Relationships Between Women Across 4 Generations - in Russia, Mexico, and the U.S.A.
Limited to 5 Copies
Text in Mix of English and Spanish

Akhmadeeva, Ioulia.
My Women.
Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico: ALTERnativa Ediciones, 2019.

One of 5 copies. According to the artist, this book "presents my reflection and the relationship between the women of my family. On the one hand we are paper boats in the sea of liquid time and on the other side it is a narrative map of some kind of genealogical tree." An elephant folio accordion bound in red cloth boards with gilt title to front board. The interior includes a detailed copperplate etching of portraits of the artist and the women in her family on paper boats sailing across the sea. The verso is a silkscreen showing a descriptive family tree including the artist, her three daughters, her mother, twin sister, aunts, grandmother, etc. This collage-style illustration includes places, descriptive words, dates, photographs, and shows her family's immigration from Russia to Mexico. Text in Spanish with some English. Printed on Guarro Super Alfa 100% cotton paper. Housed in a matching red cloth covered clamshell box. Bumping to bottom corner of the box. Size: about 24 x 10 inches.

Ioulia Akhmadeeva (1971 - ) was born in Russia but has resided in Mexico for nearly 30 years. She is professor of Fine Arts at the Michoacan State University San Nicolás Hidalgo in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. She has participated in many international exhibitions and won awards and grants for her work. Copies of this book are in the Special Collections of Stanford University. Five minute video about this book (in Spanish): https://youtu.be/pBPJvmBvp84. Fine. (#36425)

Price: $2,800

Ongoing War Between Ukraine and Russia
References Personal Connections to Prior Wars in the Region - Ukrainian and Russian Heritage
Text in English and Spanish with some Russian

Akhmadeeva, Ioulia.
Witnesses and Testimonies.
City of Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico: Ioulia Akhmadeeva, 2024.

Number 5 of 5 copies. A powerful new work by Russian born artist, Ioulia Akhmadeeva about the atrocities occurring in the ongoing war in Ukraine. She has both Ukrainian and Russian heritage and makes visual comparisons between the current war and prior wars in the region with inclusions of personal relics, photographs, and familial memories. Each book / box contains a different object and photograph. The personal objects in this copy are:

1) an original photograph of Valentina Voloshina, the mother of artist, with her friend  Olga Gorkovenko signed by Valentina with date 1962, and
2) the monthly real salary of 160 rubles of Valentina Voloshina (1943-2001), in 10 and 25 rubles denomination banknotes, issued between 1961 and 1991 un the USSR.

"In the dark corner of history, between 1941 and 1945 (Great Patriotic War in the USSR) and now since 2022, Ukraine and Russia are involved in a brutal war that leaves indelible scars on their land and lives of those who inhabit them. The harsh reality of the conflict is intertwined in the book with the family stories that lie behind each photographic image-testimony from one's own family album, old photographs or current images on the internet. It is also a journey to the heart of everyday life, intertwining personal experiences with the collective history of my native country, which no longer exists. In "Witnesses and Testimonies" the images of the war before and now coexist with my family photographs, and the treasured objects stand as silent witnesses of an era. These objects, more than simple artifacts, are fragments of identity and have their own history, a narrative that speaks both about society and the people who owned them. Each one becomes a portal-connector with the past. These objects, carefully preserved over time, are more than mere witnesses; they are silent narrators of everyday life that persists even in the midst of any war. Wars not only destroy lives, but also the memories. The pages of photographic albums and everyday objects become collateral victims of conflicts that irreversibly alter the previous life. I try to reflect on what remains after us: the sewing thimble, a knitted collar, a fork, an empty matchbox or a wad of bills that witnessed another era. Both photographs and objects are keepers of stories, bearers of identities and silent witnesses of time lost but not forgotten" (artist statement).

Bound in brown cloth with Japanese stab binding and paper title label to front board. A series of photogravures printed on Kozo paper with rubber stamp texts. The book, the banknote, an original photograph of the artist's mother, and an envelope containing five inkjet print cards of the authors drawings of sentimental objects with information about the book in Spanish and English are all housed in a custom box. The box is covered in matching brown cloth with paper title label to front panel. [20 pages].

