Anik Vinay France
French book artist Anik Vinay has created collaborative books since 1976 at the Atelier des Grames, Giogondas, France. The Atelier des Grames has been producing limited edition handmade books since 1968. Vinay joined the studio in 1976 and has been its principle artist for the last 10 years. She is a graduate of Ecole des Beaux Arts of Valence, France and has exhibited widely and received numerous awards throughout her career. Vinay invites contemporary writers and poets to collaborate with her in her studio, giving their unpublished works a visual form. The text serves as inspiration for each piece and the results have been described as “theater” for the written word. Vinay’s works incorporate a variety of techniques and methods such as engraving and typography and make use of an array of materials including handmade paper, ceramics, wood, glass, plastic and metal.
We found this astonishing book at the Codex Fair this year. It looks like (and is) a beautiful shale rock with gold showing in the cross section so magical and heavy in your hand. The text is a poem, written on black paper in white ink - a poem by Antoine Ernaz. The poem is found “in” the rock, like a precious motherlode.
La Nuit Posee La, (The Night Placed It There), 1992, handwritten poem by Antoine Emaz bound in slate.
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