All Guides: Artists' Books in Macalester College Library's Special Collections: Artists' Books by Topic

The Rare Books Artists' Books Collection represents a diverse selection of many types of work from many different artists and eras. Below is a small sample of some of the topics within this Collection. The About Our Collection page has more information about how to visit our Collection and inquire about other specific subjects or artists.

Artist Activism

Brightly colored business cards on a table, each with a different common question the artist gets asked and an answer addressing it.

Irene Chan's "Asian American? Project." 2007

This artist's book is made up of brightly colored business cards that confront the daily experiences of racism for Asian Americans.

As artist Irene Chan writes on her website, "Every week since age 12, I am asked one to ten of the same questions. Since these questions and comments are common to other Asian Americans as well, I created a set of business cards to flash or hand out for the appropriate moments. Through the interaction of questions and answers, lasting racial stereotypes and myths of the concept of the “Asian American” are revealed."

Artists' book cover showing a large letter

Todd M. Thyberg's "American Manifesto," 2014

In American Manifesto, book artist and printer Todd M. Thyberg calls the American public to ask and answer the question "America is the #1 country in the world. But are we really?" The twelve pages of the pamphlet illustrate the issues facing modern America through a compilation of statistics and graphics, as well as an extensive bibliography.

Describing the book on his website, he says "With a tip of the hat to printers and activists of the past, American Manifesto calls the United States citizens to action on a number of national concerns—our country’s health, leadership, and environment, to name a few. This book was devised as a piece of activist artwork; utilizing my vintage presses as they were originally intended: to make important information readily accessible to the masses."

Irene Chan's "Asian American? Project." 2007

This artist's book is made up of brightly colored business cards that confront the daily experiences of racism for Asian Americans.

Todd M. Thyberg's "American Manifesto," 2014

Irene Chan's "Asian American? Project." 2007

This artist's book is made up of brightly colored business cards that confront the daily experiences of racism for Asian Americans.

Black Artists

Abstract figures chained together with a red chain. Each figure makes up one letter in the word

Emory Douglas's "Reparations" 2009

"The content of my Imprint publication deals with the subject of reparations and slavery with each abstract designed figure chained together making up the word, REPARATIONS." --Artist's statement from the San Fransisco Center for the Book website.

Emory Douglas served as the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party from 1967 until the Party was disbanded in the 1980s, and is known for representing Black American oppression through his art and activism.

A figure standing the middle of a white paper crane mobile centered in a red and black background.

Clarissa T. Sligh's "Transforming Hate." 2016

Visual artist, lecturer, and essayist Clarissa Thompson Sligh's works explore the intersections between history, identities, transformation, and text through many photographic series, artists' books, and exhibitions. Her self-published artist's book, Transforming Hate: An Artist's Book, is a reflection upon--and expansion from--the creation of her 2008 exhibition "Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate." Organized by the Montana Human Rights Network and the Holter Art Museum in Helena, Montana, the project featured pages from white supremacist books folded into paper cranes.

As Sligh writes in the forward of the book, "I was trying to look at what it was like for me to turn hateful words into a beautiful art object. What actually evolved from that exploration helped me understand more fully the many levels of oppression and violence at the intersections of race, gender, class and sexual orientation... From the place I now stand, I can see the courage and strength of my grandmother and mother and the path they made for me. I ask the viewer to question her or his perceptions about history, reality, identity and voice."

Emory Douglas's "Reparations" 2009

Clarissa T. Sligh's "Transforming Hate." 2016

Emory Douglas's "Reparations" 2009

Minnesota Center for Book Arts Publications

Artists' book open on table. It is a glass-front case containing the book itself along with several compartments. The compartments contain physical items referenced in the book, such as black sand and small shells.

"every-blest-thing-seeing-eye," the MCBA Winter Book, 2016

The 26th addition to the Winter Book series "celebrating the handmade book" by the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, every-blest-thing-seeing-eye is a collection of poetry and prose by Heid E Erdrich that explores the experience of viewing art in a gallery and the complex conversations between artists and viewers in such curated spaces. As described on MCBA's website, "When an Ojibwe poet acts as curator, her statements on the work of indigenous artists become part of a larger telling, a non-linear narrative in which characters and emblems, just like the artists who create them, cannot be fully fathomed. And yet, we must look. We must see every blest thing."

This Winter Book was designed by Jeff Rathermel and Todd Thyberg, and printed under the direction of Thyberg. The deluxe edition (pictured) includes a portfolio of print with illustrations by Jim Denomie, Aza Erdrich, Eric Gansworth, Dyani White Hawk, Louise Erdrich, Andrea Carlson, and Jonathan Thunder, which was made under the direction of Tom Spence.

Forest green book on table next to a stack of illustrations. The top illustration is a block print of a honeybee in black ink on yellow paper.

MCBA Winter Book 2013: "Minidewalk"

Minidewak: Readings from Braiding Sweetgrass features the writing of Robin Wall Kimmerer with illustrations by Nate Christopherson, compiled in a beautiful, handmade book by the artists of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. It is a part of the Winter Book series "celebrating the handmade book", which was published annually in December from 1988 to 2016.

Each Winter Book was produced by a collaboration of MCBA artists; contributors to the deluxe edition of Minidewak (pictured here) include Executive Director Jeff Rathermel, master printer Monica Edward Larson, master binder Jana Pullman, as well as a team of interns and volunteers.