Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of the West of England, Bristol
Lady Vengeance - Artists' Books Exhibition
This major retrospective exhibition, Lady Vengeance is the outcome of ten years (1999-2009) production by Bodman of artists’ books. Bodman’s works explore historical events and literature offering a series of reinterpretations of nature and human nature as superficially beautiful and safe, but suggesting that, in fact, they are intrinsically sinister. These books form part of a wider investigation into the field of contemporary artists’ publishing within the Centre for Fine Print Research. The exhibition was composed of works that were created using various production methods, from unique, physical artefacts and letterpressed small editions to digitally produced work. They demonstrated the artistic possibilities afforded by the diverse range of print making processes now available, from traditional screen printing and letterpress, to digital and laser cut methods and publish-on-demand.
The exhibition was the first show by a British artist at the 23 Sandy Gallery in Portland, Oregon, at the invitation of gallery owner/curator Laura Russell. It resulted in an invitation to a further exhibition in Washington by Jane A. Carlin, Director of the Collins Memorial Library. Nineteen of Bodman’s works were subsequently purchased for collections by American universities, colleges and institutes of art and design; University of Washington; Virginia Commonwealth University; University of Puget Sound; Otis College of Art and Design; Cleveland Institute of Art; Minneapolis College of Art & Design; Emory University; and in Europe, including the Spazio Libro D’Artista, Catania, Sicily. In March 2010, Tate Britain purchased Bodman’s entire collection of works to date and other artists’ books produced subsequently. Bodman’s productions also featured in: Eileen Wallace (ed.), Masters Book Arts: major works by leading artists, (Lark, 2011), and Sandra Salamony, Peter Thomas and Donna Thomas, 1000 Artists’ Books: A Showcase of Fine Hand-Bound Structures: Exploring the Book as Art (Quarry, 2012).
