Washington Museum Displays Book As Sculpture

The Latin word liber means both book and freedom and two artists in this exhibition explore the idea of liberty. Elisabetta Gut presents an imprisoned tiny dictionary in a cage. Her work Book in a Cage is a metaphor for “freedom of expression.” Brenda Watson’s How to Attract Birds manifests her desire that all creatures live in freedom. The idea of the book as catharsis can be seen in Literary Essences by Wendy Fernstrum.

Hard Copy expands the concept of the book, taking it into new territory where it becomes that unattainable “object of desire” to be admired from a distance. The exhibition plays a game with the viewers. The works are tactile but they cannot be touched. The pages of books cannot be turned. Hard Copy challenges viewers’ expectations and questions the distinction between book and sculpture.

Curated by Krystyna Wasserman, Hard Copy: Book as Sculpture will be on view in the Long Gallery until January 17, 2010. The presentation of this exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Margaret M. Johnston.

The picture shows Mirella Bentivoglio Mirella Cinderella, 1997, 5 3/4 x 9 3/4 x 8 in., Marble, china, paper, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of the artist. -- www.nmwa.org