Books Worth a Thousand Pictures

The thoroughly hackneyed apothegm “never judge a book by its cover” takes on a whole new meaning in the artwork on display in Mather House’s Three Columns Gallery. “Books!” showcases an extensive sampling of the work of local artists Laura Davidson, Mary McCarthy and Donald Shambroom.

Davidson and McCarthy are self-described “book-artists,” and Shambroom is a painter and sculptor. Book-art is difficult to define with any precision, and thus is probably best defined through example. As the exhibit’s statement puts it, the exhibit consists of “Boxes of painted panels, vertical and horizontal scrolls, accordians, stand-up books that open like doors, pop-up books presenting architectural models, and sculpture using books as a material, like marble or clay.”

“Books!” marks both a celebration and an exploration of the potential for books to be a physical and artistic enterprise, as opposed to their traditional literary purpose. If there is one underlying theme to the whole exhibit, it is perhaps to examine—and turn on its heels—the relationship of cover and content, of what is seen and what is read.

Usually, the latter matters far more. Rarely will a reader reject the words of the Iliad or War and Peace because of an ugly cover, and rarely will an even remotely judicious reader buy a book based solely on pretty cover art. In this show, even when the books do have content, the “reader’s” attention is inexorably drawn towards the visual aspects of the presentation—a tendency of which the artists seem fully aware, and even to embrace. McCarthy, for instance, says in her artist’s statement that “text is not a dominant feature of my books, though I will include hand written words, phrases, or poems.”

That said, the themes each artist chooses to explore, through visual presentation, verbal expression or a combination of both, are all quite intriguing and well-executed. Davidson’s books tends to focus, rather self-consciously, on themes from art history and architecture, while McCarthy treats “history, religion, mythology, and the natural world,” and Shambroom’s sculptures explore the content-form relationship described above.

Of particular note in the exhibit are two sculpures by Shambroom. The first, “Those who go II,” consists of several stacks of Sir Walter Scott’s “Waverly Novels”—essentially tales of British people killing each other, the most famous of which is “Ivanhoe”—with a large crater on the top, into which juts the hilt of a knife adjacent to a bullet. The other sculpture, labeled as being part of the Forgotten Writer Series, celebrates forgotten writer Eugene Field—don’t worry, I hadn’t heard of him either, which is the point of the series. His books are stacked on top of each other and are partially covered by clay, as if to emphasize the extent to which they have been forgotten.

Also intriguing is a book called “Alphabets” by Davidson. The book, small but defiantly shiny, consists of copper plates bound by four rings. Into each plate is carved a different alphabet; on the two visible pages, the Etruscan and Gothic alphabets are on display. Perhaps Davidson hopes to make a pregnant and theoretical statement about the transience and protean nature of alphabets, languages and the written medium in general. Either way, the book of copper plates is visually impressive.

The art in the exhibit, when considered collectively, is for the most part original and even unique—and well worth the painless trip to Mather House to experience it. It will, at any rate, grant the once in a lifetime opportunity to guiltlessly judge a book by its cover—and who could ask for more?

visual arts

Books!

Mather House Three Columns Gallery

Through Apr. 15