Howard Munson ~ California  

Fragments No. 5.
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2008. Edition of 5 variants.

7.5 x 11.25" closed; 11.25 x 120" extended. Accordion structure. Color Xerox printed on Lenox 100% rag print paper. Bound in Korean silk fabric. Housed in matching slipcase with paper title label.

Howard Munson: "Fragments are very small compositional areas taken from paper found inside old Japanese screens which are then enlarged. The [original] paper is approximately 130 years old."

"This book of the Fragments series has ink jet printed copies of the original collages made from old damaged Japanese screens. .. I made five different fragment collage books. This is book 1 of the Fragment 5 Series. The collages are two page spreads."
$475

ad-stract
By Howard Munson
San Francisco: Howard Munson, 2018. One-of-a-Kind.

6 x 9"; 6 double-page pop-ups. Accordion structure extending from the back pastedown. Lenox 100% colorfast printmaking paper. Bound in a textured brown-orange paper with collage of colorful papers on front cover. Paper title on interior front board. In slipcase with paper title on spine and collage paper elements on upper corners of front and back covers. Signed by the artist.

With inventively assembled cuts of paper that pop up and out of each spread, Munson riffs on the possibilities of shape, color, and dimension. Each pop-out will increase in height if the top layer is gently pulled up. On the first page words of Albert Einstein set the stage: Imagination is everything. it is the preview of life's coming attractions.
(SOLD)

The Architects
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2018. Edition of 4.

8.25 x 11.5" closed, extends to 35 - 40". Accordion fold structure extending from fore-edge of back pastedown. Inkjet prints. Each book in the edition has original background drawings. Lenox Colored paper. Black and white pop-ups. Unique boards and box design for each book in the edition. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Inspired by the 1931 Architect's Beaux Arts Ball. In the midst of the Great Depression attendees of the Beaux Arts Ball were asked to celebrate the innovative spirit of the architectural world. Munson portrays some of the many attendees who wore interpretations of buildings they had designed or inventions they are created.
(SOLD)

By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2017. Edition of 2.

8 x 12" closed, extending to 54". Accordion extending from back pastedown. Pop-ups. Sumi ink and ink jet prints. Lenox paper. In slipcase. Initialed and numbered by the artist.

Howard Munson: "This being the centennial of the DADA movement, 1916-2016, I have been inspired by the happenings that took place at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, Switzerland, the cafe where the artists and poets escaping the war that spread throughout Europe would, would often meet leading to chaos. I see the shadow of that era over the times we live in now. I relive in the making of the books the creative times and artists that sought out a creative means to react and maintain some sanity."

The New York Times, A Cellist in Avant-Garde Works, November 9, 1991: " Charlotte Moorman, the cellist, avant-gardist and performance artist … was called 'The Jeanne d'Arc of New Music' by the composer Edgard Varese. Ms. Moorman was arrested on Feb. 9, 1967, by two policemen who interrupted her performance at the Cinematheque in Manhattan of 'Opera Sextronique' by Nam June Paik, a composer, video artist and performance artist. She was performing nude, as the score had dictated, before an audience of 200 invited guests. Although Mr. Paik was released from custody and not charged, Ms. Moorman was tried and convicted for partial nudity. Later, the sentence was suspended.

"When asked during an interview how she had become interested in the avant-garde, Ms. Moorman said that one day she had grown [tired] of a Kabalevsky cello piece and someone had suggested that she try playing John Cage's '26 Minutes, 1.499 Seconds for a String Player,' which, among other things, requires the performer to prepare and eat mushrooms."
(SOLD/Out of Print)

By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2016. Edition of 5.

8 x 12" closed, extending to 54". Accordion extending from back pastedown. Pop-ups. Sumi ink and ink jet prints. Lenox paper. In slipcase. Initialed and numbered by the artist.

Howard Munson: "This being the centennial of the DADA movement, 1916-2016, I have been inspired by the happenings that took place at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich, Switzerland, the cafe where the artists and poets escaping the war that spread throughout Europe would, would often meet leading to chaos. I see the shadow of that era over the times we live in now. I relive in the making of the books the creative times and artists that sought out a creative means to react and maintain some sanity."

