The annual Small Publishers’ Fair takes place this week at the Conway Hall, London. Each year the fair features a special exhibition and for 2018 it focuses on artist and publisher Laurie Clark.
Clark lives in Pittenweem, a small fishing village on the east coast of Scotland. With the poet Thomas A Clark, in the summer months she runs Cairn gallery, a space for minimal and conceptual art.
Since 1973, they have made books, cards and editions under their own imprint, Moschatel Press. American artist/poet Erica Van Horn’s new book, Too Raucous for a Chorus, with drawings by Laurie Clark, will launch at the fair. Van Horn, who is based in Ireland, gave this year’s Roth lecture on book arts at Trinity College Dublin.
Clark has worked with many others collaborators including the late Ian Hamilton Finlay. In recent years, her own work has studied similarity and difference in plant species through the medium of pencil crayon. Her books, 100 Buttercups and 100 Harebells, are both published by WAX 366.
The Small Publishers’ Fair exhibition will feature her book works as an artist produced with a variety of publishers, plus original drawings from nature.
Each year, the fair attracts regular exhibitors alongside new presses, artists and publishers, offering an energetic snapshot of contemporary independent publishing.
Some highlights for 2018 are: Lina Nordenström of Grafikverkstan Godsmagasinet, Sweden, who will be exhibiting letterpress printed works and books produced with a manual typewriter; London-based artist Chisato Tamabayashi, showing her intricate paper-cut and pop-up books; and Gefn Press, who will show Poetry of Unknown Words by Susan Johanknecht & Katharine Meynell.
New exhibitors include Road Books from Ireland, Red Sphinx from Berlin, and Damocle Edizioni from Venice – the latter recently published a collaborative artist’s book by poet Yang Lian and artist Ai Weiwei.
Alongside the fair and exhibition, there will also be a series of talks by artists and publishers.
The Small Publishers’ Fair takes place at the Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL, Friday 9 and Saturday 10 November 2018, 11am-7pm each day. Admission is free
Images:
1. Too Raucous for a Chorus, detail, Erica Van Horn, Coracle, with drawings by Laurie Clark, Moschatel Press, 2018
2. Left: 100 Buttercups, Laurie Clark, WAX 366, 2010, right: 100 Harebells, Laurie Clark, WAX 366, 2012
3. 100 Buttercups, Laurie Clark, WAX 366, on display in an exhibition curated by Laurie Clark and David Bellingham at Edinburgh College of Art Library, 2017
4. Sealevel, On the skirts of a wood, Laurie Clark, October Foundation, 2001
5. Jay, Laurie Clark, Moschatel Press, 2013, hand coloured drawings
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