Howard Munson ~ California |
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| Artist Howard Munson’s work demonstrates how much more nourishment arises from questions rather than answers. His work displays a reverence for the past – his own history and the history of art, especially Oriental art. His work delights in experimental forms while honoring traditional formats. The playfulness of his wit and vision never obscures his deep respect for the serious nature of play. Much of his work exudes a sense of peace, but a peace tempered by something decidedly unpeaceful, a sense of struggle perhaps, at least a sense of journey, and one with a bit of hullabaloo. | |
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| Bookworks influenced by Oriental art and San Francisco's Chinatown Munson visits other countries |
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| His work displays a reverence for the past - his own history and the history of art, especially Oriental art. Howard Munson: "Living near Chinatown in San Francisco inspires interpretation of sights and sounds." | |
Calligraphy Landscape with Cranes 14.25 x 7.25" closed, 56" extended; 8 panels. Accordion book. Each panel is a separate collage that has been copied by color xerox, which was then scanned and printed by color inkjet onto archival 100% printmaking rag paper. Silk cloth covered boards with paper title on front board. Housed in slipcase with matching cloth and title label on spine. Howard Munson: "This is from a series of books I am in the process of making inspired by Japanese screens. Collage materials were found inside or on the outside of damaged Meiji period [roughly 1868-1912] Japanese screens." |
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Chinese Lunar New Year of the Rat 7.75 x 11.25" closed; 60 x 11.25" extended; 7 pages. Accordion book in illustrated boards covered with paper collage. Interior pages are color copies of small sections of a larger work that have been enlarged and tipped onto boards with a false plate mark. In slipcase covered in papers with bright Chinese motif. Howard Munson: "This book is from a series of books I have created during the Chinese New Year. Small compositions selected from a large collage and enlarged." |
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Chinese Lunar New Year: 7.5 x 11.5" closed; 60 x 11.5" extended; 8 pages Accordion book in cloth-covered boards with paper title label inset in front board. Collage. Slipcased with paper title on front board and glossy Chinese paper on middle of spine. Howard Munson: "Each year during the Chinese New Year I have been creating a collage book for the event by walking the streets and alleys of Chinatown in San Francisco picking up paper images for collage." |
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Fragments No. 1 8 x 11" closed; 126 x 11" extended; 14 pages. Accordion book in cloth-covered boards with paper title label on front board. Color copies enlarged and tipped onto stiff boards that have an artificial plate mark. Slipcased with paper title on spine. Howard Munson: "Fragments are very small compositional areas taken from paper found inside old Japanese screens which are then enlarged. The [original] paper is approximately 130 years old." |
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Fragments No. 2 8 x 11.5" closed; 60 x 11.5" extended; 10 pages. Accordion book in cloth-covered boards with paper title label on front board. Color copies enlarged and tipped onto stiff boards that have an artificial plate mark. Slipcased with paper title on spine. Howard Munson: "Fragments are very small compositional areas taken from paper found inside old Japanese screens which are then enlarged. The [original] paper is approximately 130 years old." |
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Silent Calligraphy 8 x 11.25" closed; 60 x 11.25 " extended; 8 pages. Accordion book. Collage: calligraphy papers; photographs; newsprint; gold foil. Color accents added with watercolor and acrylic. Cloth-covered boards with paper title label inset in front board. In slipcase with cloth- covered edges and paper title label on spine. Howard Munson: "Silent Calligraphy is made up of collage material found in the inside of very old Japanese screens. This is one of a series of books and screens I have created with this original material that is approximately 130 years old." |
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Dragons & Lions: 11.25 x 8" closed, extends to 96"; 12 pages. Accordion structure with last page pasted to back board. While internal Illustrations are color copies of original collages, the boards are collaged with original papers. Ribbon and bone closure. Howard Munson: " Living near Chinatown gives me the opportunity to explore the shops and alleys for unique imagery. As an outsider experiencing this very foreign environment, I view this unique place as a collage." |
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| Traveling the world, Munson creates bookworks from his photographs and found materials. | |
Lotus Petals Fell from Brahman's Hand 8 x 11.25" closed; 11.25 x 75" open. Accordion structure with 8 panels. A vertical wall-hanging mixed-media book. Hardbound with button and twine closure. Howard Munson: "I had spent a month in India and was able to see the famous Pushkar Fair. The kaleidoscope of colors, thousands of camels and tribes from all over the desert was an experience I will long remember." |
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Transmitting Black White Black 9.75 x 11.75" closed; 11.5 x 81" extended; 8 pages. Accordion structure. Intaglio etchings. Black binding with ribbon and bone closure. Title label on spine. Howard Munson: "This is a study in grid fields in black and white with added element (the string) in bringing together as one work of art." As stark as black-and-white can be (granted, there are overtones of blue) and as rigid as a grid-based design in a fixed accordion structure can be - Munson still manages to give this life and excitement. |
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Drawing April 4, 1993 8.5 x 10.75"; 28 pages. Xerox printed. Hardbound. Howard Munson: "This was an exercise in spontaneous drawing for a screenprinted book. Inspired by music I approached the paper with a desire to explore the line, texture and sound. This was also an attempt to create a drawing a day for books." |
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Page last update: 06.05.08
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