Authority control databases
Edward H. Hutchins | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tucson, Arizona |
| Education | University of Arizona, M.S. Government Service |
| Occupation(s) | Book artist, publisher, paper engineer, artist |
| Partner | Steve Warren |
| Website | artistbooks |
Edward "Ed" Hutchins is known as "one of the most inventive book artists" and proprietor of Editions, a small press publisher of artists' book multiples, since 1989.[1]
In the 1980s, Hutchins started taking classes at The Center for Book Arts in New York City. In 1996, he enrolled in the Fine Arts graduate program at Purchase College to study book arts.[2] Paper engineers and artists who have influenced him include Vojtěch Kubašta, Ruth Tilden (author, What's in the Fridge?: A Tasty Pop-up ABC), and Julian Wehr.[3]
Hutchins's subscribes to a "guerrilla bookmaking" philosophy where "everyone is a maker of books because everyone has a story to tell".[4][5] Books are made with materials at hand and simple skills available to anyone interested.[6]
The books Hutchins creates often involve innovative styles such as books made using a single sheet of paper folded multiple times, tunnel books that allow the reader to "see through" the book, and flexagons, where pages fold into themselves to create new pages. Anne Anninger, Houghton Library, Philip Hofer Curator of Printing & Graphic Arts, collected Hutchins' books for Harvard's library and has said "...Hutchins' little books made the point: begin with a deep concern for human issues and a strong sense of empathy, and express them in a few simple words; add funky imagery; present the whole in a unique, humorous, and expressive structure, which requires years of experience yet the irreverence of youth... Impossible, you say? Not for Ed Hutchins."[7]
In 1989, Hutchins started Editions, a press for publishing limited editions of art books.[citation needed]
In 1998, he founded Book Central, a catalog of the most useful how-to books for bookbinding, structures, papermaking, printing, pop-ups, paper engineering and creating books with children.[8] The catalog business was later sold in 2000.[9]
Books by Hutchins include:
| Year | Title | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Design, Construct, Engage: Artist books by Edward H. Hutchins.”[10] | The exhibit travelled to Florida Atlantic University, The Public Library of Cincinnati, the University of Utah and the Minnesota Center for the Book | 60 works included. |
| 2002 | "Gadzooks, Pages Alive! Editioned Artist Books"[11] | Park Row Gallery, Chatam, New York | |
| 1998 | "Toying with Books, Playing with Conventions. Artist books by Edward H. Hutchins"[12] | UCLA University Research Library | |
| 1996 | "Flights of Fancy – The Books of Edward H. Hutchins"[13] | Resnick Gallery, Brooklyn Campus, the Long Island University | Constance Woo, curator |
| 1995 | "Science and the Artist's Book"[14] | Smithsonian Institution Libraries | Carol Barton and Diane Shaw, co-curators. Hutchins' piece, Moving the Obstinate, included. |
| 1992 | "Love and Romance"[15] | The Center for Book Arts, New York City | 1992 Artist Members Exhibition by 22 artists, including Hutchins and Claire Van Vliet. |
| 1991 | "Economy of Space"[16] | The Center for Book Arts, New York City | 3 works included. 48 artists, including Marilyn R. Rosenberg. All books were under four inches. |