Ioulia Akhmadeeva (1971 - ) was born in Russia but has resided in Mexico for nearly 30 years. She is professor of Fine Arts at the Michoacan State University San Nicolás Hidalgo in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. She has participated in many international exhibitions and won awards and grants for her work. Fine. (#37802)

Price: $3,000

Physical Representation of Time Passing During Quarantine
Unique Hanging Beaded Embroidery
In English and Spanish

Akhmadeeva, Ioulia and Diane Jaime.
248 Hours of Tangible Poetry.
Morelia City, Mexico: 2020.

Unique Book Art Object. A physical representation of the passage of time experienced during the quarantine, expressed beautifully and painstakingly with elaborate beadwork and poetic embroidery.  A five-foot square of white linen embroidered with thread (with collaboration of Diane Jaime) and glass beads by artist in the images of natures element. The author’s personal poems, haikus-like, are in English and Spanish. They were composed and embroidered in the Mexican countryside in a house nestled in a copse of pine trees during the Covid-19 quarantine. The verses repeat many times and read like a meditation. The English language portion of the verses is below:

•              The threads of the rain in tangible writings          
•              Time in rocks     
•              Your name written in time          
•              Intimacy of tangible writings embraces me          
•              Frozen time in moments of happiness    
•              The All in Pine Branch    
•              It's a moment to collect stones of silence              
•              The wind takes my time               
•              Time of recollect the stones        
•              The wind takes my time               
•              Sea of hugs in difficult times       
•              An animal walks among the branches, silence...   

This exquisite textile piece is meant to be hung and displayed. It has a narrow fabric slot along the top edge for a dowel to be inserted (for hanging). Folded and housed in a clamshell box covered in green Japan jacquard silk with brass title label to front board. Size: about 58 x 58 inches. Box size: 15.5 x 15.5 inches.

Ioulia Akhmadeeva (1971 - ) was born in Russia but has resided in Mexico for nearly 30 years. She is professor of Fine Arts at the Michoacan State University San Nicolás Hidalgo in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. She has participated in many international exhibitions and won awards and grants for her work.  Fine. (#36431)

Price: $5,000

Homage to the Sea - Crimea, Ukraine; Baja California, U.S.A.; Guerrero, Mexico
Text in Spanish

Akhmadeeva, Ioulia; Gonzalez, Raul Eduardo (poet).
SEA.
Morelia, Mexico: Ioulia Akhmadeeva and Alternativa Ediciones, 2019.

Number 8 of 17 copies, of which three are special copies with sand and shells from each visited place. Signed by the artist. Includes poetic moments and painterly landscapes from Crimea in the Ukraine, Baja in California, Oaxaca and Guerrero in Mexico. Pages of poetry about the sea are printed on translucent paper that has been cut in various shapes to mirror designs within facing paintings. Many pages have elaborate cut-outs of clouds and starfish to create windows. Stab bound in blue yotsume toji silk over white patterned paper covered boards with black title to the front cover. This book was printed using letterpress, silkscreen, and laser printing. Clean and bright. Unpaginated. [48 pages.]

Created by Russian born book artist Ioulia Akhmadeeva, who has resided and worked in Mexico since 1994. She is a full professor of the book arts at the university in Morelia, Michoacá. Fine. (#35552)

Price: $300

Interconnectedness of Stars in the Galaxy
Text in Spanish
Mexican Press / Chilean Book Artist

[Anémona Editores]
Edwards, María.
Puntos Luminosos [Luminous Points].
Mexico City: Anémona Editores, 2019.

Number 1 of 12 copies, signed and numbered by the artist in the lower tray of the box. This wordless artists' book uses the imagery of a obscured musical score, light, and blackness to suggest the interconnectedness of stars in the galaxy. It was created from repurposed pages from a music book, which have been overprinted with black ink. It is still possible to see several staves and notes through the painted textures and silkscreened layers on each page. The artist chose some of the notes and punched through them with a needle to form connections. These pinpricks, especially when held up to the light, also appear to form constellations.

Hand-sewn with an exposed binding. Housed in a grey clamshell box with black linen side panels. The box is silkscreen printed with the title on the front panel, colophon on interior panel, and a short text on the inside of the box lid as well as on the outer rear box lid. The text on the box is printed in Spanish. The full text with English translation is below:

1. Puntos luminosos / Luminous points
2. oscuridad puntos de luz /  darkness points of light
3. …puntos luminosos, conectados, forman una galaxia… / ... luminous points, connected, form a galaxy...

