I'm currently enjoying the hands on experience of turning the pages in making a selection of Holloway Press titles from Christchurch Art Gallery's artist and rare books collection for the next, and last, Central Library Peterborough exhibition Dark Arts: Twenty years of the Holloway Press. Fishwork stands out. Loney's nine poems respond to Gimblett's nine ink drawings and the two are brought together on the pages of the book, poems and imagery become intertwined in the true sense of the word.  Gimblett has hand-coloured some of the pages throughout the book which give it a real vibrancy as you turn the pages but the thing I love about this book in the end is the skill of Loney, the poet / printer who has done such a surperb job in designing and hand-printing the book. Big thumbs up to Max Gimblett and Alan Loney for generously gifting this and other artist's books to the Gallery over the past few years.  

 

Dark Arts: Twenty years of the Holloway Press is a scaled down version of the recent Holloway Press exhibition curated by Francis McWhannell for the University of Auckland's Gus Fisher Gallery. The Holloway Press is at the vanguard of fine printing in New Zealand but unfortunately has had to shut up shop this year. Dark Arts: Twenty years of the Holloway Press opens on 6 October and is a great opportunity for Christchurch audiences to see some highlights from the press over its 20 year existence.