Pretty pages

Bibliophiles and Aesthetes are in for a treat this week, with a double whammy of art book launches this Thursday.

Creative agency Dutch Uncle are hosting the launch of a new book by illustrator Shout (known to his mother as Alessandro Gottardo), entitled Mono Shout and published by 27_9.

The cover of Mono Shout

Mono Shout depicts a series of beautiful line drawings and graphic illustrations, set out in the pages of this monograph book.

The work is at once surreal but cute, with skulls smoking pipes, stick figures in bold red landscapes and red doves flying free from the confines of a shopping trolley; presenting a beguiling narrative as you turn the pages.

Inside the book

Although, we admit, we’re not entirely sure what this means, Gottardo says, ’One day maybe I will say things that are truly worth listening to, I will say things that belong only to me, and there will be no other way to listen to them except looking’.

Sorry, what was that? We weren’t listening.

Mono Shout launches on 28 October

For those who can’t get their paws on enough pages of prettiness, look no further than Michael Abrahams and Richard Berry’s new book, Nepalese Alphabet.

The book presents a collection of photographs taken during a stroll to Everest, and the images are stunning: with letters created from ice, mind-blowing frozen landscapes, rocks, and the more 21st Century medium of sports bottles.

The creation of Nepalese Alphabet came about during Berry and Abraham’s walking trip in the Himalayas. Sitting in a café one day, Abrahams spotted a broken shoelace in the shape of an ‘R’, and the project was born.

The letter 'C'
The letter ’C’

He explains, ‘I wanted to document and respond to the walk in an artistic way as well as taking lots of snaps of the mountains.’

They pair went on to each take a series of photos of letter shapes – the only stipulations being that they must be formed from found objects and in colour.

Abrahams says, ‘Everyone who goes out there takes a picture of a mountain, but on trials, you spend most of the time looking down so you don’t fall.  The shade of a stone is very typical of what you actually do see but no one ever documents it.

The letter ’I’ in water bottles

‘We don’t look properly or listen properly – it’s a response to try and do that. Once you start looking you see them everywhere – it was a good way of making people look – it’s a discipline that’s very important for designers.’

The pair will now extend the project into a series of 26 alphabet books, for which some of the photos will be taken themselves, and some will be commissioned to other artists. It is hoped all 26 will be complete by 2012.

The letter 'X'
The letter ’X’

The launch of Mono Shout by Alessandro Gottardo will take place at TOTO Bathroom showroom, 140-142 St John Street, London EC1, 28 October, 6pm – 9pm.

Nepalese Alphabet by Michael Abrahams and Richard Berry is published by Artist Books, priced at £15, and also launches on Thursday.
 

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  • Matthew Lowe November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    what absolute trot – is this an April fools day post? – uh no, it’s October

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