[46 pages.] Book size: 8.5 x 5.75 inches. Box size: 9.25 x 6.25 inches.

María Edwards (1982 - ) is a Chilean visual artist known for her sculptural works. Her work has been in exhibitions around the world including Argentina, Colombia, Perú, México, Spain, the U.S.A., Paris, and the U.K. She has won several awards including the "Prix Ars Electronica Award" from the Ars Electronica future Lab in Linz, Austria. Fine. (#37814)

Price: $760

Poetry with Woodcuts of Trees
Text in English and Dutch
Mexican Press / Dutch-Mexican Book Artist

[Anémona Editores]
Hans van de Waarsenburg, poems; Jan Hendrix, woodcuts; Peter Boreas, translations.
In.
Banholt, Mexico: Anémona Editores, 2015.

Number 44 of 53 copies. Signed by the illustrator. A finely printed book of poetry in Dutch with English translation on versos. Beautifully illustrated with foldout woodcuts of trees. Bound in black cloth boards with silver title and author to spine. Title letters are silkscreened on boards. Letterpress printed in Bembo type on Magnani vergata avorio paper with woodcuts printed on Hosho paper. A few small spots of foxing to Hosho paper, else pristine. Housed in a black stiff paper slipcase with silver emblem to front panel. Unpaginated. Size: about 11 x 7 inches.

Dutch artist Jan Hendrix (1949 - ) has lived and worked in Mexico for much of his adult life. His work can be found in collections worldwide including the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the National Library of France, the FEMSA Collection. His has also exhibited around the world including Kenya, Ireland, France, Spain, Australia, Cuba, China, and Mexico.

Award winning Dutch poet Hans van de Waarsenburg (1943 - 2015) was a champion of poetry, heading multiple poetry organizations and events in the Netherlands throughout his lifetime. This collection was publishing in the year of his death.
Fine. (#37816)

Price: $1,000

Mythic Island of California (Baja California)
Text in Spanish
Mexican Press / Mexican Book Artist & Photographer

[Anémona Editores]
Lagarde, Patricia, artist; Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.
La Isla de California [The Island of California].
Mexico City: Anémona Editores, 2018.

Number 2 of 12 copies, signed and numbered by the artist. An artists' book based on a text by Spanish author Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo (1450 - 1505) in which he describes the mythical island of Calfornia, located to the West of the Indies. His writings inspired explorers including Hernán Cortés to travel to North America. Originally Baja California was thought to be an island, but was later discovered to be a peninsula. For several centuries beyond this discovery in 1539, European maps continued to depict it as an island. An excerpt from Garci Rodríguez's book "Las Sergas de Explandián" describing the inhabitants of this mysterious island on which only black women live with tools made from gold is printed (in Spanish) on the inner panel of the box lid. A fragment from a French map dating from 1720 depicting the Island of California is printed on the front lid of the box. This accordion book features an altered photographic landscape of the mythic island of California, as described in the 1510 text of Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The original photograph used to create this landscape was taken in Baja California. The colors have been changed to hues of blue on the land and brown in the sky to reflect the mysterious quality of the landscape. It can be viewed as a codex or displayed standing and open. The book itself is wordless; however, text is printed inside of the box.

The book is an archival inkjet print on traditional Arches paper with a silkscreen varnish. The colophon is printed on the rear panel of the box. The box is made from uncovered book board with black linen covered sides and interior panels covered with black paper. The text and colophon are screen printed. In fine condition. Book Size: 11.75 x 6.5 inches, closed. 11.75 x about 48 inches, open. Box Size: 13 x 8 inches.

Patricia Lagarde (1961 - ) is a Mexican photographer, author, and book artist. Her work can be found at libaries internationally including Stanford University, the Getty Foundation, and the Museo Archivo de la Fotografia. Her work has been exhibited at galleries and museums around the world including the Museo de Arte Carillo Gil in Mexico City, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Lowicka Cultural Center in Warsaw, Poland, and the Hong Kong Cultural Center in China. Fine. (#37815)

Price: $1,200

Demand for Justice - Political Disappearance of 43 Students in Mexico
10th Anniversary Edition - Text in Spanish

Guerra, Antonio, artist; Pensaré Cartoneras, compiler and editor.
Ayotzinapa: Desaparición Politica [Forced Disappearance].
Mexico: Pensaré Cartoneras / Licencia Creative Commons, 2024. 

