Framework: Architectural Books

February 2 – March 20, 2009

How is a staircase like a book or a wall like a page? Karen Wirth explores the relationships between books and architecture through artist’s books, sculpture and public art. Through analogy, she examines space and experience, presence and absence, revelation and concealment, public and private. What do our eyes tell us? Is it the same as what our body experiences? Whether working with the intimacy of a hand-held book or the public scale of an architectural project, Wirth translates the conceptual and physical relationship of the viewer to the object through scale, materials, image and text. Her work includes one of a kind and editioned book works, as well as architectural projects such as the grand staircase at Open Book in Minneapolis. Wirth is the Chair of Fine Arts at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Karen Wirth is on campus as a visiting artist in the UW-Madison, Art Department. She will be speaking about her work on February 10, 2009, 5:40-6:30pm, in Room 204, Educational Sciences Building. For details, see the Art Department website.

Curated by Karen Wirth.

Image:  Karen Wirth.  Vertical Circulation.