Paper-jams: artists between the covers

Acknowledging the substantial history of text in art, Paper-jams looks sideways from that legacy to foreground those artists who address the page as a physical and political context rather than focusing on the content of the words contained within. For them, paper is a surface to excavate, to break through the conventional ways we absorb and present information. Similarly, books become objects with their own history of exchange, value and meaning. These works challenge the materiality of the page and the creative potential of its limitations. In an age of online information and electronic tablets, the threatened extinction of the conventional book brings renewed poignancy to the physical structures and systems that have supported publishing since the invention of the codex and the printing press. Artists include Gretchen Albrecht, Billy Apple, Elliot Collins, Fiona Connor, Paul Cullen, Marco Fusinato, Tessa Laird, Peter Madden, Allan McDonald, Patrick Pound, Ed Ruscha and Ivan Zagni. Curated by Andrew Clifford.

PUBLIC EVENTS

Saturday 24 March, 1pm
Binds, bleeds and bytes: the future of books
In response to the exhibition Paper-jams, Auckland University Press Director, Sam Elworthy, discusses the implications and opportunities of the digital era for publishers.

Saturday 31 March, 1pm
A poetry reading and talk from Dinah Hawkins, who is collaborating with John Edgar on a publication for Holloway Press, and whose poems are part of his Ballast exhibition.

Saturday 7 April
The Gallery will be closed for Easter and opens again on Wednesday 11th April.

Saturday 14 April, 1pm
Artists Peter Madden and Tessa Laird discuss their work in Paper-jams.

Saturday 28 April, 1pm
A live gallery concert of improvisations, graphic scores and text pieces with composer Ivan Zagni, School of Music lecturer Stephen Matthews and guests.

All exhibitions and events are free and take place at the Gus Fisher Gallery unless otherwise noted.

(Closed Easter - 6 to 10 April)