The New York Times, A Cellist in Avant-Garde Works, November 9, 1991: " Charlotte Moorman, the cellist, avant-gardist and performance artist … was called 'The Jeanne d'Arc of New Music' by the composer Edgard Varese. Ms. Moorman was arrested on Feb. 9, 1967, by two policemen who interrupted her performance at the Cinematheque in Manhattan of 'Opera Sextronique' by Nam June Paik, a composer, video artist and performance artist. She was performing nude, as the score had dictated, before an audience of 200 invited guests. Although Mr. Paik was released from custody and not charged, Ms. Moorman was tried and convicted for partial nudity. Later, the sentence was suspended.

"When asked during an interview how she had become interested in the avant-garde, Ms. Moorman said that one day she had grown [tired] of a Kabalevsky cello piece and someone had suggested that she try playing John Cage's '26 Minutes, 1.499 Seconds for a String Player,' which, among other things, requires the performer to prepare and eat mushrooms."
(SOLD/Out of print)

Bauhaus Ball
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2019. Edition of 3.

8 x 11" closed,. Accordion extending from back pastedown. Pop-ups. Color. Images inkjet printed on 100% rag Lenox paper. Original background drawings. In slipcase with collaged elements on sides. Paper title labels on book spine and case spine. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Howard Munson: "The Bauhaus opened its theatre workshop in 1921 under the direction of Lothar Schreyer. Walter Gropius saw the theatre as a legitimate component of Bauhaus defining it as the concrete embodiment of a synthesis to the arts. It was amid this climate of change that Oskar Schlemmer was put in charge of the theatre workshop where he designed many of the costumes as in 'The Triadic Ballet', 1922. It is this era of theater that inspired me to create my own imaginary theater."
(SOLD/Out of Print)

Chinatown Collage
By Howard Munson
San Francisco: Howard Munson, 2009. Edition of 3.

7.875 x 11.25" closed; 11.25 x 95.5" extended. Accordion structure with last leaf attached to back board. Lenox 100% rage paper. Unique hand painted cover. Slipcased.

Accordion book of color Xerox images (of an original collage) tipped onto brilliant red Lenox 100% rag print paper. Collages are presented as two-page spreads. These spreads are connected across the valley folds (the gutter) by hand-drawn links, which appear like unobtrusive hinges, and the two-page spreads are connected across the mountain folds by a delicate steaming cloud-bubble motif.

Howard Munson: "Living near Chinatown is enough inspiration for many books. A collage culture of color, graphics, calligraphy, ounds, and smells."
(SOLD/Out of Print)

Chinatown 2
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2008. Edition of 5.

11.25 x 8" closed; 11.25 x 60" extended; 8 pages. Accordion book of color Xerox images of original collage tipped onto brilliant red Lenox 100% rag print paper. Collages are presented as two-page spreads. These spreads are connected across the valley folds (the gutter) by hand-drawn links, which appear like unobtrusive hinges, and the two-page spreads are connected across the mountain folds by a delicate steaming cloud-bubble motif (which is echoed on the front cover). Bound in book cloth and Korean silk with paper title label on front board. Housed in matching slipcase with paper title label on spine.

Howard Munson: "All collaged images were found in San Francisco's Chinatown. ... Living near Chinatown in San Francisco inspires interpretation of sights and sounds. This is one in a series of books influenced by the Chinese culture."
(SOLD)

Damn the Torpedoes
Full Speed Ahead
By Howard Munson
San Francisco: Howard Munson, 2011. One-of-a-Kind.

8.5 x 10.75"; 52 pages. Codex structure. Bound in military green bookcloth with embellishments by the artist. In slipcase with matching cloth and handpainted design. Paper title label on spine.

Howard Munson, Introduction: "Crossing the Bay by ferry boat from San Francisco and approaching the US Navy's Mare Island, [one senses] a history book begin[ing] to open.

