On exhibition at the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), The Best of the Best is featured as part of selections from the Rosemary Furtak Artist Book Collection. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the U.S. The wall label text outside the library reads:
“This collector's edition accordion-fold artist book by photographer R.J. Kern features his photographs of 2019 champion animals from the Minnesota State Fair, "exploring the relationship between the present and the past, drawing parallels between early animal contests at agricultural fairs and the first major exhibition of photography at the 1851 World's Fair in London." Captured first as digital images, these photographs were physically realized using both contemporary inkjet technology and 19th-century salt printing techniques.
Contributors include Keith Taylor, Master Book Binder; Jeff Berg, Master Wood Craftsman; Kyle Olman, Pop-Up Book Artist; Ethan Aaro Jones, Master Digital Printer; and Sarah Oliphant, Master Backdrop Painter. The two featured essayists are Anjuli Lebowitz and Eric T. Kunsman.”
I’m honored to have my work apart of this important artist book collection that celebrates “books that refuse to behave like books.”
Special thank you to Nick Brandreth for teaching me salt printing in 2019 at the George Eastman House (Rochester, NY).