An interior shot of Monograph Bookwerks, courtesy John Brodie
Portland finally gets an art bookstore.
John Brodie and Blair Saxon-Hill opened the doors of Monograph Bookwerks last month in Northeast Portland’s Alberta Arts District. Dealing in fine art books and objects, Monograph embraces a model of intimate, focused bookselling that has been on the decline with the success of big-box chain bookstores and hyper-affordable online sources. Monograph brings artist’s monographs to the people, strengthening Portland’s cultural fabric by providing exposure to publications and fine art objects in an accessible setting.
Brodie and Saxon-Hill are practicing artists themselves, familiar with the study of art and artist publications. Their collection spans styles, genres and practices, and includes books on architecture, design and creative culture. Ceramics, original works of art and other fine art objects will live alongside glossy spreads of artist’s monographs from leading arts publishers and small-press editions alike. Many of these volumes straddle the line between sculptural object and documentation of individuals and practice. They were meant to be held, their pages turned, their content explored. An intimate conversation between reader and publication takes place inside the doors of Monograph, with Brodie and Saxon-Hill acting as facilitators.
Monograph Bookwerks will have no online store, as Brodie sites a desire to connect with the people of Portland as part of the impetus for opening up shop: “For Blair and I, it really is about the interaction with people, the book, the printed word and image, rather than an approach that is highly internet-focused,” Brodie said. Monograph wants to start conversations and facilitate new discussion.
I caught up with John Brodie via email for his thoughts on art books, book arts, and what it means to jump into the role of bookseller. Read on!
Congratulations on opening Monograph Bookwerks! Tell me a little bit about the impetus for opening up shop.
Blair Saxon-Hill (my sweetheart and partner on the bookstore) and I love art books and had been looking for a new project and it kind of found us. I had been thinking about doing something with books – possibly some publishing projects – and we saw this great storefront for rent and decided a bookstore is a good place from which to launch a number of related ideas or projects. The idea just grew from there.
Artist’s monographs can at once be intimate portraits of creative individuals or documentation of collections of work and artistic movements larger than any one person. What is it about artist’s monographs that appeals to you? How do you look at the format as being documentary of creativity?
It is simply the love of the study of art and artists that draw me to art books. Just to be able to hold in your hand a book on the life work of an artist is really exciting. Of course, the real thing (the actual original artwork) is amazing too, but a book can be the next best thing. It also kind of democratizes the information and makes it available on a wider basis and for repeated study. I’m hoping the store will function as a sort of library of art and ideas where people can discover new art and artists through a concentrated and contemporary collection of books. And I think that’s an interesting question about art books as documentary vs. creativity. Books definitely have the ability to be both, or one or the other. It is interesting to see which books on what artists lean toward one direction or the other – and also how some artists become involved in the production of their books and guide them to a particular outcome, and why.
Monograph Bookwerks deals in “fine art books and objects.” How do you see a fine art book as differing from a fine art object? Is there a context in which you would consider an art book as an art object?
In addition to selling books on art, architecture and design, we also offer a curated collection of found objects, ceramics, vintage office and art supplies, and select prints and paintings. The description “Fine Art Books + Objects” works to describe the bookstore with an expanded focus. Certainly, many books are sculptural and activate the viewer/reader through an engagement with the book as object. Generally, I think what constitutes a fine art object in book form is defined by the intention of the artist, and how successfully the concept, design, contents and execution relate to the to the work as a whole.
To me, Monograph Bookwerks is ushering in a new era of bookselling that incorporates a defined focus and tightly curated selection of content. Do you feel like you’re pioneering a new model?
I don’t think we’re pioneering a new model, rather we’re borrowing from many models of shopkeeping. For Blair and I, it really is about the interaction with people, the book, the printed word and image, rather than an approach that is highly internet-focused. Our interest is offering a curated selection of books and objects, and perhaps guiding the conversation in a direction we find inspiring – and we hope people respond to that, get excited about it and continue the conversation in new directions.