Open edition. Artist Antonio Guerra explains the history behind the creation of this book: "In 2014, 43 students from the Ayotzinapa teacher training college disappeared while participating in a rally. This event was considered by society as a state crime. The parents of the students searched for their children by all means and there was a very important social mobilization. The book Desaparición Política (Political Disappearance) compiles many of the voices in text and image of people who were part of this movement to demand justice. The book is a collaboration with Pensaré Cartoneras, who compiled the testimonies and edited them. Antonio Guerra created the cover image originally to print posters and t-shirts for the protest marches in Mexico City."

Originally published in 2014, this is a new edition issued with a new dust jacket, which was designed by Antonio Guerra. Bound in cardboard covers, a single signature handsewn in red thread. In a brown dust jacket with linocut print and red paint splatters to panels. The front of the jacket is titled: "Dónde están Los 43 estudiantes desaparecidos? 10 Años." Red endpapers. Filled with photographic illustrations of protests and facsimile reproductions of letters of protest. A powerful call to action. In Spanish. Fine. (#37826)

Price: $100

Powerful Poem About the Dead Living Amongst Us
Illustrated with Altered Photographs
Text in Spanish

Guerra, Antonio, author, book artist, and designer; Joel Rendón, Artistic Director; Ana Laura Rubio, binder; Jorge Matias, printer.
Los que no se han ido... [Those who have not left...].
Guerrero, Mexico: 2013.

Number 9 of 10 copies signed and dated by the artistic director, Joel Rendón and by the artist, Antonio Guerra. There were ten copies numbered one through ten, with six additional copies going to the participants. This haunting book produced in Mexico was a collaborative effort, with vintage photographs by anonymous contributors, text and design by Antonio Guerra, binding by Ana Laura Rubio, and silkscreen printing by Jorge Matias. The book artist Antonio Guerra trained as an architect and also studied sculpture and graphics. In 2009 he began working in the book arts. His books are completely handmade in his workshop, either as unique pieces or in very limited series. They are impeccably produced and each one is signed and numbered.

This poignant poem in Spanish writes of the dead, saying they are not dead, and not just memories - and they cling to life as if there were no other. They walk among us, talk to us, and kiss us. The poem is accompanied by several pages of original old silver gelatin photographs of people posing for their portraits, but whose images have been altered with the addition of the heads and bones of skeletons. This was done by etching the bones on the negatives. Text (in Spanish) has been added to several of the photographs as well. The photographs are mounted on black paper using photo corners in what appears to be an old photo album; although, the binding was created specifically for this edition. Each copy was made by hand with a full black leather binding with the title printed in silver on the cover. The covers and edges of the boards show minor wear including rubbing and scuffing - to suggest age and the passing of time. The interior black pages are heavy Canson Mi-Teintes paper. The fore-edges are coated with silver. The text uses the Handwriting-Dakota type face. Includes 17 original photographs. A moving production in fine condition. Measures 7.25 x 9.5 inches. Unpaginated [16 pages using the versos only]. (#37819)

Price: $2,750

Linocuts of Skeletons Celebrating Life
Influenced by Posada

Guerra, Antonio, book artist and author.
El Muerto al Pozo el Vivo al Gozo [The Dead to the Well and the Living to the Joy].
Mexico: Antonio Guerra, 2024.

Number 8 of 10 copies, signed by the artist. According to the artist: "In Mexico, death is full of life. This may seem contradictory, but it is true. The popular saying 'The dead to the well and the living to the joy' refers to the fact that the dead already rest buried, while for the living, life goes on and must be enjoyed." He continues: "In these engravings, images of dead characters appear, but in full action that corresponds to the living, drinking mezcal, riding a bicycle, etc. The characters are framed [with bits of] confetti, the same one that is used to decorate various festivities."

A collection of four linocuts depicting images of skeletons celebrating life. Each print is individually signed and numbered by the artist. A signed colophon page describing the production (in Spanish) is included. The prints and colophon are housed in a folding black paper portfolio with glossy black illustration of a skeleton drinking and enjoying life on the front panel. These prints can be kept together in the portfolio or they can be framed and displayed individually.

