artists’ books

Fair Winds and Following Seas: a celebration of the work of Leonard McDermid

ECA Library is delighted to present a new exhibition at ECA Library, Evolution House, West Port. Opening on 12th October, Fair Winds and Following Seas, is co-curated by Barbara A Morton of Entropie Books, and ECA Librarian Jane Furness.

Featuring a personal selection of Leonard McDermid’s own work from the Stichill Marigold Press, alongside the collected responses in appreciation of his art, as received from his friends:

Jane Hyslop
Graeme Hawley
Julie Johnstone
John Easson
Thomas A Clark
Catherine Marshall
W J Morton
Barbara A Morton
Susie Wilson
Imi Maufe
Gin Saunders

We are so pleased to host this wonderful celebration, and are thankful for the generosity of Len and Barbara, in making this exhibition possible. The show will continue through Semester 1 and closes on 30th November 2021.
Don’t forget to pick up your free packet of marigold seeds!
Public access to ECA Library: Please note that access to all University of Edinburgh libraries is currently restricted to University of Edinburgh Students, Staff and Official Visitors, and NHS Lothian Staff, Edinburgh Theological Seminary Staff & students (Free Church of Scotland College), Free Church of Scotland Ministers, retired ministers and staff, Church of Scotland Ministers, retired ministers & staff, Alumni, Friends of the Library and Life members of the Library. For members of the public not in any of those membership categories who wish to view the exhibition, please note, you do not need to book a time slot to visit, but you should announce yourself to ECA Reception on arrival inside Evolution House, and to ECA Library Helpdesk on arrival within the Library, you should give your name and phone number to Library Helpdesk staff for NHS Test and Protect purposes, and all visitors should wear a face covering (unless exempt). We regret that at this time, Access will be granted to the Library exhibition space only, and not to the rest of ECA Library.
Enjoyed Fair Winds and Following Seas? Then you might be interested in the CRC (Centre for Research Collections) online exhibition, Sea Change.

Online exhibitions and fairs launch the festive season!

Tuesday 1st December 2020:
Today sees the launch online of the Visual Arts Scotland virtual exhibition, F L O W, their first online VAS Members’ winter show, running online throughout December 2020 and January 2021. Exhibitors include artist’s book makers who have appeared in exhibitions at ECA Library, and/or who have artist’s books in our ECA Library Artists’ Books Collection, for example Entropie Books, by Barbara Morton, and works by Karen Gabbitas, an ECA Alumna, and Susie Leiper, a former RSA Open annual ECA Library Award winner.
In addition, the traditional University of Edinburgh Christmas Charity Craft Fair is going virtual between 1st and 20th December. Many ECA students and graduates are involved, as well as our talented and creative University staff.
Visit our virtual exhibition hall at www.christmasfair.sps.ed.ac.uk, where you can find gifts big and small to make Christmas extra special!
This year, the Fair is in support of Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation, helping in the fight against Covid-19.

Voyage boxed: sea journeys, island hopping & trans-oceanic concepts

Our new display at ECA Library features Voyage boxed: sea journeys, island hopping & trans-oceanic concepts, curated by Imi Maufe and Rona Rangsch, Künstlerhaus Dortmund, c.2014.
This beautiful Artists’ Book consists of a collection of art works and an exhibition catalogue issued in a square box. The collection of artworks consist primarily of printed material on paper, a combination of single sheets and booklets, one wooden board printed in colour with string with a small sheet folded concertina style attached, plus a compact disc of ocean wave sounds. The artworks are either 15 x 15 cm, or folded to approximately the same size. Leaves of clear wax paper are interspersed between each work. The artworks are variously photographs, collages, drawings and poetry.
The box also includes one crumpled corner of a map of Shetland (20 x 20 cm), crumpled tissue paper, an unbleached fabric ribbon and a small ceramic egg, in a cloth bag with drawstring.
The 20 artists collaborating in this work included Nancy Campbell, David Faithfull, Christine Morrison and Ian Stephen.
Accompanying CD: Sea of curves, by Jeff Talman, with researchers Matt Fowler and James Traer.
Published in a signed and numbered edition of 50 copies.
ECA Library’s copy is number 42.

