CODEX

At the beginning of February, we drove to Berkeley to visit a book fair known as CODEX. Diane has wanted to attend this event for some time.  It is only held every two years, so this was the year we finally made it.
The CODEX Foundation was founded in 2005 in order to create an environment for promoting the book as a work of art. I had some idea of what to expect, but was blown away with the huge variety of book art on display. Each of the books were art forms in their own right, and each exhibit was a delight to explore. The Fair was open to the public for four days.  We thought maybe we would visit for two days, but soon realized we needed all of the days to absorb what was on display.  I think we still missed some.
The Fair is held in the Craneway Pavilion at Point Richmond, near Berkeley. We were fortunate to stay with our friend Jane in Berkeley, which made for a short drive to the Pavilion. Strangely enough our Garmin GPS did not recognize the location by that name.  We knew the Pavilion was part of the old Ford Motor Assembly Plant, which the GPS did recognize!

This is the scene that greeted us as we arrived at the opening on the first day, Sunday February 5th.
There were about 220 booths, so it was not easy deciding where to start.

The best idea was to find our friends from Ashland who are amazing book artists, letterpress printers and all around special people. This is Cathy DeForest and her son Derek Pyle of Jubilation Press,
http://www.vampandtramp.com/finepress/j/Jubilation-Press.html 
Also on display in their booth were many panels from the Vision Quilt project, of which Cathy is the Founder and Executive Director. https://www.visionquilt.org/

This is the happy face of Mary Laird, an incredibly talented maker of art books and a skilled teacher. http://quelquefoispress.com/  Diane took a workshop taught by Mary and Cathy (above) in Florence, Italy several years ago, which triggered her interest in the book arts.

The books in this exhibit from China were outstanding and almost beyond comprehension in their beauty and complexity. We were fortunate to spend quite a long time talking to the artist, Xiaodong Zhang through an interpreter. Unfortunately, the photographs do not do the exhibit justice. The book on the left above is only one (book 3) of eight books that make up the complete work. We were told the complete set weighs 200Kg (over 440lb), so just one book was brought to illustrate the work.

This is another book from the same Chinese booth. This work is a very long scroll which is rolled into a lovely wooden box. Each of the leaves that you see in the photo can be turned over to reveal an inscription behind the page. All pages can be flipped to make an entirely different panorama. We went back to this booth several times just to admire the work and the workmanship.

Another view of the crowds that attended this Fair

Some amazing work from Atelier Alma Charta by Andre Beuchat, seen here with his daughter, Martine.  https://andrebeuchat.com/   The detail in this  etching is hard to imagine, all hand engraved onto copper etching plates. It was a delight to meet them both and we are excited at the opportunity see them again this summer at their studio just outside Parma, Italy.

Not everyone was excited by the Fair and all of the beautiful art, the water holds much attraction.

This is David Esslemont currently of the Solmentes Press in Decorah, IA, http://www.solmentes.com/davidesslemont2/about/about.html --  but there is a deeper story. I discovered that David used to manage the printing press at an estate called, Greyynog Hall, which just happens to be close to where I grew up in Wales. Furthermore, my mother, as a young girl, worked at this same estate as a maid servant. It was a delight to talk to David and chat about places very familiar to me.

Paper is very important to print makers and so there were a number of booths showing a large variety of paper from all over the world.  Diane spent a long time chatting with Linda Marshal of Washi Arts, and, of course, bought some paper.  http://www.washiarts.com/

Books take many forms and this is just one example.  The artist is Kyoko Matsunaga of Kyoto, Japan.
http://www.kyokomatsunaga.com/en/artwork.htm

It rained with strong winds for several days of the Fair. This is a view through the rain-spattered windows out onto the bay.

A colorful display of umbrellas.

Diane and our friend Kathleen looking at some of Andre's amazing artwork, along with his daughter, Martine. Kathleen attended a workshop with Andre last year, and will be returning in June for another two-week workshop.  She has graciously invited us to attend with her.  What an opportunity, how could we refuse!   Fortunately, Kathleen is fluent in Italian.

We met Shirley Sharoff, who has lived in Paris for forty years, http://shirleysharoff.free.fr/   Wonderful work and a delightful person to chat with.

One end of the Pavilion where the Fair was held is this wall of glass. I was taken by the image of the large tree just outside. This whole building complex was the Ford Motor Assembly Plant, built in the 1930's and converted to wartime production during World War II. It is also part of "Rosie the Riveter Historical Park".

Any trip we take always seems to have food as part of the experience. The San Francisco Bay area is home to many wonderful restaurants, and some of them feature sushi, probably my favorite meal.   This was a favorite in Jane's neighborhood.  We had always wanted to experience Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and this time we managed, with Jane's help, to get a lunch reservation on short notice.

The meal was excellent, and as an added bonus, we did get to meet the Founder and Executive Chef, Alice Waters.  It turns out our friend Jane has known her for years. Small world.

Next stop, Mexico.  Stay tuned........