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Book Number 160
Book Number 160

Book Number 160

Artist Keith Smith (American, born 1938)
Date1991
MediumGelatin silver prints with mixed media
DimensionsAssembled (all images displayed): 28 1/2 × 33 1/2 × 3 1/16 inches (72.39 × 85.09 × 7.78 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2016.75.268.1-6
Signednone
InscribedInscribed on exterior of box recto, printed inblack ink: "APRIL 1991 / BOOK NUMBER 160 / IN 5 VOLUMES / KEITH A. SMITH / This book / was collaged from a / photograph of our living room / and a drawing of an imaginary / figure on March 1991 / lying on the / carpet, the collage was gridded, cut / and the book assembled in April 1991. / KS."; Each volume labeled on volume cover, printed in black ink: "APRIL 1991 / BOOK NUMBER 160 / VOLUME [1-5] / KEITH A. SMITH"
Markingsnone
On View
Not on view
Collections
DescriptionOne box housing five volumes; each volume is titled, bound with multicolored grossgrain ribbon, and includes six hand-colored images. Displayed together the volumes show an image of a hand-drawn nude male reclining with legs outstretched and head tilted back; the figure is cut out and adhered on top of 30 hand-colored photographs which make up the image of a room with hardwood floors, floral rug, and pink-hued molding around baseboards, window, and door paneling.Gallery Label

Since the mid-1960s, Keith Smith has worked in a completely original manner in photography, printmaking, and bookmaking. To date, he has made over 280 one of a kind artist books that expand our notion of what both a book and a photograph can be. Smith uses repeated and fragmented images to address his central themes of memory, discovery, and desire. Smith can be considered an “artist’s artist,” downplaying the importance of gallery sales in order to remain relentlessly productive.

Provenance
The Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2016;   
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2016.
Copyright© Keith Smith
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