"On April 1, 1996, the island was officially closed, beginning of a new chapter in its long 142 years of ship building. What remains is a surreal landscape of boarded up and decaying buildings ravaged by time, fire, and vandalism on a carpet of chemical toxins. Once the proud base for building the nation's defense ships, it now harbors the memories of those who worked there and the sailors who died manning many of the ships now buried at sea. Walking through the buildings, graffiti covered rooms filled with file cabinets, chairs, blackboards, and tables tossed about in heaps on broken glass, wire, and scraps of wood, I cannot help feeling I am not alone."
(SOLD)

The Day After Dia De Los Muertos
San Miguel, Mexico
By Howard Munson
San Francisco: Howard Munson, 2009. Edition of 5.

8 x 10.75"; 44 pages. Printed by Xerox color printer on Lenox 100% rag paper. Photographs and drawings by artist. Bound in painted on cotton cloth. Housed in slipcase covered with Mexican oilcloth on sides. Paper title label on spine. In the edition of five, each will have a unique hand painted cotton cloth cover.

Howard Munson: "I arrived the day after the Dia del los Muertos on November 3 [2009] in San Miguel. The several weeks of activities were over. At the cemetery, the flowers were still fresh, and the throngs of visitors were gone. I got the feeling that everyone was exhausted , even the dead."

A quotation by Octavio Paz introduces this series of photographs and drawings: "... death revenges us against life, stripping it of all its vanities and pretensions and showing it for what it is: some bare bones and dreadful grimace ..."
(SOLD)

Dia de los Locos
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2015. Edition of 4.

8 x 11.25" closed; accordion fold with pop-ups. Extends from the back pastedown fore edge. Inkjet printed images printed on 100% rag printmaking paper. Unique covers and interior background in each book. In custom illustrated slipcase. Signed and numbered by the artist. Includes DVD.

Howard Munson: "This unique San Miguel de Allende festival bean some 60 years ago with a small group of dancers who celebrated a good harvest. Now the participants are in the thousands along with spectators that line the streets holding umbrellas upside down to catch candy tossed to hem from the masked Locos.

"The Locos depart from the parish San Anthony after having had attended a mass. The procession is made up of cudros, groups of families and friends, led by many decorated trucks carrying huge speakers playing music at very high volume as the Locos prance about with cartoon faces, faces of death, devils and film characters. "The festival is both religious and celebratory thanks to Saint Anthony and Saint Paschal."
(SOLD)

Form is Life / Life is Form
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2018. One-of-a-Kind.

6 x 9"; 6 double-page pop-ups. Accordion structure extending from the back pastedown. Lenox 100% colorfast printmaking paper. Inkjet printing. Bound in a textured brown-orange paper with multi-medium collage on front cover. Paper title on front free end page. In slipcase with paper title on spine. Signed by the artist.

This one-of-a-kind from Howard Munson was inspired by Japanese music as well as Butoh and Shigin poetry chant songs. Wikipedia (accessed 3/14/18): Shigin is "performance of reciting a Japanese poem or a Chinese poem read in Japanese, each poem usually chanted by an individual or in a group. Reciting can be done loudly before a large audience, softly to a few friends, or quietly to the reciter himself or herself"; Butoh is a "form of Japanese dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques, and motivations for dance, performance, or movement."

Each pop-up is accompanied by a Zen quotation. The pop-ups are double-layered. When the book is closed the top layer of the pop-up flattens. Once opened, pulling the top area of each pop-up toward the viewer creates the second layer.
(SOLD)

FUTURISTA
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2019. Edition of 3.

8 x 11.75"; 10 pages. Accordion structure extended from back pastedown foredge. Pop-ups. Mixed medium. Papers: Lenox 100% rag paper; acid free colored paper. In slipcase. Unique backgrounds and unique slipcases for each copy. DVD included in pocket on front pastedown. Signed by the artist.

FUTURISTA is inspired by the 1913 Russian opera "Victory over the Sun" by Futurist artists. This Russian opera premiered in 1913 at the Luna Park in St. Petersburg. The stage designer was Kazimir Malevich whose Black Square paintings began with the scenic designs for this opera — a black square placed against the sun.

Wikipedia (accessed 6/5/2019): "The libretto written in zaum language [a 'transrational' language intended to take language beyond logical meanings in the direction of a new visionary mysticism] was contributed by Aleksei Kruchenykh, the music was written by Mikhail Matyushin, the prologue was added by Velimir Khlebnikov, and the stage designer was Kazimir Malevich. The performance was organized by the artistic group Soyuz Molodyozhi. The opera has become famous as the event in which Malevich made his first Black Square painting (in 1915).