Store For a Month was a project you facilitated last summer. As a temporary pop-up shop and studio, you translated entrepreneurship and consumerism into fodder for creative practice. Do you view Monograph Bookwerks as part of your art practice? Or simply as a business endeavor?
I don’t really see it as part of my art practice per se, but definitely related to my interest in producing art-related culture – whether it be an event, a gathering of people and ideas or something like publishing art books. It definitely is not simply a business endeavor – we want it to be something that adds to the city and provides a service, where over time we facilitate the community discovering artists, we learn more in the process, and ideally new ideas and art are generated.
In addition to your new role as bookseller and restauranteur, you’re a fine artist. You’ve worked with books in your art practice for quite some time. What is it about the format of a book that makes it the right fit for a creative project? Can you talk about specific book projects you’ve created?
I really like the tactile aspect of artist-made books, and also the ability to compile a large group of images or artworks into a compact amount of space. It can say a lot yet sit quietly on a shelf. They also can be beautiful objects in themselves. And lastly, they can function as manifestos in a way that a painting for example cannot – even books with only images and no text can function this way. For me, it’s the combination of all these things that make the book an exciting medium for art. Some of the art books I’ve produced are a series of “stripe” paintings bound into five books that were related, yet all unique; a compilation of 126 collage/mixed-media works bound into book form; a recent book entitled Faces which consists of a series of 220 small faces (one per page) cut from various popular printed imagery from about the 1920s through yesterday’s newspaper; and a book of my own “Please Help” cardboard signs. I think it’s important to say I make books as part of my art practice, but I don’t consider myself a “book artist.” I look to artists such as Dieter Roth or Sigmar Polke for inspiration – artists who work in a variety of mediums where the book is a similar gesture to painting or sculpture.
I appreciate that you create one-off books as pieces of fine art, a different approach from mass-produced publications intended for widespread circulation that is arguably the most common perception of what a book is. That said, has your newfound position as bookseller dealing in the latter type of publication changed your approach toward your own book work? Are you considering publishing your own work in a monograph?
I don’t think it has changed my approach to my own book work – one-of-a-kind books are really special. I do have plans to reproduce the Faces book so it can be more widely distributed. I wouldn’t really do that for any of the other books I’ve made, but in this case as it consists of popular, mass-produced images it feels like it could work as a commercially printed book without losing too much of its purpose.
Do you have any plans for Monograph Bookwerks to step into the role of publisher and release new content?
We are really excited to produce some projects, and have some ideas for that, but it may take awhile and we want to take our time. We’re still just letting the store become what it will for a little bit. We also plan to commission some artist-produced objects for the store.
The decline of periodicals and the shift of information from print media to the internet is sparking a lot of discussion and hypothesizing about the future of print. I see print not as “dead” but as in a stage of reinvention and restructuring. How has the status of print media informed (or not informed) your decision to start a bookshop? What do you think the future of print looks like?
I truly think books have a long life ahead of them, even strictly in printed form. Yes, I think the industry is rapidly changing but feel we are entering an environment where avenues for small publishers are expanding, and there is the opportunity to fill the gaps that large publishers or companies are abandoning. Even some of the big art publishers that were producing amazing books a few years ago are producing fewer books now and attempting to appeal to a wider, mass audience. We are finding small publishers both in the states and around the world that are publishing beautiful, smart books of a very high quality.
What have you learned about the publishing and bookselling industry in the month since starting up Monograph Bookwerks?
We didn’t know a whole lot about the industry when we started but were willing to take the leap. The distribution for new books is a vast and varied maze, full of interesting characters. But it’s been exhilarating, challenging and fun. We still have a lot to learn but are excited and encouraged by the experience so far.
Any exciting plans or projects in upcoming months?
A new wave of books are arriving at the store any day now. And the response from customers and artists at the store has been truly inspiring. Blair is in the summer show at Fourteen30 Contemporary, (July through August) where she is represented. I hope to get back in the studio a bit, and just found some great materials today that gave me an idea for an artist book. Plus we’re in touch with some small publishers in Europe and will be working with them to get their books to Portland soon.
