Julie Chen

Julie Chen Biography

Julie Chen Description

Flying Fish Press was established in 1987 by internationally known book artist and book art educator Julie Chen. The press focuses on the design and production of limited edition artists' books with an emphasis on three-dimensional and movable book structures and fine letterpress printing. Editions range in size from 25 to 150 copies. Works from the press are known for combining meticulous attention to craft, intricate structural design, and inspired artistic vision.

Julie Chen's approach to the artist’s book involves intensive explorations of both form and content. Her work is heavily rooted in the ideas of the book as a physical object and a time-based medium. She views reading as an intimate act in which the reader must be in close physical proximity to the book, can control the pace of reading through the self-directed turning of pages, or equivalent action, and must interact with the book through the manipulation of the book’s physical structure. She strives to present the reader with an object that challenges preconceived ideas of what a book is, while at the same time providing a deeply engaging and meaningful experience through the presentation of her own text and imagery in a purposefully structured format.

Julie Chen Resumé

Julie Chen

Education

* MA, Mills College, Book Art * BA, University of California, Berkeley, Studio Art

Teaching Experience

2007-Present, Assistant Professor of Book Arts, Mills College, Oakland, CA

1996-2007, Instructor of Book Arts, Mills College, Oakland, CA

Flying Fish Press

Sole proprietor of Flying Fish Press, a company which publishes limited edition artists' books. Acts as book designer, typesetter, printer & bookbinder.

Philosophy of the Press Flying Fish Press is dedicated to working with artists on book projects which combine the quality and craftsmanship of traditional letterpress printing with the innovation and visual excitement of contemporary non-traditional book structures and modern typography. There is an emphasis on book structures which can function both traditionally as books as well as sculpturally as objects to be displayed. Editions range in size from 10-150 copies.

Catalog All of the following books were designed, printed and bound by Julie Chen except where noted. Further information and photographs of recent works can be found at www.flyingfishpress.com

2008: Panorama. Text and image by Julie Chen. 100 copies

2006: View. Text and illustration by Julie Chen. 100 copies

2004: True to Life. Text and illustration by Julie Chen. 100 copies

2003: Personal Paradigms: A Game of Human Experience. Text and illustration by Julie Chen. 100 copies

2002: The Veil. Text and illustration by Julie Chen. 100 copies

2001: Ode to a Grand Staircase. Text by Erik Satie, Book design and illustrations by Julie Chen and Barbara Tetenbaum. 100 copies

2000: (In)versions. Illustrated by Julie Chen and David Turner. 30 copies

1999: World Without End. Text and illustration by Julie Chen. 25 copies

1998: Bon Bon Mots. Text and illustration by Julie Chen. 100 copies

1997: Leavings. Text and illustration by Julie Chen. 100 copies

1996: Life Time. Text and illustration by Julie Chen. 100 copies

1996: Space-Time Geometry. Text and book design by Julie Chen. Drawings by David Turner. 10 copies

1995: Radio Silence. Text and illustration by Julie Chen. 75 copies

1994: Double Helix: An Essential Component of all living Matter. Text and illustration by Julie Chen.

1994: River of Stars. Text and illustration by Julie Chen. 100 copies

1993: Correspondence Course. Text and illustration by Nance O’Banion. 125 copies

1992: Octopus. Text by Elizabeth McDevitt, illustration by Julie Chen. 100 copies

1992: You Are Here. Text and illustration by Julie Chen. 100 copies

1992: Listening. Text, illustration and design by Julie Chen. 75 copies

1990: Domestic Science: Pop-up Icons & Idioms. Text and illustrations by Nance O'Banion. Book Design by Julie Chen. 150 copies

1990: Ste. Ostrich in Manhattan: The Visitation of a Martyr. Text and illustrations by Lois Morrison. Book Design by Julie Chen 125 copies

1989: Requiem. Text by Julie Chen and text from the Requiem of Hector Berlioz. 12 copies

1988: Memories of Fruit. Text and illustrations by Lois Morrison. 50 copies

1988: Symphonic Visions. Illustrated by Julie Chen. One of a kind.

1987: Origin. Text and illustrations by Julie Chen. 6 copies

1987: A Place of Uncertain Refuge. Text by E.B. Mudd, frontispiece by Julie Chen. 75 copies

1987: The First Seven Days. Text from Genesis, illustrations by Julie Chen. 50 copies

Selected Publications About the Work of Julie Chen and Flying Fish Press

The Book as Art: Artists’ Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Krystina Wasserman, Johanna Drucker, Audrey Niffenegger, Princeton Architectural Press, 2006

Fine Presses; Flying Fish Press, Article by Richard Goodman in Fine Books and Collections Magazine, July/August 2005

Objects / Encounters: Bookworks at Flying Fish Press 1987-2001, Catalog published by Unveristy of Vermont, 2002

A Conversation with Book Artist Julie Chen, Article by Caroline L. Seaigel, Art Documentation, ARLISS, 2002

Speaking of Book Art: Inverviews with British and Americal Book Artists, Cathy Courtney, Anderson-Lovelace, 1999

Collections

Flying Fish Press books can be found in the following libraries and museums: Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, AK; Brown University, Providence, RI; Columbia University Library, New York, NY; The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA; The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, England; Los Angeles County Public Library, Los Angeles, CA; Mills College Library, Oakland, CA; Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Museum of Modern Art Library, New York, NY; The National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; Newark Public Library, Newark, NJ; New York Public Library, New York, NY; Rijkmuseum Meermanno-Westreenianum, The Hague; Rhode Island School of Design Library, Providence, RI; Scripps College Library, Claremont, CA; San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA; UCLA Library, Los Angeles, CA; University of Alberta Library, Edmonton, Canada; University of Colorado Library, Boulder, CO; University of Minnesota Library, Minneapolis, MN; University of San Francisco Library, San Francisco, CA; University of Vermont Library, Burlington, VT; The Victoria & Albert Museum, England; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Wellesley College Library, Wellesley, MA; Yale University Library, New Haven, CT; Renwick Museum, Washington, DC

