PAPER UNIVERSE: THE BOOK AS ART, 2025–2026
Sporting costumes from the Ballet Russes, Salvaged Relatives, edition I, in the collection of the State Library of New South Wales, will be exhibited as part of Paper Universe: The book as art, curated by Maria Savvidis.
Paper Universe: The book as art
Galleries, State Library of NSW
1 Shakespeare Place, Sydney, NSW
11th of August, 2025 – 3rd of May, 2026
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In Salvaged Relatives, Melbourne artists Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison breathe new life into anonymous figures from found, late-nineteenth- century cabinet card photos, reimagining them for the present. Adorned with collage, paint and pencil, these people are reborn in a whimsically affectionate homage to the Ballets Russes. Through their innovative and longstanding collaborations, Haby and Jennison transform forgotten pasts into vibrant, playful works of art.
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The artists write about finding the cabinet cards: ‘There you were, in an open shoebox beneath the radio. A handsome, if motley, selection ... in the space of rustled make-believe, perhaps collectively you said you longed to take to the stage, to be part of Sergei Diaghilev’s “restless, physical slideshow”, steeped in the exotic, flanked by nymphs darned and patched. The effect, kaleidoscopic!’
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Almost any subject matter, or the style of its execution, can become the ‘canvas’ for an artist’s book. This boundless medium unfolds most vividly in the diverse formats where artists blend timeless techniques with bold experimentation.
Artists’ books invite us to rethink how we perceive and engage with art. They urge us to reconsider the world around us and the very concept of a ‘book’ — its essence, content and structure. They push the limits of design, illustration and storytelling, forever expanding what a book can be.
Maria Savvidis, Paper Universe, Openbook, Winter 2025, State Library of NSW, pp 12–19
(pdf download)
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26th of June, 2025
In the borrowed costume for a spirit of the hours from Le Pavillon d’Armide, c. 1909, designed by Alexandre Benois, with a Flying fish (Exocetus volitans).
from
Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison
Salvaged Relatives, edition I
2014–2015
Artists’ book, unique state, featuring 21 individual collages on cabinet cards with pencil and paint additions (by Gracia Haby)
Housed in a three-colour cloth Solander box (bound by Louise Jennison) with inlaid collage, In the borrowed headdress of a seahorse from Sadko (c. 1916)
