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This artist’s book reverts to four tabs and gatefold gatherings. Except for its red head- and tail-bands, it is entirely black and white, unlike the two works displayed above. Also unlike them, it introduces typewriter-written letters. In art historical terms, it leans less toward Piet Mondrian and more toward Theo Van Doesburg and Vilmos Huszár. The grid in the image of Huszár’s De Stijl cover and the images from Van Doesburg’s monument design, architectural analysis, and his 1919 typeface design “Architype” echo among Evrard’s construction.
Displayed flat, Evrard’s Untitled (2011) has the feel of an architectural design drawing. Displayed upright, it has the feel of an architectural model.
Her black and white composition with scalpel, fold, space, and Letraline adhesive tape is captivating. A window cut in a strip of tape floating in the window of space excised from the page casts its light through the space beyond and onto the page behind. A multi-grid cutout could be giving a bird’s-eye view onto street markings and tram tracks or a view through the walls of a high-rise construction with girders, rebar, and sheetrock.
Ken Botnick was right when he said, “Artist books are to the world of books as poetry is to the field of writing.” Reading each of these three artist’s books is like reading a well-crafted poem. Each requires close attention, re-reading, and shifts of perspective. The reward is a world of views within views.
Robert Bolick
