The Art of the Book
hampshire college art gallery, June 3 - September 30, 2016
Co-curated with Jocelyn Edens
Originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, booksmith Barry Moser has taught in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts for almost 50 years. From the Williston Northampton School in Easthampton where he set up his first press, to his current role as Professor in Residence and Printer to the College at Smith College, Moser’s pedagogy and practice are deeply interleaved.
This exhibition takes Moser’s college book arts syllabus as a conceptual starting point, presenting a range of formal “problems,” a series of materials and tools, and a selection of recommended reading. Moser’s pedagogy emerges as distinctly heuristic: learning is kindled by trial and error, shaped by perseverance, and expanded in new aesthetic and intellectual contexts.
The majority of the works in this exhibition are part of Hampshire College’s newly-acquired Vance Studley Collection, which reflects Moser’s long-term collaboration with printer and typographer Vance Studley. Throughout the exhibition, which includes work by Moser’s students and Hampshire alumni, the book arts emerge as a collaborative and collegial practice of teaching, learning, and mentorship.
Programs:
Close Encounters with Wood Engraving: A Demonstration with Barry Moser
The Artist is IN: Discuss your printmaking practice with Barry Moser, Sep 29, 2018
“Collaboration and Conspiracy” in the Book Arts: Panel discussion and Q&A with Vance Studley and Barry Moser, September 29, 2016