Collections

Approach to the Site

Approach to the Site - Drawing; Book
Accession #: 4449.3
Title: Approach to the Site
Object Type: Drawing; Book
Participants:
Ely, Timothy (creator)
Physical Description: This art book consists of 22 pages bound by a unique, artist-made cover. The cover slightly dimensional, with shapes and textures in relief, back and front. The cover is dark in color, mottled, with brilliant red highlights. A medallion at the center and top of the front cover appears to be leather, with letters, numbers, symbols and characters embossed in metallic gold, orange, red and blue. Title page is titled, with acknowledgement to Waterstreet Press, and is signed and numbered in pencil by the artist. The contents of the book appear to be topographical maps; symbols and characters are arranged in relation to the maps suggesting data and orientation. There are numerals and single letters from the English alphabet throughout, but most of the characters are mysterious, resembling hieroglyphics. The pages are printed primarily in sepia, as well as red, blue and grey. The book is contained within a unique, artist-made portfolio covered with tan book-binding cloth, with red painted accents.
Description: Timothy Ely is an eastern Washington artist living and working in Colfax. A voracious reader from an early age, the public library was a favorite haunt for Ely; science fiction, Popular Mechanics magazines, maps and comic books left a lasting impression. In the early 1980s, an NEA grant allowed Ely to spend time in Japan, Italy and Englands tudying bookbinding and papermaking. Ely's work centers on the bound volume as an artistic format for his drawings and prints. His lavishly painted and drawn unique manuscript books resemble atlases which appear to chart unknown territories and mysterious other worlds.
Category: Art
Subjects/Topics/Concepts:
Drawing (Artwork)
Dimensions:
Object L x W x D 16 x 11 3/4 x 1 1/4" Portfolio
Object L x W x D 14 1/2 x 10 3/4 x 5/8" Book
Materials/Techniques:
cloth (Material)
paper (fiber product) (Material)
Marks/Inscription:
APPROACH TO THE SITE; TIMOTHY C ELY (signature, No 36 in graphite) WATERSTREET PRESS
APPROACH TO THE SITE was made possible by a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Limited to 49 copies, the book was editioned by STERLING BOWMAN, ELIZABETH KACZMAREK, MAUREEN KANE, RUTH ELY, GENE DEWITT, FRANK J. MARTINEZ, SUZANNE WILLIAMS and CHRIS MURRAY at WATERSTREET PRESS in NEW YORK in the spring of 1986. Each book is uniquely bound by the Artist. Of the 49 copies this is 36 T Ely
Credit Line: Gift of Timothy C. Ely, 2020
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