One of the larger works in our collection is a book called Recovery filled with matted drawings by the artist Alfonso Ossorio. Created in 1995, this compilation of drawings represents the body of work created as Ossorio pushed through his illness.
Each of his drawings is mounted and matted on Stonehenge and stamped with contiguous numbers coinciding with their appearance in the book. The drawings all contain twisting and weaving colors of cyan, orange, or magenta and hold the viewer to a mostly subconscious thread of continuity, a base level of mood. This is perhaps what makes the absence of these colors so noticeable towards the end of the illustrated series.
[click to enlarge]
Recovery represents the combined efforts of many people. The book itself was designed impeccably by The Center for Book Arts founder Richard Minsky and contains a lovingly historical and analytic purview of Ossorio’s life and artistic processes by Dr. Lewis Thomas. Praise of his legacy as an artist, benefactor, collector, and friend is stated at the very back of the book. Throughout the pages, writing and collaborative efforts are documented silently without affixed names, but on the very last page are the signatures of all of the contributors. (Collaborators include: Rose Slivka, Lewis Thomas, B H Friedman, and Richard Minsky (CBA).
Recovery is an excellent example of the book as a vessel for visual expression. The superb matte job of each print lends a clean scope to the brightly colored and intensely non-linear works they contain. From the perspective of recovery, each drawing either overwhelms the viewer with an overload of a mind in a crisis or the sparse lines of absolute conviction within expression. There is an undeniable parallel between the book as a vessel and Ossorio’s famous work in the medium of assemblage. The idea of making a statement by balancing visual components is part of all artistic media. The book is one that remains true to the idea of preserving this balance to continually inspire.
Read the colophon and find out more about this work: here.
Read an interview with Alfonso Ossorio: here.
Don't forget to attend the opening of Multiple, Limited, Unique: Selections from the Permanent Collection of the Center for Book Arts: Wednesday, July 6, 7 - 9 pm!
Don't forget to attend the opening of Multiple, Limited, Unique: Selections from the Permanent Collection of the Center for Book Arts: Wednesday, July 6, 7 - 9 pm!
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Rebecca Kish