Radical Messages, Revolutionary Means
April 2 – May 9, 2010 | Carleton College Art Gallery
Artists’ Books are a forum for critique and change—confronting and challenging aesthetic, social, and political norms. They differ from traditional books in that they themselves are considered works of art—not just vehicles for displaying art. Radical Messages, Revolutionary Means, explores themes of political and social activism and issues of race and gender, celebrates literary and artistic experiments, and includes pieces that question the very definition of a book.
This exhibition draws from the Gould Library Special Collections and was curated by a group of students enrolled in a curatorial practices seminar taught by Laurel Bradley, Director of Exhibitions. The Gould Library’s Special Collections now holds over 450 artists’ books. The growing collection focuses on objects with pedagogical utility in a Liberal Arts College context, for academic disciplines from Art and Art History to English, Astronomy and History.