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Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.
Book of Borders: There is Struggle on Both Sides of the Line (Spread 1)
Catarina Coelho (Portuguese (active in the United States), born in 1978)
2017
Medium/Technique
Woodcut on paper with orange marker
Dimensions
Sheet (unfolded): 22.9 × 55.9 cm (9 × 22 in.)
Credit Line
The Abbot Lawrence Fund
Accession Number2021.141.1
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Contemporary Art, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsIllustrated books
Catarina Coelho likes to work from “humble to large, small to universal.” The words in this book are simple terms with potential to signal broad meaning. “Border,” “contrast,” and “harmony” might refer to book production or art theory, as much as current events, emotions, and relationships. The apparently basic materials of the book likewise conjure layers of meaning. The woodcuts (the oldest printed book technique) are roughhewn with tools intended for all manner of printing: wood-carving, etching, engraving, or carpentry. Folds in the paper create borders, transitions, and barriers from one page to another. Markers highlight ridges, like contour lines on a map or lines of attack; red ribbons act as margins, dividers, and punctuation among other possibilities.
State
Artist's Proof
DescriptionUnbound book. Woodcut print and markers (red and orange). The text typed with a Sears typewriter with black-and-red ribbon. 33 page spreads of 9 x 22 inches with red ribbon in 23 spreads.
Artist's proof executed and hand-printed by the artist.
This is a book about books, about lines that become borders, about divisions that can be overcome, about opposite ideas, reconciliation, and the dissolution of contrasts. -- Catarina Coelho
Additional notes: The book is displayed unbound, with all 33 spreads open in an ordered narrative.
There are 23 ribbons placed differently on the spreads. The ribbons are red and are a moving border/line which specific placement expands the narrative in each page.
Ribbon is a string/rope lace number 550 and of red color.
Artist's proof executed and hand-printed by the artist.
This is a book about books, about lines that become borders, about divisions that can be overcome, about opposite ideas, reconciliation, and the dissolution of contrasts. -- Catarina Coelho
Additional notes: The book is displayed unbound, with all 33 spreads open in an ordered narrative.
There are 23 ribbons placed differently on the spreads. The ribbons are red and are a moving border/line which specific placement expands the narrative in each page.
Ribbon is a string/rope lace number 550 and of red color.
Provenance2021, sold by the artist to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 24, 2021)