Exhibitions

New West Coast Design: Books, San Francisco Center for the Book, January-April 2008

Skipping the Page, Center for Book Arts, New York, NY, January-March 2008

Master Printers, Los Angeles Municipal Art gallery, December 2006-February 2007, group exhibition

Picture This: Five Centuries of Book Illustration, UC Irvine Langson Library, November 2006-May 2007

Sacred Texts, Contemporary Forms: Spiritual Traditions in the Digital Age, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, 2007, group exhibition

Visually Speaking: Art, Narrative + Contemporary Press, Memphis College of Art, Spring 2007

(Un)Contained Vessels, The Center for Book Arts, NY, NY, Summer 2007, group exhibition

The Book As Art: Twenty Years of Artists’ Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, 2006

Unstitiched, Unbound: Imprints for Change, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, NY, NY, 2005

The Art of the Book: Bay Area Treasures, Donna Seager Gallery, San Rafael, CA, 2006

Bookworks from Flying Fish Press, Woodland Pattern Book Center, Milwaukee, WI, 2006, Solo Show

The Bookworks of Flying Fish Press, Mills College Library, Heller Room, 2005, Solo Show

The Artist Turns to the Book, Getty Center, 2005

Resonance and Response, Wellesley College, Clapp Library, 2005

More Than Words Can Say, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 2005

The Art of the Book: Treasures from the Bay Area, CFA Gallery, San Anselmo, CA, 2005

Books as Art XV, National Museum of Women in the Arts, 2004

Metaphorical Books, Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro California, 2004

Ninety From the Nineties: A Decade of Printing, The New York Public Library, 2003-2004

The Art of Flying Fish Press, PABA Gallery, New Haven, CT, 2003, Solo Show

Artists'’ Books from Flying Fish Press, Scripps College Library, Claremont, CA, 2003, Solo Show

Book / Marks, Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Berkeley, CA, 2003

Open Signatures, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, ID, 2003

Bookworks of Flying Fish Press, Swarthmore College Library, Swarthmore, PA, 2003, Solo Show

The Art of Flying Fish Press, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, 2002, Solo Show

Book as Art XIV: Temptations, National Museum of Women in the Arts Library, Washington, DC, 2002-2003

Learning Curves: 20 years of Book Arts at Mills College, San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA, 2000

A Good Read, Euphrat Museum of Art, Cupertino, CA, 1999

Westward Bound, University of Utah, 1998

Bound to Be, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 1998

25 Years of Book Arts at CCAC, San Francisco Center for the Book, 1997

You Call This a Book?, San Francisco Center for the Book, 1997

From Cover to Cover: Transformation of the Book, Gallery 81, Iowa State University, Ames IA, 1996

Science Imagined, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA, 1996

Books as Art, Steamboat Springs Center for the Arts, Steamboat Springs, CO, 1996

Books as Art VIII, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, 1996

Bay Area Bookmakers, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA, 1996

Artists’ Books, Edith Lambert Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 1996

The Art of Discovery: Scientists’ Books/Artists’ Books, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1995-1996

On Beyond the Book, Forum for Contemporary Art, St. Louis, MO, 1995

The Uncommon Book, Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities, Sun Valley, ID, 1995

Books as Art VII, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, 1995

Redefining the Book, Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 1994

A World of Maps, Anchorage Museum of History & Art, Anchorage, AK, 1994

Books & Bookishness, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, 1994

Nine Decades:The Northern California Craft Movement 1907 to the Present, California College of Arts & Crafts, Oakland, CA, 1993

Hands at Work: A Celebration of American Book Crafts, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 1993

Beyond The Book, Montgomery Gallery, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, 1993

Books, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA, 1993

California Artists' Books, The Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA, 1991-1992

Word & Image, Pacific Center for the Book Arts, San Francisco, CA, 1992

Bay Area Bookmaking: The Art and Craft Tradition, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA, 1991

Pacific Center for the Book Arts Members Show, San Francisco, CA, 1990

Contemporary Bookmaking, Minnesota Center for the book, Minneapolis, MN, 1988

Graduate Exhibition in Book Arts, Mills College, Oakland, CA, 1989

Forwarding the Book: California Bookmakers, Victoria & Albert Museum, England, 1989

Contemporary Printing and Bookbinding, Columbia University, New York, NY, 1989

Lectures and Talks

22nd Susan Garretson Swartzburg Memorial Book Arts Lecture, Wells College Book Arts Center, Aurora, NY 2005

Keynote Address, Southeast Association of Book Arts Conference, Columbia SC, 2005

The Business of Artists’ Books Panelist, The Artists’ Books Conference, Wellesley College, 2005

Panel Speaker, Artists’ Book Conference, Art Libraries Society of North America, Getty Center, 2005

Lecture and Slide Presentation, The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK 2005

The Bookworks of Flying Fish Press, slide presentation, Society of Bookbinders Conference, Bath, England, 2005

Lecture for the Dedication of New Artist Book Area in the Herron Art Library, IUPUI, Indianapolis, 2004

Frederick W. Goudy Lecture and workshop, Scripps College, 2003