Vince Koloski
Alphabet of Death , 2019
Artwork Shop
7 x 6.5
x 7
in
In the 1530s artist Hans Holbein created his work "The Dance of Death" which illustrated death coming to all classes of society. Somewhere around that time he also created the "Alphabet of Death" in which death interacted with the letters of the alphabet. Holbein only finished 24 of the letters which conveniently made a book of six 4 letter pages, an intriguing prospect to artist Vince Koloski. The letters were laser-etched onto cast acrylic sheet, capped with wood channels (which are also engraved with Holbein designs) for the LEDs that illuminate them and hinged with elastic thread to mimic a cord binding. The book is contained in a wood case with the letter A of the series engraved upon it.
Artist Vince Koloski has been a frequent part of our Art of the Book exhibitions. Raised in an extended family of printers and typesetters, he was surrounded by the printed word practically from birth. He fell in love with using light in his work in his 20s and has spent the intervening years incorporating it into a range of sculptural offerings. Koloski made his first illuminated book on a challenge from someone in the publishing world. He incorporates sophisticated digital technologies to creating incandescent works that speak to his love of books. “I have always been captivated by the effect that glowing text has on the public,” says Koloski. “Reading the illuminated words and seeing the carved pictures captures the imagination of the viewer in a manner that goes beyond simple text. Words become magic.”
$1,200
