Viewing Room, The Library of Independent Exchange Exhibition

The Gallery at Plymouth College of Art will be hosting the ‘Viewing Room’ exhibition from Monday 6 February, showcasing printed matter from The Library of Independent Exchange.

The exhibition will run until Friday 24 February, with an opening event taking place on Wednesday 8 February. This is a chance to join the curators for drinks to celebrate the opening of this new exhibition, including the unveiling of a brand new ‘wing’ of the library focused on independent poetry publications. The opening event will take place from 5pm to 7:30pm and co-curator Christopher Green will give a short introduction to the library at 6pm.

Christopher will also be holding a drop-in session on Friday 24 February from 9am to 5pm to mark the final day of the show. He will be located in the gallery space, making himself available to assist with the viewing of the articles on display, and providing an opportunity to pose and discuss questions about the collection. Refreshments will be provided.

Examining ideas of construction, market value and format, ‘Viewing Room’ aims to explore and discuss the role of the book within contemporary creative practices. Through utilizing examples from The Library of Independent Exchange the curators will construct within the gallery a system of categorisation denoting key forms of artist publication.

Also included is a new section of works exploring poetry and performance writing. The curators of ‘Viewing Room’ have also invited selected publishers and artists to contribute lists of their ‘favourite’ books from their own personal collections, exploring the idea of what is held in a collection and its influence on the creative output of their keepers.

Featuring special contributions from: Ed Ruscha (USA), New Jerseyy (CH), Hans Ulrich Obrist (UK), Jem Southam (UK), Jeff Eaton (USA), Benjamin Sommerhalder (CH), Lionel Bovier (CH), Marco Kane Braunschweiler (USA), Layla Tweedie-Cullen (NZ), Alec Finlay (UK).

Literary contributions from: Friary Road House (UK), Crater Press (UK), Mark Leahy (UK), A Circular (UK), Tony Lopez (UK), Gagarin (BE), Holly Pester (UK), Hot Gun Journal (UK), halfcircle (UK). A short film by An Endless Supply (UK) will be on loop in the gallery for the duration of the exhibition.

Viewing Room is curated by Christopher Green & Mark James

For more information visit: http://www.l-i-e.co.uk and http://gallery.plymouthart.ac.uk or call Plymouth College of Art on 01752 203434.

For more information visit http://www.l-i-e.co.uk/