Alaska Journal

I've been on a bookbinding roll lately, trying to refine my hardcover binding technique and find the best possible way to refill old books. My goal is to make attractive, durable bindings that do not obscure the books original endpapers. 

This book is one I've had for several years, I bought it at a thrift store. In fact, it's appeared on this blog before. It's a National Geographic Collection of articles about Alaska. I read the book cover to cover (I am fascinated by cold, remote places) and kept it because I thought the cover design was lovely. 

The best part is that I was able to remove the library card from the discarded portion of the book and place it onto the back endsheet, a nice detail I thought. 

:: Alaska, cover :: 

:: Front inside, with original endsheets, new matching cloth hinge, and a new text block ::

 :: The book's original library card, salvaged and reattached ::

Other Selections at The Center for Art in Wood


I will be showing new work in Other Selections: Local Artists Respond to The Museum Collection, at The Center for Art in Wood. The show will be up May 1st - July 18th. Tomorrow, Friday May 1st will be the First Friday opening event, from 5-8. This promises to be an incredible show, with diverse work from 19 Philadelphia Artists. I hope to see you there.

Artists: Jaime Alvarez, Todd Baldwin, Timothy Belknap, Marc Blumthal, Mark Brosseau, Lewis Colburn, Patrick Coughlin, Marianne Dages, Christina P. Day, Leslie Friedman, Jason Gandy, James Johnson, Ryan McCartney, Alexis Nutini, Joanna Platt, Terri Saulin Frock, H. John Thompson, and Tamsen Wojtanowski

:: A part of Reading Variations, letterpress print on paper and vellum, 2015, Marianne Dages ::


Preparing for the Philadelphia Art Book Fair

:: a display portfolio for prints ::

I've been working long days and evenings getting ready for the Philadelphia Art Book Fair. All the little details for display, like pricing, packaging, etc. always take longer than I think they will, but it's starting to come together.

Mark Cohen will be speaking on Friday. He's one of my favorite artists. Seriously, you have to be pretty important to me and my practice to have made this little list below. There's some pretty heavy hitting programming scheduled, I suggest you take a look.


:: sketchbook drawings and list of influences ::

Philadelphia Art Book Fair 2015


:: Philadelphia Art Book Fair ::

I had to take it a little easy in the studio this weekend because I came down with a nasty cold. But I did manage to do some prep work for the Philadelphia Art Book Fair, coming up April 24th and 25th. I'm excited to participate in this event, which will host a diverse group of institutions, presses, and individual artists. I highly recommend taking a look through the exhibitor list. Closer to the event date, there will also be events and lectures to check out too. 

My main focus will be recent experimental letterpress edition books and prints, but I will also be bringing a small selection of unique handmade journals for sale as well. 

:: unique handmade books ::

One day, the sea will overflow into the valley and roll over all...

I was working on an artist's statement today and writing,  "...paper; fleet and quiet carrier of words and questions...an intent to look with an eye that sees both the mystical and the negligible as valid and acknowledges their equivalents and connections."

Fleet sources and thoughts. Belief in world's beyond our own perceptions. Beauty in the ability in people to create their own realities for whatever reason.

I keep thinking about an illustration of a wave I found in an old children's book and its caption 

One day, the sea will overflow into the valley and roll over all...





Reading Variations

 :: gouache on paper ::

I'm working on a piece for an upcoming show titled Reading Variations. It's actually a collaboration with my father. We are both looking at the same piece of writing and responding to it. This drawing is part of my side of the project. 

Now I'm working on turning it into a print.

 :: hand-cut printing matrices on boxcar base ::

:: first layer, letterpress print in process ::

IPCNY 50|50 New Prints 2015/ Winter Opens Tonight

The International Print Center New York's 50|50 New Prints/2015 Winter opens tonight in Manhattan. Grid is included in the exhibition which will run January 15 through March 14, 2015.

IPCNY's New Prints program works puts together beautiful exhibitions of new print work. In a statement regarding this exhibition, the 50th of its kind, the gallery notes...

"Opening IPCNY's 15th Anniversary year, 50/50: New Prints 2015/Winter is the fiftieth in this unique exhibition series. With all prints required to have been made within the past year, these shows bring to the fore new trends, talents and techniques as they emerge in the field of contemporary printmaking. Many mediums of printmaking are represented, including etching, lithography, silkscreen, and relief." (and letterpress!)

Thrilled to again be a part of one of IPCNY's New Prints program. Thank you!
 :: Marianne Dages, Grid, letterpress print, 2014 ::

:: more work from 50 | 50, including work (l to r) by Szilvia Revesz, Ross Racine, and Jennifer Marshall  ::

:: I spy Grid in the upper right hand corner! ::

Geist Magazine Review of Distant Operator

A well-written and insightful review of Distant Operator by Evan Paul Laudenslager for Geist Magazine. I think the greatest experience of this show has been to have access to writer's perspective of what they seeing. I feel very close to this work, it can be difficult to talk about it. Reading these points of view is a rare and challenging thing. Thank you.

:: on the left, Aleut, on the right, White Lepiota ::

" A success of the work is an emphasis on variety of process. Dages has worked mainly in printmaking, photography, and book arts. These processes clearly influence the narrative display of the work, and reaching connections between pieces both aesthetically and in process is intuitive and enjoyable for the eye. The materiality of her pieces correlates to her love of books: bone, ink, lead, and thread all feature prominently. Even these objects reach a higher significance under Distant Operator’sthemes; the mortal utility of bone, the toxic allure of lead, or the permanence of ink. These executions are fluid and varied, charcoal rubbings and darkroom prints made without cameras and using only photographic chemicals become visually interchangeable while staying theoretically disparate. "

Read More HERE

- "MARIANNE DAGES EXPLORES MYTH, TRANSLATION IN DISTANT OPERATOR AT NAPOLEON GALLERY" by Evan Paul Laudenslager, Geist Magazine

:: handmade paper, carbon, gouache ::

Marianne Dages, Distant Operator: January 9 - January 25th @ Napoleon

Yesterday was the opening for my first solo exhibition, Distant Operator, at Napoleon Gallery in Philadelphia. Thank you so much to everyone who came for the opening and who came today! While I was gallery sitting, I took some images of the installation for those of you who are out of town, or those who would like a sneak peak. 

You can also read a wonderful and insightful essay written by book artist and linguist Sarah Hulsey on the work HERE.

The gallery will be open on weekends from 2-6 until January 25th or by appointment.
You can reach me at mdages at gmail dot com if you have any questions.

:: right side of the gallery ::

:: Sea Exercises ::

 :: Fragmented I ::

And details of the Distant Operator wall...







Show is up...

The show is up, Distant Operator opens tomorrow, at Napoleon Gallery. Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this happen, I hope to see you tomorrow night.

Opening Reception
Friday, January 9th
6pm – 10pm

NAPOLEON

319 N 11th Street, 2nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA

Exhibition Dates: 1.9.2015 – 1.30.2015
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays 2pm – 6pm or by appointment



Distant Operator

This month, I'm preparing for my first solo exhibition as a member of Napoleon Gallery in Philadelphia. I hope to see you, if you can make it, January 9th for the opening.


"Chance, repetition, and hidden names. In this series of works on paper and object assemblage, the artist acts as distant operator, finding the connection between esoteric myth and private thought."

Opening Reception
Second Friday, January 9th
6pm – 10pm

NAPOLEON

319 N 11th Street, 2L

Philadelphia, PA

Exhibition Dates: 1.9.2015 – 1.30.2015
Saturdays and Sundays 2pm – 6pm or by appointment