The following is the third in a series of inside looks at the current exhibition in Princeton University Library’s Ellen and Leonard Milberg Gallery in Firestone Library - “Ulises Carrión: Bookworks and Beyond.” 

Curated by Sal Hamerman, Metadata Librarian for Special Collections at PUL, and Javier Rivero Ramos, a recent Ph.D graduate from the Department of Art & Archaeology, who is now Assistant Curator at Art Bridges Foundation in Arkansas, the exhibition explores Carrión’s pioneering reinvention of the book as a material and social platform, primarily featuring Princeton’s extensive holdings, drawn from the Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology and PUL’s Special Collections. PUL is steward to one of the most substantial collections of Carrión’s book and mail art in any American library. 

Ulises Carrión created two artists’ books in 1973 with the Beau Geste Press, an artist-run imprint based in England and founded by fellow Mexican expatriates Felipe Ehrenberg and Martha Hellion, and English artist David Mayor. Carrión maintained a lively correspondence with Ehrenberg in the early 1970s, and he became inspired by Beau Geste Press’ artisanal, communal, and self-directed approach to publishing.

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The exhibition is open and free to the public during Milberg Gallery hours of operation, February 21 through June 13, 2024.

Discover more through the accompanying digital exhibit.

Published April 2, 2024.

Media Contact: Stephanie Oster, Library Publicity Manager