I drove down to Westminster Station, Vermont, to visit Brian Cohen's studio. His broadsides are drop-dead gorgeous collaborative efforts, where he creates an engraving to meld with poetry -- often by Chard deNiord, the Putney, Vt., writer who directs the MFA in poetry at New England College (Henniker, N.H.). Their collaboration results in mystical, river-deep pieces that ripple through the soul. Next week, on Tuesday July 18 (4 p.m.), the two of them are coming to Kingdom Books to talk about these collaborations: how they begin, how they add dimension. Expect to see some of the broadsides. (Brian is also bringing another collaborative effort along, THE BIRD BOOK, a marvelous 26-page hand-colored book of bird engravings, with literal maple boards for front and back, engraved by book artist Julie Chen; the whole thing is cased in a clamshell box. Oooh la la.)
Here's a taste of Brian's art, called Zeppelin Interior. I've put a longer exploration of his career on our web site (www.KingdomBks.com).
2 comments:
Brian Cohen e-mailed in to confirm: It's an engraving, no photography involved. Some of Brian's work is done with etching (using a corrosive solution to remove part of the printing plate), some with dry point (no liquid involved). He's currently crafting a set of images that are doubles: one side an etching, the other an intaglio from the same plate. These are all new terms to me. The best way to start getting a feel for the work is to come see it in person, I think.
Quick correction: Brian said this is an etching. Sorry that I typed engraving. As I mentioned, I'm still sorting out these terms.
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