Stichill Marigold Press exhibition at ECA Library

Our last exhibition at ECA Library featured artist’s books and poetry pamphlets from the Stichill Marigold Press, and closed on Sunday 3rd November.
Artist, illustrator, poet and award-winning publisher Leonard McDermid founded Stichill Marigold Press in 1990. Under this imprint he designs, hand-sets, prints and publishes pamphlets and artist’s books using the traditional letterpress process.

Leonard McDermid was born in 1933 and grew up during the war years. He left school at fifteen and worked in various jobs, including two years as a National Serviceman in the Royal Artillery. He returned to full time education in 1958.
1958 – 1962: Medway College of Art
1962 – 1963: Brighton College of Art
1963 – 1964: Newbattle Abbey College
1966 – 1969: The University of Edinburgh
Leonard taught for many years in the Scottish Borders. During this time he undertook two commissions as sea-going artist for The Marine Society, working on a troopship in the South Atlantic, ferrying members of the armed forces between Ascension Island and the Falkland Islands. A further one-year commission involved worldwide sea travel, including a voyage on an oil tanker in the Arabian Gulf during the “Tanker War”.
He has been exhibited widely and his work is held in private and public collections.
You can see more of his pamphlets at the Scottish Poetry Library reference collection. Some of his work can be purchased at the Scottish Poetry Library bookshop, at Crichton’s Close, Canongate, Edinburgh (off the Royal Mile).
“And for that minute a blackbird sang”:
Our display includes Leonard’s pamphlet ‘And for that minute’, which is a homage to Edward Thomas and his much-loved poem ‘Adlestrop’. The six poems in the pamphlet, interspersed with extracts from the Great Western Railway Rule Book, relate the recollections of six imaginary witnesses to that poignant moment in June 1914 when Edward Thomas’s train halted momentarily at the remote Cotswolds station.
We are so pleased to be able to show Leonard’s work here at ECA Library. Our exhibition will continue until Sunday 3rd November 2019.
Please note that after 16th September the Library will be operating under longer semester opening hours. For more information please take a look at our opening hours webpage.

New display at ECA Library: Artstories

Monday, July 8th, 2019:
Our new display Artstories, at ECA Library, Evolution House, features hand-made artists’ books and altered books, guest curated by Dr Pamela Harris Lawton, who holds a Fulbright Scotland Visiting Professorship with IASH.
Artstories UK is a research project examining the learning that takes place between participants making art together.  Through narrative co-inquiry around a specific concept, participants learn art skills, build relationships, and find common ground through critical conversation on themes of human experience during the art-making process.
The artist’s books on display represent three different artstories events: a collaborative altered book created by Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities visiting scholars on the concept of feminism using feminist texts;  3 altered books exploring the concept of belonging created in the art studio classroom at Moray House School of Education with PhD students Jing Xu and Qinhan [Cate] Chen, Dr Denitsa Petrova [ECA] and Pamela Harris Lawton; 9 handmade books relating personal narratives and reflections on living a purposeful life by young people aged 13-18 in the SCOREscotland program [strengthening communities for race equality in Scotland] : Ayisha Ba, Priya Roy, Zakaria Hamraoui, Hala Hatim, Alaa Ali, Maxwell Pena, Tifney Aheimbisibue, Momina Mizra and Mariem Ndiaye.
Strengthening Communities for Race Equality Scotland (SCOREscotland) is a voluntary organisation serving the minority ethnic communities in the West of Edinburgh. The organisation strives to eliminate racism in our society by working for and with those who are affected by racial discrimination.
Dr Lawton, EdDCTA, MFA, is Associate Professor in the Department of Art Education at Virginia Commonwealth University Arts, and is a 2019 Tate Modern Exchange Associate.
The exhibition will close on 1st August.
 

 

Entropie Books display at ECA Library


We are very pleased to announce the opening of our new display, of beautiful bookworks by Entropie Books, at ECA Library, Evolution House, West Port.
Curated by Barbara A. Morton, this display of artists’ books and fine bindings explores ways in which the book form can become a thoughtful space for poetry and creative writing. The display will run to 27th May.



All images courtesy of Barbara A. Morton.