“The opera was intended to underline parallels between literary text, musical score, and the art of painting, and featured a cast of such extravagant characters as Nero and Caligula in the Same Person, Traveller through All the Ages, Telephone Talker, The New Ones, etc."

Howard Munson: '"Italian Futurism was the first cultural movement of the twentieth century to aim directly and deliberately at a mass audience through painting, poetry, theater performance, and music. Their aim was to transform the mentality of an anachronistic society [and was] led by the artist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in 1909. The Italian Futurists soon began to spread their ideas to Russia.

“This artist's book was inspired by the Russian Futurist opera Victory over the sun. First presented in St. Petersburg in 1913, It was to create a total theatrical environment, encompassing painting, song, music, and dance, and was originated with Kazimir Malevich. The opera with words which make no sense except as noise is a story of a group of Futurists who set off to conquer the sun.

"I approach it with my own imagination for the costumes and set. The music on the DVD is a mixed interpretation of 'the art of noise' which began with the Futurists."
(SOLD/Out of Print)

HOGEJAKA
By Howard Munson
San Francisco: Howard Munson, 2009. One-of-a-Kind.

8 x 11.5: closed; 11.5 x 80" extended; 10 panels. Accordion structure. Pop-ups. 100% rag Lenox paper. Paper title label on front board. Slipcased with paper title on spine.

For many getting rid of clutter takes on increasing importance as the years progress. Munson here tackles the issue visually.

Howard Munson: "Hogejaka in Japanese means to let go. The book was the result of creating space and letting go of things in life."
(SOLD)

an imaginary visit to the
Russian Avant-Garde Theatre
1913 – 1935
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2017. Edition of 4.

7.75 x 11.5" closed. Accordion structure extending from back pastedown. Inkjet prints. Lenox paper. Pop-ups. Each book with original unique drawings as background. Cinch closure with fabric covered boards. In slipcase with paper title label on spine. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Howard Munson: "Theater as inspiration for artists' books. An imaginary journey into world theater, spectator and creative director. This is one of a series of theater pop-up books I am working on."

For a brief period after the Russian Revolution, artists and directors combined to make theatre as radical as society.

Wikipedia.org: "The Russian avant-garde reached its creative and popular height in the period between the Russian Revolution of 1917 and 1932 at which point the ideas of the avant-garde clashed with the newly emerged state-sponsored direction of Socialist Realism."

Victoria & Albert Museum, Russian Avant-garde Theatre: "… an extraordinary point in Russian culture during which artistic, literary and musical traditions underwent profound transformations. New types of theatrical productions demanded innovative design solutions and benefitted from the unprecedented symbiosis of artists, musicians, directors and performers which characterized the period. Artists who worked in a variety of mediums including painting, architecture, textiles, photography and graphics worked collaboratively on theatrical productions to create a rich variety of design. For the avant-garde this work in theatrical innovation came to inform wider artistic practices."
(SOLD)

In Time
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2010. One-of-a-Kind.

8 x 11" closed, opens to 11" x 60". Accordion structure. Lenox 100% rag printmaking paper. Slipcased.

Howard Munson: "The collages come from a book created after a trip to Kassel, Germany, visiting the Documenta in 1982 (circa) where I encountered Joseph Beuys at the Free University. The selected images in the recent new book, made in 2010, are from the original book. The collage images are not influenced by the trip; they show more the surge of creativity I had on my return."
(SOLD)

Japan Assemblage No. 2
By Howard Munson
San Francisco: Howard Munson, 2010. One-of-a-Kind.

8 x 10.75 x 1.875 "; 20 leaves. Accordion structure extending from back board pastedown. Mixed media with pop-ups. Lenox 100% rag paper. Bound in Japanese illustrated cotton fabric with red fabric spine. Cloth and bone closure. Slipcased with paper title collaged matching book fabric tipped on spine.

Howard Munson: "This is a second version, smaller and with some different images, of the first assemblage [Japan Assemblage (2010)]. Found photos, my photos, and drawings inspired by words that related to my experiences in Japan." [In 2008 Munson spent several months living and working in Japan.]
(SOLD)

Japanese Calligraphy Landscape
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2008. Edition of 10.

