Joseph Bellows Gallery to exhibit original prints from the acclaimed photographic series of books by Abelardo Morell.
Abelardo Morell's photographs show us things we know well, but in a way we've never seen them before; and he does so with a delight and wonder that borders on the magical. In these particular images, his subject is books - books on shelves, books stacked in piles, book spines, book edges, open books, closed books, big books, small books, illustrated books, empty books, damaged books.
Morell's images render the books both intimate and monumental. Some suggest large architectural constructions while others suggest vast landscapes of mountains, ravines, and flatlands dotted with features that happen to be texts or illustrations. In the process, he reveals books as stunningly rich objects for the eye to explore - even without reading their contents.
Some of the images on exhibit at the gallery appear in a 2002 publication devoted to Morell's art and appropriately titled, "A Book of Books." On view at the Joseph Bellows Gallery, however, are the artist's original prints, measuring as large as 36"square.
The Joseph Bellows Gallery presentation will be the second major showing of Morell's work in San Diego. In 1998, the Museum of Photographic Arts, in Balboa Park, originated the nation-touring exhibition "Abelardo Morell and the Camera Eye."
Works by Morell are in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, the International Museum of Photography, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and other major public and private collections.
