Artist’s Book:
HOLD, limited edition (not more than 35 copies) hand-sewn artist book in collaboration with Czech artist Jan Vičar.
26 x 20 inches, 62 pages. 2018.
2nd fully-engraved edition in French (Ball's translation), 2021.
The poem has also been translated into Czech, German and Japanese (these translations are available for exhibit-goers, who see the book itself in English or French—). For both editions, Vičar made the engravings, hand-cut the type, etc. First copies to the US in October 2018, with events at the UT Austin New Writers Program/Michener Center (co-sponsored by Slavic Studies) and the Phoenix Art Museum.
Exhibitions (not inclusive): Paris: La Galerie Documents 15 (Oct-Dec 2022); Prague: The Museum of Decorative Arts: an exhibit of HOLD and related/outtake works, as a symbol of international collaboration and climate justice commitment, sponsored by the Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and the Czech ministries of the Environment and of Culture, as part of the ceremonial events for the transfer of the EU presidency from France to the Czech Republic (July-September 2022); also in Prague, the Memorial of National Literature/Pamatnik pisemnictvi (forthcoming, postponed due to the previous event); Italy: as recipient of the Leonardo Sciascia Prize five exhibitions: Il Bisonte Foundation for the Study of Graphic Arts (Florence); Museum of Paper and Watermark, (Fabriano); International School of Graphics (Venice); Federica Galli Foundation (Milan), the Regional Museum of Art in Palazzo Riso (Palermo) and the Central Institute of Graphics (Rome). Winter 22-23). Neuchatel, Switzerland: Ditesheim & Maffei Fine Arts (June-July 2022); Arizona: ASU Harry Wood Gallery (January-February 2022); France: Académie des Beaux Arts/Institut de France, Paris, as part of the celebration of Vičar’s receiving their 2018 Prix Mario Avati, a career award (May-June 2021); Abbye de Vinetz, Chalons en Champagne (2019), La Fileuse, Reims (July 2017); Tokyo: Czech Center (June 2018); Spain: Fig Bilbao (Summer 2017); and Germany: CCS Galerie, Thuringia (August-October 2018) and Schwandorf (February 2019), Czech Republic: Gallery of Modern Art, Roudnice nad Labem, (2020); among others (including several more in Austria and the Czech Republic).
Acquisitions in the US: ASU Distinctive Collections (2022); University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections (2019); Private Collection (2, 2022 & 2018). In Europe (not complete): Bibliothèques Nationale de France (2022); Bibliothèque de l’Institut de France (2021); Museum of Czech Literature, Prague (2021); Vysočina Regional Gallery, Jihlava, CZ (2021); Private Collections (3) Each completed copy has sold immediately (or was commissioned). Vičar continues to produce and exhibit them; new copies expected in the US in 2024.
Press: Art & Métiers du Livre n°346, September-October 2021, p. 67: Review with photos. Glossy French magazine re state of the book.
Reviews of the exhibition in Paris, May 2021:
- https://www.nautesdeparis.fr/lacademie-des-beaux-arts-expose-jan-vicarlaureat-du-prix-de-gravure-mario-avati-2018/
- https://francefineart.com/2021/05/20/3084_jan-vicar/
[comically florid if you read French!]
