In her experimentation with curling irons, clothes pins and water, barer transforms volumes of irrelevant and outdated information into coiled, crumpled. Her inspiration stems from a random encounter where she discovered a rainsoaked yellow pages. Read our purchasing terms for details about art sales, shipping. Books, physical objects and repositories of information, are being displaced by zeros and ones in a digital universe with no physicality.
Cara barer cara barer is a texasborn and raised artist whose art uses books distorted in various ways that make them unrecognizable. Dictionary aka pz 72 by cara barer susan spiritus gallery. Cara barer s book project has a lot to do with chance and experimentation. About the artist my photographs are primarily a documentation of a physical. Artist statement i transform books into art by sculpting them, dyeing them and then through the medium of photography presenting them anew as objects of beauty.
The artist s creative process includes the transformation of outdated, abandoned and obsolete books into coiled, crumpled and sculptural objects. Understanding a book as an artwork invites a reflection on the properties of the book form itself. The book as an art form artists books libguides at. September 18, 20 by cbarer in uncategorized and tagged book art, fine art leave a comment.
I transform books into art by sculpting them, dyeing them and then through the medium of photography presenting them anew as objects of beauty. Cara barer a random encounter with the houston yellow pages on drew street was the initial inspiration for this project. Pink butterfly by cara barer susan spiritus gallery. I have a gallery and have actively been selling work for over 17 years, interestingly enough, i saw your work in boston at either neimans and nordstroms but never knew how to contact you. Through my art, i document this and raise questions about the fragile and ephemeral nature of books and their future. Written by laura gonzalez cara barer s book project has a lot to do with chance and experimentation. Cara barer fine art photography, photography services. Old books transformed into works of art by houstonbased fine art photographer cara barer. Cara barer photography book sculpture, book photography, paper.
I would love to speak to you about possibly representing you in boston. Cara barers inspiration came when she saw a rainsoaked yellow pages lying on the ground. Portfolio cara barer photography book sculpture, book. A new object artspace at untitled, oklahoma city, ok g. Texas based photographer cara barer puts a new meaning in book art through her colorful sculptures out of discarded phone books, computer manuals, maps and the like that she transforms and then photographs.
From there she began her practice and dove into the search for books as well alternate. While artists books can take many forms, there are a few elements that are common across the practice. Cara barers books book art, book sculpture, art photography. Julie blackmon midwest materials 2018 available for sale artsy. The university of mississippi museum brian dettmer.
After soaking it in the bathtub for a few hours, it had a new shape and purpose. The artist photographs outdated, abandoned and obsolete books, but only after transforming them into exquisite sculptural objects. Feb 12, 2014 cara barer usa photos of book sculptured into art. Butterfly 2 2006 fine art photographer cara barer transforms old books into complex works of art, breathing new life and purpose into objects that would ordinarily collect dust or be discarded. A random encounter with an old phone book was the primary inspiration and after that, more than seven years ago, she began the search for more books and methods to change their appearance. Cara barer coloring book 2 2018 available for sale. Cara barer s photographs of splayed out, crumpled, and folded book. The book is a medium that allows an artist s work to be accessible to a multitude of people in different locations at any given time. Book sculptures cara barer photography book sculpture. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and. Half price books became a regular haunt, and an abandoned house gave me a set of outdated reference books, complete with mold and neglect.
Cara barer photographs outdated, abandoned and obsolete books but only after transforming them into sculptural objects. The houston fine art fair will be opening this coming thursday night at 7. Fine art photographer cara barers book sculptures photos. About the artist my photographs are primarily a documentation of a physical evolution. Cara barer cara barer visually documents the way in which society has come to retrieve information by changing a common reference book into a work of sculpture and photographing the outcome. She realized she owned many books that were no longer of use to her or to anyone else. In barer s latest work, the artist s own creations books bound with sheet music, wallpaper, and pictures from her travels are captured after being transformed into magnificent abstract compositions.