14.25 x 7.25" closed, 56" extended; 8 panels. Accordion book. Each panel is a separate collage that has been copied by color xerox, which was then scanned and printed by color inkjet onto archival 100% printmaking rag paper. Silk cloth covered boards with paper title on front board. Housed in slipcase with matching cloth and title label on spine.

Howard Munson: "This is from a series of books I am in the process of making inspired by Japanese screens. Collage materials were found inside or on the outside of damaged Meiji period [roughly 1868-1912] Japanese screens."
(SOLD)

Kandinsky P O P
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2021. Edition of 2.

8 x 11.5"; four double page pop-ups. Acid free paper. Lenox printmaking 100% rag paper. Painted elements in the background of the pop-up pages. Accordion structure extending from back pastedown. Front panel paper over boards with collage and paint accents. Bound in painted cloth over boards with pastedowns of painted cloth. In slipcase with paper title on spine and paper design on sides. Signed by Munson.

"Kandinsky P O P" is an accordion pop-up book inspired by Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian Avant-garde painter. Kandinsky was born in Moscow. He is credited as a leader in avant-garde art and as one of the founders of our abstraction in painting in the early 20th century.

A lovely homage to Kandinsky with original drawings on covers, pastedowns, and pop-up backgrounds.
(SOLD/Out of Print)

Kyoto Collage
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2009. Edition of 5.

12.2 x 8.8" closed; 64" extended; 8 pages. Accordion structure. Xerox prints of collage of found papers. Printed on Lenox 100% rag print paper. Korean silk-covered boards with paper title label on front board. Slipcased with paper title label on spine.

Howard Munson: "Collage material from fragments of old Japanese screens and a children's' game called Dump."
(SOLD)

Mexican Mannequins
Photography by Judy Roberts
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico / San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2011. Edition of 5.

10 x 12" closed; 16 pages. Accordion structure. Digital prints tipped onto Lenox 100% rag paper. Bound in unique cloth covers. Slipcased. Photography by Judy Roberts. Book production and design by Howard Munson.

Judith Roberts, photographer and collector of Mexican folk art, has lived in San Miguel de Allende for years, running a shop selling folk art, jewelry, and clothing - including her own line. This sparked her interest in mannequins, and hence the photographs in this book.

Judy Roberts, introduction: "The narrative of these portraits of 1940's Mexican mannequins is about you and I. We are these portraits. I'm not sure the photographic lens is the best way to observe our soul but I think the photos are suited to see humanitie's [sic] emotional expressions before we put them behind a facial mask. It is not enough to just photograph these mannequins I encounter throughout Mexico, it is necessary to understand the Mexican social cultural aspect of them. It is not an act of nihilism to
repaint the make-up but an acceptable female custom to use very colorful facial make-up daily. The make-up re-applier is shaping culture she is also shaped by."
(SOLD)

Miro
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2020. One-of-a-Kind.

8.25 x 9.25" closed, extends to 64". Accordion structure extending from the back pastedown foredge. Four full color pop-ups. Painting. Collage. Color fast paper. In slipcase. Signed by the artist.

This pop-up and accordion book by Howard Munson was inspired by the work of Miro. His influence is shown in the organic forms and wonderful color palette of the pop-ups and background.
(SOLD)

Occupied Walls
By Howard Munson
San Francisco: Howard Munson, 2013. Edition of 3.

7.75 x 11.25" closed; extends to 105". 14 images. Ink jet printed. Tipped on Lenox 100% rag paper. In unique slipcase. Paper title label on spine of box and book. Signed and dated by the artist.

When Howard Munson walks the streets of San Francisco, he takes along a camera. Occupied Walls documents the work of unknown Bay Area philosophers who have embellished city walls: "Occupied and rage speak out on silent walls!"
(SOLD)

Picasso Matsuri
By Howard Munson
San Francisco: Howard Munson, 2018. Edition of 4.

