This is an exhibition of and about books organized by the graphic design firm Purtill Family Business. The selection of artworks, books and projects surveys a landscape of volumes by focusing on the relationship of books to contemporary visual arts. It proposes that the space of the book is a generous venue, both a literal space of a certain, human scale and an imaginary space that ranges widely across subjects and visual structures.

The exhibition moves beyond the usual categories of books related to art—art books, artist’s books, or books about art—and instead provides an environment in which each exhibited book—and all the books—can be considered. In a provocative parallel to their highly collaborative practice, the exhibition presents Purtill Family Business’s own ideas alongside invited participants whose work demonstrates an inspired relationship with and to publishing. A range of actual books has been included: the complete catalogue of onestar publications, an artist book publisher; and publications selected by Bettina Funcke, a curator and editor; Matthew Marks, a gallerist; Christoph Keller, an art publisher; and William Pym, an art writer. Among the other components of the show are representations of books as objects; two performances that explore different literary imaginaries; and a selection from “Double Spreads,” an exhibition of photographs of open books taken by graphic designers. Finally, two artist books have been commissioned to accompany this project, one by Zoe Strauss and the other by Heidie Giannotti.

The exhibition has been designed as a series of encounters that allow a slow exploration of publications. In spite of the usurpation of our reading attention by computers, there are more books being published each year and more demand on our attention and time. In this exhibition, books are present, as objects to be explored in the hand and by the eye and imagination, and as photographed images that focus on the very specific landscapes that book objects provide—literal spaces and paper architecture, as well as planes that support the subtle graphic design of each page. The gallery has been organized simply to allow the space and the time for leisurely examinations of the exhibition’s contents and propositions. Please take a seat, or seats, and stay for as long as you like.

Exhibitions at Temple Gallery are supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Friends of Temple Gallery.

Volume Attempts: The Space of Books is supported in part by The Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.