The book artist Antonio Guerra trained as an architect and also studied sculpture and graphics. In 2009 he began working in the book arts. His books are completely handmade in his workshop, either as unique pieces or in very limited series. They are impeccably produced and each one is signed and numbered. His work is found in private and public collections worldwide. Size: about 9 x 9 inches. Fine. (#37822)

Price: $1,000

Homage to Posada
A Flipbook of Death Walking, Laughing, and Cursing

Guerra, Antonio, book artist and author.
Pelona Pelada.
Mexico: Antonio Guerra, 2024.

Number 6 of 13 copies. According to the artist, this "is a book from the 'paper cinema' series and is dedicated to the memory of José Guadalupe Posada, an engraver who with his work gave long life to death. In Mexico, death is a character that walks among the living; our people laugh at and with it, here it is not at all strange that death has a life, feelings, desires and hobbies. [The main character in this book is] Pelona Pelada. [She] is a rude skull. In her language she uses bad words and shows her tongue to show her anger."

A flipbook with illustrations animating the skull of Pelona Pelada. She sticks out her tongue and curses in her own mysterious language. Angry and mischievous, she vibrantly celebrates her existence in this colorful artists' book that pays homage to Mexican engraver José Guadalupe Posada (1952 - 1913). Pelona Pelada is a walking contradiction. Her name roughly translates to "Bald Hair" and she is both living and dead as she wanders the pages of this book.

Japanese bound with red cord over grey linen spine panel with beads affixed to ends of the binding cords. The cover and pages are stiff gray paper silkscreen printed in two or three colors per page. This is mostly a wordless book with curses in an unintelligible language of special characters. The book is housed in a red and grey cloth covered portfolio with one of Pelona Pelada's mysterious curses in black on the front panel. The portfolio has a grey ribbon closure. The colophon is in Spanish. Book size: oblong, 9.25 x 6 inches. Box size: oblong, 9.75 x 6.25 inches.

The book artist Antonio Guerra trained as an architect and also studied sculpture and graphics. In 2009 he began working in the book arts. His books are completely handmade in his workshop, either as unique pieces or in very limited series. They are impeccably produced and each one is signed and numbered. His work is found in private and public collections worldwide. Fine. (#37823)

Price: $3,400

Urban Water Usage, Disposal, Conservation, and Reuse
Features Manhole Covers from Miami and Mexico City
Text in Spanish

Guerra, Antonio, book artist and author.
Tláloc.
Mexico City, 2025.

Number 4 of 5 copies, signed by the artist in silver ink. An artists' book on the urban archaeology of water - its usage, disposal, conservation, and reuse - dedicated to the Mexican god of rain, Tláloc.

Artist's Statement: "In my daily walk I found drains, manholes, signs, and other elements of urban furniture that work perfectly as engraving matrices. They are witnesses of the years and keep the iconography of each city; so I started taking impressions, this led me to think: Where does the water we use, or the rainwater go? This is invisible to our eyes, but it is there, in the bowels of the earth, and we are responsible for it. How much of that water could and should we reuse? With this work dedicated to Tlaloc (Mexica god of rain), I want to share these questions, as well as the beauty of the objects found."

This artists' book includes a collection of three large fold-out images silkscreen printed from manhole covers in the Mexico City and Miami, Florida. The original images were taken during walks by the artist via frottage - or rubbings. The prints are housed in a grey cloth covered portfolio with a silkscreened Aztec glyph of the Mexican rain god, Tlaloc and embossed title to front panel. The signed colophon with an explanation of this project is printed in Spanish inside the front cover. A pocket containing the folded prints is pasted down to the rear panel. Grey ribbons hold the portfolio closed. Paper size: about 30 x 20 inches, open. Portfolio size: 16.5 x 11 inches. Fine. (#37820)

Price: $1,500

Unique Hand Embroidered Artists' Book
Transformation of Male / Queer Landscape 

[Hoja De Acebo]
Acebo-Choy, Iván.
Becoming Landscapes.
Mexico City: Iván Acebo-Choy, 2024.

