexorable plummeting downward, the motion mirrored in the composition and the action enacted in the page turnings. But the bleakness of the theme here is a far cry from the tone of the visuals, whose soft color and intimate linework are inviting and at times even comforting. 28 unnumbered pages. 28 x 21 cm. Staple Bound. Risograph printed.

1. Family of Four by Sara Petty 2. Booklings by Kathy Rose 3. Peepin' and a-Hidin' by Tony Eastman 4. Barrelhouse Bop by George Griffin 5. Wipes2 by Paul Glabick 6. Flowering by Roger Kukes. 6 volumes; 13 x 8 cm. Flip book. Perfect bound.

Flip book of 200 images about how to open and close a door and what it all means. Listed in Franklin Furnace Archive artists book bibliography, 1977-1979. Franklin Furnace Archive artists book bibliography. 13 cm, in box (14 x 9 x 9 cm). Printing: Offset. Binding: Post. Signed edition of 100. Crossett owns number 44.

Referenced in Franklin Furnace Archive artists book bibliography, 1977-1979. [41] p. 28 x 11 cm. Post binding.

A pocket size catalogue showing full views and detail images of Mark Grotjahn's work Untitled (Dancing Black Butterflies, Drawing in 9 parts). 18 p. Hardcover. Accordion. 3.25 x 4.75 inches. Edition of 1,500

"Designed to resemble a takeout menu, Three Generations Happy Family contains a timeline of my familial history told via food as a political and socioeconomic indicator. My father survived China’s Great Famine, a tragedy that claimed 55 million lives. My mother endured malnutrition under food rationing in Taiwan, during the longest period of Martial Law prior to Syria. Years later, in the United States, a takeout restaurant in Connecticut became the first economic steppingstone that enabled the chain migration of my family. This restaurant was also the meeting place of my Taiwanese mother and Chinese father, in a re-stitching of identity that happens as a direct result of colonialism and diaspora. In a strange, somewhat cruel twist of fate, food service became one of the few job opportunities available to my parents in the United States. Yet there is also something profound about my parents experiencing such intense trauma around food scarcity in their youth—and then distributing food as a means of transforming our family’s trajectory. Three Generations Happy Family is part of my body of work, 米 (mǐ) uncooked rice. 米 (mǐ) is the Chinese word for uncooked rice, or the seed grain itself, a metaphor for that which could sustain us, but in its unprocessed form is indigestible." Jenie Gao (they/she) is a full-time artist, creative director, and entrepreneur. They pull from personal and professional experiences as a second generation Taiwanese-Chinese American, queer woman of color, and descendant of working class immigrants. Laserjet on 80-lb matte copy paper. 8.5” x 3.2” folded, 8.5” x 11” expanded.