Handmade & Bound Welcomes 'Familiar Relics' Oct. 5 to Currey Gallery
The Handmade & Bound Nashville book arts festival presents “Familiar Relics,” a juried exhibition of handmade artists’ books, from October 5–20 in the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Gallery on the campus of Watkins College of Art, Design & Film. Staged in association with the annual H&BN celebration of handmade books and independent publications, the show will feature more than 30 works that speak to the familiarity and evolution of the book:
Book artists occupy a distinct place in the evolution of print. In questioning the very concept of the book—its form, its intention—artists’ books have the power to mediate the relationship between reader and vessel, content and form. As the notion of the book rapidly changes, book artists take on an increasingly important and challenging role. Books are no longer bound by paper substrate; digital books, downloadable print, and electronic media have all permeated our cultural landscape, altering the delivery of images and written words. This is a massive shift, one that has happened quickly, and through which a new paradigm of artistic communication has been formed. What was once familiar has been transformed into the mysterious, at once contiguous with antiquity and emblematic of a bold future. Books are relics, yet constantly changing and with that change come new possibilities.
A reception for the gallery show is set for Friday, October 5, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and is free and open to the public. Music will be provided by the jump and swinging blues quartet Eight O’ Five Jive.
Exhibition juror is Tony White, 
director of the Decker Library at the Maryland Institute College of Art and field editor for artist’s books and books for artists for the College Art Association’s online reviews journal caareviews.org. A founding board member of the College Book Art Association and a founder of the Contemporary Artist’s Book Conference in New York, White has been making artist’s books for over 20 years. He holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MLS from Indiana University.
Regional book artists and instructors Annie Herlocker (Paper Revival Press) and Jennifer Knowles-McQuistion (Brown Dog Bindery) are curators of Familiar Relics.
Currey Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, 2 to 4 pm. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.handmadeboundnashville.com.
Watkins is located at 2298 Rosa L. Parks Blvd. in MetroCenter (free parking is available in the campus lot).
About Handmade & Bound Nashville
Handmade & Bound Nashville, an annual celebration of artists’ books, zines, mini-comics and other independent publications, unfolds October 4–6 at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film. The free, family-friendly festival, presented by the Watkins Library and Community Education department, features hands-on activities in the book arts, demonstrations of techniques and crafts, and dozens of vendors and distributors, in addition to a juried gallery exhibition and a community art project.
All events and activities are free and open to the public. Handmade & Bound Nashville, Vol. 2 is supported in part by a grant from the William N. Rollins Fund for the Arts of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The festival is part of Artober, the city-wide initiative celebrating the arts throughout October (artobernashville.com or nowplayingnashville.com).
For updates to the schedule and vendor list, visit handmadeboundnashville.com. For more information, contact the Watkins Library at 615.277.7427.