A unique book by this interesting and innovative book artist, Acebo-Choy. Iván Acebo-Choy is a Mexican-born artist who creates hand-embroidered artist's books, exploring themes like urban and natural landscapes, the male body, maps, boredom, and male intimacy, with a focus on queer perspectives. His primary medium is hand-embroidered artist's books, where each book is a collection of hand-embroidered drawings that are then hand-bound. No visuality is closed and limited; all interpretations are valid. Each book is made up of a collection of hand-embroidered illustrations that have been then hand-bound. Each of them explores a wide range of topics, from the urban and natural landscape in interaction with the male body to observations about the graphic nature of maps, boredom, and male intimacy. His interest in embroidering books stems from the ability of embroidery to resemble ink drawings. Embroidery provides whole new dimensions, both conceptual and physical, to the act of conceiving, and interacting with, the finished book. His books aim to change our perception of the act of writing and drawing. They are labor-intensive, and they follow rigorous research on topics that are first translated into drawings on paper before they are transferred and hand-embroidered on to the cloth. Acebo-Choy's books are in private and public collections including the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, The New York Public Library and UC Santa Cruz.

In this new work, Acebo Choy explores new structures and creates intricate multicolored embroidered illustrations done on green cloth of male figures in a mysterious and unfamiliar environment. The illustrations are proceeded by an introduction printed in white on black cloth: "The landscape is never just a backdrop; it transforms and is in turn transformed through pleasure, danger, ritual, and fantasy in the process of its use as a queer site." In an adapted accordion structure that is bound in green cloth with the title in small black print on the front cover and a mysterious illustration on the back cover of a nude figure. Housed in a plain wooden slipcase/Accompanied by a "Certificate of Authenticity" attesting that the book is a one-of-a-kind an authentic original work. It includes the title, medium, dimensions, year, edition and signature. In fine condition. Measures 20 x 16 x 2 cm. Unpaginated 5-6 pages. Fine. (#37849)

Price: $1,400

Unique Hand Embroidered Artists' Book
Balance, Stability, Equality and Male Intimacy

[Hoja De Acebo]
Acebo-Choy, Iván.
Explanation of Balance. (Explicacion Del Equilibrio).
Mexico: Hoja De Acebo, 2024.

A unique artist's book by Iván Acebo-Choy an interesting and innovative book artist from Mexico. Iván Acebo-Choy is a Mexican-born artist who creates hand-embroidered artist's books, exploring themes like urban and natural landscapes, the male body, maps, boredom, and male intimacy, with a focus on queer perspectives.  His primary medium is hand-embroidered artist's books, where each book is a collection of hand-embroidered drawings that are then hand-bound. No visuality is closed and limited; all interpretations are valid. Each book is made up of a collection of hand-embroidered illustrations that have been then hand-bound. Each of them explores a wide range of topics, from the urban and natural landscape in interaction with the male body to observations about the graphic nature of maps, boredom, and male intimacy. His interest in embroidering books stems from the ability of embroidery to resemble ink drawings. Embroidery provides whole new dimensions, both conceptual and physical, to the act of conceiving, and interacting with, the finished book. His books aim to change our perception of the act of writing and drawing. They are labor-intensive, and they follow rigorous research on topics that are first translated into drawings on paper before they are transferred and hand-embroidered on to the cloth. Acebo-Choy's books are in private and public collections including the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, The New York Public Library and UC Santa Cruz.

In his artist's statement online Iván writes about this fascinating new work: "Balance is usually defined as the situation of a body that, despite having little support, remains without falling. Balance is usually a positive concept, a condition of stability that ensures equality. Balance is also a relational concept: imbalance is in the eye of the beholder. This collection of drawings offers a series of drawn and embroidered bodies in the act of attaining (physical) balance. This act, evoked here through subtle stitching and composition, is meant to allude to the forces that exert on a body to push it out of balance. These drawings also want to ask: Is everything meant to fall? Is everybody looking for balance? There is a threaded line that ties all the figures together that offers yet another explanation for balance: el arte de poner el cuerpo en una posición diferente que hiere la imaginación (the art of placing the body in a position so different that hurts the imagination)."