Andre petterson artwork presented by foster white gallery. His current photographybased work explores various themes of lighting to create elements of mystery. Cara barer s inspiration came when she saw a rainsoaked yellow pages lying on the ground. A short survey of book art bedford art center, san francisco, ca g altered books. She has an associate degree from the art institute of houston, and has studied drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture at the glassell school of art. Cara barer i am an artist living in houston, texas. Please join us on saturday, january 9th at 6pm, when we kickoff the 2016 year with an exhibition of outstanding new work by gallery artist, cara barer. Coiled and crumpled, they segue into a considered commentary on the changing role of libraries, societys relationship with how it accesses and values knowledge, and in a technologically. Cara barer artist biography, past and future exhibitions. Sculptor cara barer bends, folds and curls the pages of unwanted books, sometimes coloring their edges, molding them into forms that suggest organic life like birds, insects and even the undersides of mushrooms. Cara barer shares her favorite space houston chronicle. This sculptural book photo project was inspired by an edition of the houston yellow pages that cara barer ran into on the street. Available for sale from bauxi gallery, cara barer, coloring book 2 2018, archival pigment print mounted on archival substrate, framed in black with plex.
Barer adjusts and molds the pages of old books to create a series of pieces that represent a variety of objects and themes that stand out from an top view perspective against a solid black background. Discover interesting facts about cara barer on artnet. Books, physical objects and repositories of information, are being displaced by zeros and ones in. In barers latest work, the artists own creations books bound with sheet. Barer adjusts and molds the pages of old books to create a series of pieces that represent a variety of objects and. Eileen cowin concert, photography, technology, fotografie, tech, tecnologia, photo shoot. Her photography, centered around dampwaterdamaged books, has appeared in shows from new york to california, and throughout the state of texas. Montrealbased artist guy laramee uses the texture of the pages to give the feeling of earth and rocks in his landscape sculptures. He is the archetypal termite artist, as defined by the critic manny farberan artist whose work goes.
American, born 1956, lives and works in houston, tx i transform books into art by sculpting them, dyeing them and then through the medium of photography presenting them anew as objects of beauty, says barer, who uses curling irons and water to manipulate outdated, abandoned and obsolete books before immortalizing with her camera. I use paper, books and paint to create my art and photography to document it. Barer has been represented in numerous exhibitions across the u. Cara barer is well known for her book sculptures, book photography, and paper sculptures. Cara barer, new work hulsewarman gallery, taos, nm s information revisited encyclopedia britannica project, belskie museum of art and science, closter, nj g unbound. She is a graduate of the art institute of houston, the university of houston and the glassell school of art. Altered, sculpted, carved, transformed is a weighty, papercovered hardback with more than two hundred beautiful photographs that depict the work of nearly thirty altered book artists around the world, primarily in the u. About upcoming commissions exhibitions bibliography portfolio 20042005 20062007 20082009 20102011 201220 20142015 20172018.
Cara barer, book artist, took a simple and elegant idea and produced these. Cara barer artwork presented by foster white gallery, seattle. Cara explains the work by saying, books, physical objects and repositories of information, are being. Now living in texas she uses old phone books, computer. She photographed its intricately bent pages and soon began the search for more books, and more methods to change their appearance. More recently, barer has experimented with constructing her own handmade artist books, made from a variety of accumulated materialsmaps. Incredibly beautiful book art of cara barer strictlypaper. Cara barer is an american photographer known for her images of book sculptures. Each book tells me how to begin according to its size, type of paper, and sometimes contents. In 2004, nile published his own book, the candy men, about the controversial publication and reception of. Rembrandt and the dutch masters use of light have strongly influenced petterson. Phone books, software manuals, reference books, and other obsolete and discarded books find their way into her work.
About upcoming commissions exhibitions bibliography portfolio 2004 2005 20062007 20082009 20102011 201220 20142015 2017 2018. Andre petterson petterson attempts to capture the essence of a splitsecond in time. Cara barer has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the us and canada since 1994. Photographer cara barer has been working on a beautiful book art series since 2004. American born artist cara barer trained at the glassell school of art and the san francisco art institute.
In doing so, she is able to coax new meaning where there was only typeset text before. Her process involves searching for books that are no longer in use such as software manuals or halfprice books, soaks them in the bathtub for a few hours, then dyes and. She is represented by galleries nationwide, in canada, brazil, and europe. After photographing that abandoned book, i realized that i owned many books that were no longer of use to me, or anyone else. Book sculptures by cara barer fine art photography.
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