The Palace del Embarcadero hosts from August 14 until January 8, 2015 the exhibition 'What is an artist's book?' That takes place from very significant works the contribution that creators have made to the world of the world of edition. This exhibition, which will be inaugurated at 8:00 p.m. Industrial, a unique collection formed by thousands of works and documents that integrate all the currents and artistic tendencies of the twentieth century.
The organization and production of this sample corresponds to the Port Authority of Santander and the Lafuente Archive. As defined since the latter, ‘a collection of artist books is the narration of the desires, intelligence and intuitions of its author. An exhibition on artist books leads all these elements to meet the public, putting into play the intellectual and visual capacities, taste, knowledge, curiosity and emotions of the visitor ’. The visitor has the responsibility of finding an answer to the question that arises in the title What is an artist's book?, Through his own experience during the visit.
The exhibition starts at the beginning of the 20th century and expands to the contemporary era, grouping publishing works of very diverse poetic and artistic fields. The central nucleus brings together the books of the historical avant -garde, which would project their ways and themes towards the postwar works of World War II, and whose influence extends until today. From this nucleus, four thematic axes group the chosen books: the form, sign and color; the concept, theory and archive; the word, writing and story; and vision, participation and utopia. In the different axes we find works by artists such as Bruno Munari, Carl Andre, Fernand Léger, Vasily Kandisnky, George Grosz, Marcel Duchamp, Stephane Mallarmé, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Max Ernst, Robert Delaunay ...
The sample ends with three emblematic artists: Sonia Dalaunay, Fortunato Amazo and Anselm Kiefer, three symbols of the same time, radically different. They are emblems of the diversity and ability of the artist's book to show the author's thinking and imagination, which transforms the meaning of reading through visual perception.
Lafuente Archive
The Lafuente Archive, created by José María Lafuente in 2002, brings together various collections and documentary funds on contemporary art. Its primary sense is to compile works, books, magazines, catalogs, manifestos, pamphlets, ephemeral publications, engravings, letters, cards, manuscripts, objects, photographs, images and projects, but its purpose is to be able to draw and follow different lines of research that allow Know firsthand the flow of ideas, acts, events and events that make up the history of modern and contemporary art, from the avant -garde to postmodernity.
The Lafuente Archive has approximately 120,000 documents, to which 2,000 works of art are added.