The Borowsky Center presents...

The University of the Arts is home to the Borowsky Center for Publication Arts, a big name for a modest operation. A single color Heidelberg KORS Offset Press runs a handful of theater posters and artist postcards each semester, as well as a visiting artist's project. 2008 saw Richard Minsky and Amos Kennedy printing uniquely different projects with the necessary physical and conceptual assistance of Master Printer Lori Spencer. Minsky printed Tyvek unmbrellas with a Robert Louis Stevenson essay in honor of Judith Hoffberg and her publication, Umbrella (ambitious in its form, the essay is completely unreadable as a parasol). Kennedy's prints are yet to be completed, as he played with the press, building up collaged backgrounds of red and blue, protesters and police, all taken from photographs of Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965 in Selma, Alabama. Upon his departure from the University, Kennedy's story was just unfolding on six variations of his print and he took them to back to his shop in Alabama to play, explore and complete them in his print shop.

While the visiting artists are always interesting, be it for their content or their outlandish print wishes (Gigantic solids? Easy, says Ms. Spencer. Handmade paper? Let's try it!), there are a small number of students every semester who use the press to create some of the cleanest, most finished and realized projects they have ever had the opportunity to make. Spencer teaches a class entitled Book Production, a course that takes students through the entire gamut of a book in only three months- from conception to a dozen dummies, followed by five press runs and a frantic binding period with a looming deadline: the Book Arts/Printmaking department's annual Book Party. Students produce editions in 100 plus copies and their biggest selling push comes at the party, when their work is still hot off the press.

THIS YEAR the Book Party is on Thursday, December 18, from 4:00-7:00 in Hamilton Hall, South Broad and Pine Streets in Philadelphia, PA. This year there are a record twenty students in the class, and in true form, Spencer has said yes to every project that came across the proofing table. With so many students from a variety of disciplines, you are guaranteed to find an appropriate gift for anyone this holiday season.

Greg Pizzoli and Ansley Joe have both created wonderfully illustrated children's books. Pizzoli's book, The Great Race, contains illustrations reminiscent of classic 1970s childrens' books but with a more modern color palette. Joe's book is guaranteed to entertain as interactive elements tell the story of two children digging their way through the backyard and into China.

Erin Sweeney has created another interactive work, a puppet theatre full of feisty broads with background stories and a decadent stage. Easily enticing to any young child who loves to play with dolls, Sweeney's stage characters appeal to an adult audience as well with their vaudevillian sense of style.

It may be important to note at this point that none of the books have been completed. There are still two days of printing to go, but I have had the privilege of seeing nearly every piece in its development, and I am continually impressed with the talent that comes from The University's Illustration department. Jeremy Goodfellow's illustrations remind me of Tim Burton movies, like the Beetlejuice cartoon with the soft, spooky fog of Sleepy Hollow. David Adams' accordion book, also cartoonish, is a whimisical, graffiti-inspired tour of Philadelphia, perfect for anyone who may be missing the City of Brotherly Love from afar. Millie Landis has fully utilized the possibilities of offset printing with a three-color work that gazes out over a watery scene, three characters in shades of orange and yellow jumping off the page and over the ocean. Book Arts students Susan Weinz, Bobby Rosenstock and Amanda Benton have all illustrated their own bookworks as well, walking the line I love so much in an artist's book- work that appeals to the child inside of us, but whose content is created for a grown-up audience, more often than not with a sense of humor.

Gordon Sexton and Crystal Shepherd come to the class from the Graphic Design department and bring wonderfully different styles to the book concept. While Shepherd's collection of boomboxes against graffiti backgrounds could be considered an homage to old school design of the 1980s, Sexton's exploration of designing a font reminds us that any good modern design comes with a disciplined understanding of the classics.

Other elaborately ambitious and exciting Borowsky books will be available by Alisa Fox, Andrew Huot, Robert Lewis, Michael Meulstee, Terry Peterson, Tova Rein and Victoria Sadicario. Many more books, prints, handmade paper and other goods will be available at the BOOK PARTY. At least one of these offset books should find their way onto your bookshelf this holiday season.

UArts Book Arts/Printmaking Department's Annual BOOK PARTY
Thursday, December 18, 2008
4:00-7:00 pm
Hamilton Hall
320 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102