This hand assembled accordion book is comprised of fifteen hand-embroidered panels on fabric with various male figures stitched in black thread with his described threaded lines in gold. Hand assembled accordion book Fifteen hand-embroidered panels on fabric Bound in cream cloth covers with embroidered drawings in black and gold. With a title label on one cover and the text "Tedes les cuerpes bucan la estabilodad?' printed below an image of a hand holding the head of a man. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity with the title, medium, size, year created' and that the edition is unique. In fine condition. Measures 4 x 19cm. Unpaginated.  (#37855)

Price: $1,500

Homage to Joseph Cornell
Addresses Loneliness, Marginalized Sexual Desires, and Isolation
Unique Sculptural, Hand Embroidered Artists' Book

[Hoja De Acebo]
Acebo-Choy, Iván.
Monumento (#1) | Monument (#1).
Mexico: Hoja de Acebo, 2024.

A unique hand embroidered sculptural book presented in a large folding wooden box with sculptural ceramic additions and eleven separate hand-embroidered portraits mounted on wooden discs. An unusual book about loneliness - specifically lonely men, isolation, marginalized sexual desires, and monsters. An homage to Joseph Cornell and his assemblages. Includes male frontal nudity.

According to the artist: "In contemporary culture, loneliness is often pathologized as an illness to be prevented and cured; it is largely figured as a lack. Loneliness itself has been viewed as a causal factor in immersion within marginalized behaviours and communities. In fact, much of the history of emotion scholarship has tended to omit how sexuality, specifically marginalized sexuality, shapes and is shaped by loneliness.

In trying to open up alternative figurations of this feeling, this artist’s book presents a series of panels featuring Cornell, a monster with the body of a man and head of a deer. The panels illustrate Cornell’s gestures and feelings of loneliness and aim at inspiring creative reflection on issues such as identity, the body and sexual desire when lonely.

While loneliness, isolation, and ostracism have played a central part in the lives of queer people, often times by imposition, this piece seeks to reclaim loneliness as a radical creative pathos.

It is also an homage to Joseph Cornell, one of the most fruitful and celebrated proponents of assemblage who, despite his influence and prolific body of work, lived most of his life in relative physical isolation."

A wooden book with five double sided panels, which are hinged and latched together with a large metal handle affixed to the top of the middle panel. The panels can all be opened and extended in an accordion format. The embroidered imagery inside depicts a monster with the head of a deer and body of a man. Ceramic sculptures of antlers are permanently attached to several panels; although, additional antlers come with the book and can be displayed between panels. There are 4 ceramic sculptures in total. Eleven embroidered portraits of heads can also be displayed and moved between panels. The front panel of the box includes a photograph printed in cyanotype. Size: 37 x 25.5 x 24 cm, closed; 37 x 25.5 x 128 cm, open.

Iván Acebo-Choy is a Mexico-born artist who makes artists' books. "I create objects to be read; not just to be seen but read with your eyes and hands. Each book is made up of a collection of hand-embroidered drawings that have been then hand-bound. Each of them explores a wide range of topics, from the urban and natural landscape in interaction with the male body to observations about the graphic nature of maps, boredom, and male intimacy. These books carry no other text than that which is embroidered: a figure, a trace, sometimes a small word: No visuality is closed and limited; all interpretations are valid. My interest in embroidering books stems from the ability of embroidery to resemble ink drawings. Embroidery provides whole new dimensions, both conceptual and physical, to the act of conceiving, and interacting with, the finished book. My books aim to change our perception of the act of writing and drawing. They are labor-intensive, and they follow rigorous research on topics that are first translated into drawings on paper before they are transferred and hand-embroidered on to the cloth. As a result, they are mostly unique editions" (Artist Statement).

Acebo-Choy's books are in private and public collections including the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, The New York Public Library, and UC Santa Cruz.  Fine. (#37837)

Price: $2,800

Steam Engines in Mexico - Photography Collection
Finely Printed with Poem and Essay on Photographer

Rose, Thomas.
Coal, Smoke & Steam: Ted Rose Mexico 1960/1961.
Minneapolis: Thomas Rose Studio, 2023.

Number 12 of 20 copies signed and numbered by Thomas Rose. Also signed by Steven Albahari, artist and photographer who wrote the text with Thomas and a poem for Ted Rose that is a preface to the text. This is a stunning book that Thomas Rose has created as an homage to the spectacular railroad photography done by his brother Ted in the early 1960s. Thomas writes in his author's notes: Because the railroad images were the oeuvre and focus in much of Ted's work, his works appeal to that genre. Ted's interests as I mention in this book have more to do with the transition of technology and the post war industrial landscape. The historical aspect of the book is with the photographs from 1960-61 and the sell-off these [iconic] steam engines to Mexico.  

