The Book [Re-Imagined]

The Book [Re-Imagined] at the Mojo Gallery is an exhibition curated by Mohamed Abou Elnaga. Featuring the work of more than 20 artists from around the world, in this exhibition the focus is on the highly distinctive and visually intriguing ‘artist’s book’.

An artist’s book isn’t published, it is handmade. It is not repeated, it is singular. It is like a canvas, but folded, revealing an intimate world, page after page.

Books have long been the purveyors of knowledge. Its form is strongly embedded in our collective psyche as a symbol of enlightenment. An artist’s book manipulates this very familiar structure, and in the process makes us reengage with the notion of page, format and content, often transforming them into a discussion of the medium’s own tradition. Having their own history, artist’s books have managed to escape any fixed definition. The genius of the artist makes the book behave differently and uniquely every time. Always a work of art in itself, it is created for its own sake and not necessarily for the information it contains.

Each artist’s book holds the capacity to rearrange one’s idea of the book itself. By challenging traditional elements that compose a book, a new participation emerges. Through shapes, formats, materials and structures the viewer is led on a visual and tactile journey reminiscent to the free and unalloyed visual language of experimental cinema.