The Leporello Series is a new series of accordion folded artist’s book, published by ll’Editions. Inhabiting a space between book and paper sculpture, the leporellos are printed on delicate Mohawk Superfine Eggshell paper. Each volume in the series is limited to 250 numbered copies and come in a bespoke rigid box, with the title hot foiled both on its front and on its spine, allowing it to sit comfortably in a bookshelf when not on display.
Leporello N° 05 by Shannon Ebner
Shannon Ebner works primarily in photography. For Ebner, photog- raphy is a form of writing and writing is a way of seeing. A consistent element in Ebner’s work is that it treats language as a material form. Over the past two decades, Ebner has made four typefaces by photographing materials that are fashioned into Latin alphabets.
For Ebner’s leporello, the meteorological term RIME ICE is its single subject, though the phenomenon itself falls into two categories, soft or hard rime. In either case it is rime ice that forms when liquid droplets comprised of supercooled water freeze onto surfaces. RIME ICE is an outtake from Ebner’s recent exhibition FRET SCAPES (2022). FRET is acronym for the Forecast Reference Evapotranspiration Report, a report that is generated by climate scientists to measure the rate at which water that falls to the ground will evaporate to the sky.
Leporello N° 04 by Ryan Gander
Ryan Gander has established an international reputation through artworks that materialise in many different forms – from sculpture to film, writing, graphic design, installation, performance and more besides. Through associative thought processes that connect the everyday and the esoteric, the overlooked and the commonplace, Gander’s work involves a questioning of language and knowledge, as well as a reinvention of both the modes of appearance and the creation of an artwork. His work can be reminiscent of a puzzle, or a network with multiple connections and the fragments of an embedded story. It is ultimately a huge set of hidden clues to be deciphered, encouraging viewers to make their own associations and invent their own narrative in order to unravel the complexities staged by the artist.
Leporello N° 03 by Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press
Fiona Banner (b. 1966) often works under the moniker of The Vanity Press. She established the imprint in 1997, with her seminal book The Nam. Since then she has published many works, some in the form of books, some sculptural, some performance based. In 2009 she issued herself an ISBN number and registered herself as a publication under her own name. Humour, conflict and language are at the core of her work.
She first became known for her “wordscapes” – often heroically proportioned works that capture in her own words films, from war blockbusters to porn. She often works with the “nude”, transcribing the human form into category-defying prose. Sometimes she repurposes military aircraft to brutal, sensual, and comedic ends.
Leporello N° 02 by Micah Lexier
Micah Lexier is a Toronto-based artist whose activities include making, collecting and organizing. He has a deep interest in measurement, increment, found imagery and display structures. Lexier’s projects range in scale from limited edition multiples to massive public sculptures. He has presented over 100 solo exhibitions, participated in more than 200 group exhibitions and has produced a dozen permanent public commissions.
In 2013 The Power Plant Art Gallery in Toronto hosted a fifteen-year survey exhibition of Lexier’s work entitled One, and Two, and More Than Two and in 2015 Lexier was honoured with a Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts. Lexier has produced dozens of publications including I’m Thinking of A Number, a 30-year survey of Lexier’s ephemera, published by the Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, and Call Ampersand Response, a 392-page bookwork made in collaboration with Michael Dumontier, which was published this year by Lars Mülller Publishers.
Lexier’s work is in numerous public and corporate collections including The British Museum (London, England), the Contemporary Art Gallery (Sydney, Australia), and The National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa). Lexier is represented by Birch Contemporary, Toronto.
Leporello N° 01 by Heimo Zobernig
Heimo Zobernig (b. 1958) is an Austrian artist widely acclaimed for his works in a variety of media, ranging from painting and sculpture to video, performance and site specific installation and design.
Books and posters constitute a significant part of Zobernig’s oeuvre, who has engaged with publishing as a way to explore the linguistic aspects of art since 1980. Functioning as a natural extension of his artistic production, Zobernig’s output to date includes well over 100 artist’s books, catalogues and monographs, and an equal amount of posters.
Zobernig has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions and his works are held in the collections of a number of notable institutions around the world.