In an author's note on a separate sheet of paper that accompanies the book, Thomas writes: "[the book] considers a series of 21 photographs shot by the visual artist Ted Rose (1940-2002) between 1960 and 1961 in Central Mexico as he sought out the last working steam locomotives- many sold to Mexico when U.S. companies transitioned to diesel.....As I structured the form of the book around the sublime in Rose's night photographs I chose to highlight those with the greatest density of black, with emphases on the blur of smoke and steam." Thomas continues:

The basic framework [of this production] is the clamshell box, and inside its front cover is an image of coal. The book is also housed in the box that accompanies the unbound photographic images. This is the book of text that includes Thomas's foreword essay on Ted's life, a poem by Steven Albahari, a  preface to the photographs with text from Ted's daughter Molly and a piece by Curtis L Carter that considers Ted's photography, acknowledgements, an epilogue, the colophon, and an index of the images. The 21 images are under the book; these are numbered but unbound. The numbering of the images is related to Ted's age (21) at the time when the images were taken on one of his many sojourns to Mexico and into Guatemala; under the photographs is the image of steam. In fine condition. The book is 14.5 x 16.5 x 1.75, inches. It opens horizontally. The cover is black Japanese rayon / cotton, with Japanese black silk inside. The is in Black silk and stamped with the title only. The book weighs approx. 11 pounds. Fine. (#37346)

Price: $3,000

Space Exploration - Modern Missions, Mythology, Ancient Rituals, and Perfumes
Mexican Poet
Text in Spanish and English

[The Old School Press]
Boullousa, Carmen (poetry), Philip Hughes with Amy Petra Woodward (images); Psiche Hughes (translator and introduction).
Alchemy of the Planets | Alquimia de los Planetas.
Seaton, UK: Old School Press, 2018.

Number 21 of 60 copies. Numbered and signed by the poet, artists, translator, and printer. This collaboration between Mexican poet, Carmen Boullousa and English artist, Philip Hughes was inspired by space travel. According to the introduction, both the poet and artist decided to create this book after viewing new images of the planets and moons taken during recent space missions. The first step in this collaboration was Hughes's paintings, which are colorful abstractions of photographic planetary landscapes. Boullousa's poetry draws on Hughes's imagery and also on her research into celestial bodies in mythology, ancient rituals attached to their worship, and perfumes used during these rites. She cites Hesiod's "Theogony" and "Orphic Hymns" as being influential. This is the third book that Boullousa, Hughes, and translator, Psiche Hughes have collaborated on.  This work is comprised of an introductory booklet and twelve folders containing poetry and artwork, each devoted to planets or moons including: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Europa, Saturn, Enceladus, Rhea, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. All text is letterpress printed in English and in Spanish. The contents include 32 artworks by Phillip Hughes, printed digitally from paintings, pastels, and digital collages, 13 poems, an introduction, and a list of included celestial bodies with details about relevant space missions. The poetry was hand-set in Hunt Roman type on Somerset Velvet Radiant White and the images were printed on Somerset Velvet Enhanced and mounted on Velin Arches Noir. Housed in an aluminum box with magnetic closure, which was produced by Graphic Metal Company, Ltd. with a blue silk-screened design to the front panel.

Phillip Hughes (1936 - ) is a self-taught English artist who often paints unusual landscapes from remote areas and archaeological sites; however, this is his first series of work dealing with extra-terrestrial topography. For this book, he was heavily influenced by photography from the New Horizons mission (2015) which provided close-up images of Pluto as well as images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2016), the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn (2016), the probe Dawn to the dwarf planet Ceres (2016), images from the Hubble Space Telescope, and more. His work is held in international collections including The British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Library of Congress. Mexican poet, novelist, and playwright, Carmen Boullousa (1954 - ), often addresses issues of feminism and gender roles in her work. When researching celestial bodies for this project, she was pleased to learn about Tapputi, a Babylonian woman who is considered to be the first female chemist and perfumer recorded in history. It is perhaps due to her that Boullousa chose to include references to perfume within her poetry.  Folder Size: 12.5 x 14 inches. Box Size: 14.75 x 16.5 x 3.75 inches. Fine. (#36085)

Price: $3,000