this body public, Mills College students Jess Marks-Gale and Emji Spero‘s MFA in Book Art and Creative Writing thesis exhibit now at Johansson Projects is the culmination of over 2 years combined artistic practice of studio art, creative writing, and book arts. this body public is comprised of Gale and Spero’s individual projects entitled stay and almost any shit will do, respectively. Gale’s stay is a collection of work in a variety of mediums, both individual pieces and installation that are inspired by her recently completed book of poetry, The Structural Elements of Flesh. An installation composed of fabric panels connected by languid, ivory cotton string, Spero’s almost any shit will do includes embroidered text from a past poetic project of the same name that explores collective identity by drawing intriguing parallels between Mycelium, an organism that forms root structures of mushrooms, and underground political movements.

The first program of its kind in the United States, Mills College’s Master Fine Arts in Book Art and Creative Writing is founded upon a thorough education of artist book traditions including but not limited to installation, trade editions of poetic works, and the art of letterpress. Including multiple resources and several facilities such as the Book Art Pocket Gallery and a Special Collections Library uniquely available to students, this particular MFA program fosters the development of writers and artists by deepening the student’s understanding of contemporary writing and its visual forms while encouraging exploration of the material history, history of the artist book, and structure of the book as art object.

 

this body public will be at Johansson Projects, 2300 Telegraph Avenue through April 11, 2014.