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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Chinese and Japanese influenced bookworks |
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Buenos Dias Daruma 8.25 x 11.25" closed; 11.25 x 66" extended. Accordion structure with last leaf attached to back board. Lenox 100% rag paper. Collage, painting, and ink. Oriental silk cloth pastedowns. Title page board covered in yellow cloth with title handwritten in script plus the artist's signature and stamp. Half bound in Oriental silk cloth and illustrated Mexican material of the Madonna. Slipcased with paper title on spine. Howard Munson: "On arriving in Mexico I was still carrying Japanese experiences and found it difficult to work on books inspired by Mexico. This book is an illustration of my introduction to Daruma with the color of Mexico." (Note: Daruma, or Bodhidharma, was a Buddhist monk associated with the founding and spread of Zen Buddhism. The wide-eyed bearded figure in Munson's Buenos Dias Daruma is akin to the Daruma doll, considered a talisman of good fortune to the Japanese. The mix of Zen symbology, Munson's Japanese calligraphy, and the vibrant colors of Mexico perhaps indicates the state of the artist's mind as he was moving through different cultures.) |
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HOGEJAKA 8 x 11.5: closed; 11.5 x 80" extended; 10 panels. Accordion structure. Pop-ups. 100% rag Lenox paper. Paper title label on front board. Slipcased with paper title on spine. For many getting rid of clutter takes on increasing importance as the years progress. Munson here tackles the issue visually. Howard Munson: "Hogejaka in Japanese means to let go. The book was the result of creating space and letting go of things in life." |
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IMAGO 11 x 7.75" closed; 11 x 150" extended; 18 pages. Accordion structure. Color Xerox prints from original book of paintings Munson produced in 1997, printed on Lenox 100% rag print paper. Bound in book cloth and housed in custom slipcase with paper title on spine. This is a relatively rare look at the influences of the Western art tradition on an artist who looks most often to the (far) East. Howard Munson: "Inspiration came from a found Latin book with references to art." |
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Signs & Symbols 7.5 x 16" closed; 16 x 90" extended. Screen printed on Lenox 100% rag print paper. Cut outs created with Exacto knife and punch. Images created using graphite powder and mineral spirits. Leather bound boards with overlays and inlays. Slipcased. Book-artist Howard Munson was first a printmaker. This Signs and Symbols is based on a 1996 version of the same name. It highlights his printmaking background with geometric colored symbols over a procession of black-and-white scrawls. The accordion format allows for viewing one spread at a time or in toto. |
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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 on People 8.75 x 15" closed; 15 x 102" extended; 11 panels. 100% rag Lenox paper.Paper title label on front board. Slipcased with paper title on spine and silk ribbon. Howard Munson: "Photos were taken of guests at a party." |
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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." | |
Japan Assemblage No. 2 8 x 10.75 x 1.875 "; 20 leaves. Accordion structure extending from back board pastedown. Mixed media with pop-ups. Lenox 100% rag paper. Bound in Japanese illustrated cotton fabric with red fabric spine. Cloth and bone closure. Slipcased with paper title collaged matching book fabric tipped on spine. Howard Munson: "This is a second version, smaller and with some different images, of the first assemblage [Japan Assemblage (2010)]. Found photos, my photos, and drawings inspired by words that related to my experiences in Japan." [In 2008 Munson spent several months living and working in Japan.] |
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Spirits in the Forest 8 x 10.75" closed, 10.75 x 90" open; 12 leaves. Accordion structure. Mixed media on Lenox 100% rag paper. Original ink drawings from damaged Japanese screens. In slipcase with paper title label on spine. The accordion is prefaced by Munson's poem "Sprits in the Forest." Howard Munson: "All papers, including cover material, are original ink drawings taken from discarded Japanese screens that are about 100 years old. "I restore damaged Japanese screens and in the process all material that is discarded I use to create new screens and artist books. While working in Japan I lived in an area of mountains and forests where the tales of historical battles inspired me." |
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Chinatown Collage 7.875 x 11.25" closed; 11.25 x 95.5" extended. Accordion structure with last leaf attached to back board. Lenox 100% rage paper. Unique hand painted cover. Slipcased. Accordion book of color Xerox images (of an original collage) tipped onto brilliant red Lenox 100% rag print paper. Collages are presented as two-page spreads. These spreads are connected across the valley folds (the gutter) by hand-drawn links, which appear like unobtrusive hinges, and the two-page spreads are connected across the mountain folds by a delicate steaming cloud-bubble motif. Howard Munson: "Living near Chinatown is enough inspiration for many books. A collage culture of color, graphics, calligraphy, ounds, and smells." |
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Kyoto Collage 12.2 x 8.8" closed; 64" extended; 8 pages. Accordion structure. Xerox prints of collage of found papers. Printed on Lenox 100% rag print paper. Korean silk-covered boards with paper title label on front board. Slipcased with paper title label on spine. Howard Munson: "Collage material from fragments of old Japanese screens and a children's' game called Dump." |
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Japanese Calligraphy Landscape 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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Chinatown 2 11.25 x 8" closed; 11.25 x 60" extended; 8 pages. Accordion book of color Xerox images of original collage tipped onto brilliant red Lenox 100% rag print paper. Collages are presented as two-page spreads. These spreads are connected across the valley folds (the gutter) by hand-drawn links, which appear like unobtrusive hinges, and the two-page spreads are connected across the mountain folds by a delicate steaming cloud-bubble motif (which is echoed on the front cover). Bound in book cloth and Korean silk with paper title label on front board. Housed in matching slipcase with paper title label on spine. Howard Munson: "All collaged images were found in San Francisco's Chinatown. ... Living near Chinatown in San Francisco inspires interpretation of sights and sounds. This is one in a series of books influenced by the Chinese culture." |
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Fragments No. 5. 7.5 x 11.25" closed; 11.25 x 120" extended. Accordion structure. Color Xerox printed on Lenox 100% rag print paper. Bound in Korean Silk. Housed in matching slipcase with paper title label. 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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| Traveling the world, Munson creates bookworks from his photographs and found materials. | |
The Day After Dia De Los Muertos 8 x 10.75"; 44 pages. Printed by Xerox color printer on Lenox 100% rag paper. Photographs and drawings by artist. Bound in painted on cotton cloth. Housed in slipcase covered with Mexican oilcloth on sides. Paper title label on spine. In the edition of five, each will have a unique hand painted cotton cloth cover. Howard Munson: "I arrived the day after the Dia del los Muertos on November 3 [2009] in San Miguel. The several weeks of activities were over. At the cemetery, the flowers were still fresh, and the throngs of visitors were gone. I got the feeling that everyone was exhausted , even the dead." A quotation by Octavio Paz introduces this series of photographs and drawings: "... death revenges us against life, stripping it of all its vanities and pretensions and showing it for what it is: some bare bones and dreadful grimace ..." |
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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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| Bookworks resulting from artist exercises with ink and brush | |
Realization Path 7.5 x 11.5" closed; 11.5 x 58" extended; 8 panels. Accordion structure. 100% rag Lenox paper. Mixed media. Collage of found Japanese calligraphy papers.Bound in patterned cloth with paper title label on front board. Slipcased with paper title on spine. Howard Munson: "A meditative exercise with ink and brush." |
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The Way of the Brush 11.2 x 7.75"; 12 pages. Accordion book on 100% rag Lenox paper. Original brush work color copied, and images tipped in. 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: "This book was an exercise in the use of the Japanese brush and ink; free flowing marks with no meaning, small compositions, in reference to the art of Japanese calligraphy." |
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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: 07.29.10
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