Warren Lehrer, a 2016 Honoree of the Center for Book Arts, will present/perform his work as an author, designer, and book artist, and discuss the relationship between his books, animations and performances. The “pioneer of visual literature and design authorship” will also talk about the role of collaboration in his work as well as working solo.

An overview of Lehrer’s development as an artist/author of books and multimedia projects, including collaborations with Judith Sloan, Gogol Bordello, Frank London and Andrew Griffin, concludes with Lehrer’s newest book and multimedia project, Five Oceans in a Teaspoon, a collaboration with journalist/poet Dennis J Bernstein. After the talk, Lehrer will sign copies of Five Oceans in a Teaspoon, which Johanna Drucker describes as “a masterpiece of visual poetics” in her review of the book in the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Warren Lehrer: Books, Animation, Performance, Collaboration explores Lehrer's approach to visualizing poetry and prose in multi-branched projects through books, typography, animation, performance, and collaboration. The centerpiece is Lehrer’s newest book/project, Five Oceans in a Teaspoon, a collaboration with poet/investigative journalist Dennis J Bernstein (Paper Crown Press, 2019). In addition to copies of the Five Oceans in a Teaspoon book, the exhibit includes 27 prints of individual poems and a reel of a dozen animations. The exhibit also features some of Lehrer’s previous books and animations/films/performances that branch from them, including: Globalization: Preventing the Sameness of the World and clips from 1001 Voices: Symphony for a New America—offshoots of Crossing the BLVD (W.W. Norton) co-authored with Judith Sloan; and animations and films used in Lehrer’s performances of his illuminated novel A LIFE IN BOOKS: The Rise and Fall of Bleu Mobley (Goff Books). Lehrer and Bernstein’s first book/play FRENCH FRIES (1984, VSW), and other solo and collaborative bookworks provide further context.

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The Center for Book Arts promotes active explorations of both contemporary and traditional artistic practices related to the book as an art object. The Center seeks to facilitate communication between the book arts community and the larger spheres of contemporary visual and literary arts, while being a model organization locally, nationally, and internationally within the field. We achieve this through exhibitions, classes, public programming, literary presentations, opportunities for artists and writers, publications, and collecting.

Support for the Center for Book Arts’ Visual Arts Program is provided, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Image courtesy of the artist.