9 x 12.5" closed. Accordion structure extending from the back pastedown. Pop-ups. Inkjet-printed images. Lightfast colored paper. Unique covers and interior background. In custom illustrated slipcase. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Howard Munson: "Inspired by attending several Matsuri (festivals) in Japan. Masks are common in folk dances, I used Picasso images for the masks on the Japanese dancers for my own version of a Matsuri honoring the artist. In Japan many Matsuri honor a god or spirit."
(SOLD)

Revolutionary Celebration
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2018. Edition of 4.

10 x 8" closed. Accordion fold structure extending from fore-edge of back pastedown. Inkjet prints. Each book in the edition has original background drawing. Lenox Colored paper. Pop-up. Tie closure. Unique boards and box design for each book in the edition. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Inspired by the Russian Avant-Garde Theatre, 1913-1935.

Peter Sturm, review of Russian Avant Garde Theater exhibition at the Victoria & Albert: "The historical backdrop ... is dramatic: World War One, the fall of the Tsar, two revolutions, civil war and famine. Together with religion and nationality all cannons and conventions were swept away in an unprecedented artistic outpouring.

"Artists came out of their studios and many of them gathered in theatres where they could collectively experiment and formulate their new cultural identity. Western cubist and symbolist ideas were already growing out of clubs and varieties and circuses too had a huge influence on the perception of the theatre.

"Acrobats, clowns, musicians - even machines - appeared bringing physicality and depth to an audience that was ready for the ultimate spectacle. Constructivist stage designs, aspired to an unlimited freedom in an unlimited space."
(SOLD)

Rhythmics
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2017. One-of-a-Kind.

8 x 11.75"; 10 pages. Accordion structure extended from back pastedown fore edge. Pop-ups. Mixed medium. Papers: Lenox 100% rag paper; acid free colored paper. In slipcase. Signed by the artist.

Howard Munson: "I learn something new every single time I make a book. And I always like to try new things. I get bored fairly quickly, so I have to make books that are always different."

With inventively assembled cuts of paper that pop up and out of each spread, Munson riffs on the possibilities of shape, color, and dimension.
(SOLD)

Rod & Pop
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2017. Edition of 4.

8.25 x 11.5" closed. Accordion structure extending from back pastedown. Inkjet prints. Lenox paper. Pop-ups. Each book with original unique drawings as background. Cinch closure with fabric-covered boards. In slipcase with paper title label on spine. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Howard Munson: "This artist book was inspired by Alexander Rodchenko and Lyubou Popova, two pioneers of Constructivism. The designs on the figures are based on the paintings, color, and angular shapes that appeared in their paintings, prints, and fabrics. After the 1917 October Revolution, the geometric abstraction of painting was thought to play in the transformation of the society, 'giving a new thing to the new life.'"
(SOLD/Out of Print)

Rum-Roi
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2017. Edition of 3.

8 x 11.25" closed. Accordion structure extending from back pastedown. Inkjet prints. Lenox paper. Pop-ups. Each book has original unique drawings as background. Cinch closure with fabric-covered boards. In slipcase with paper title label on spine. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Howard Munson: "This artist's book was inspired by the French play Ubu Roi presented in Paris in 1896 by Alfred Jarry to an audience which erupted into pandemonium. Ubu-Roi is a mockery of good taste and behavior."

Ubu Roi opened and closed on December 10, 1896. The audience included William Butler Yeats. The play is considered a precursor to Dada, Surrealism, and the Theatre of the Absurd.
(SOLD)

Spirits in the Forest
By Howard Munson
San Francisco: Howard Munson, 2010. One-of-a-Kind.

8 x 10.75" closed, 10.75 x 90" open; 12 leaves. Accordion structure. Mixed media on Lenox 100% rag paper. Original ink drawings from damaged Japanese screens. In slipcase with paper title label on spine.

The accordion is prefaced by Munson's poem "Sprits in the Forest."

Howard Munson: "All papers, including cover material, are original ink drawings taken from discarded Japanese screens that are about 100 years old.

"I restore damaged Japanese screens and in the process all material that is discarded I use to create new screens and artist books. While working in Japan I lived in an area of mountains and forests where the tales of historical battles inspired me."
(SOLD)

The Theatre in Revolution
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2019. Edition of 2.

8 x 12" closed,. Accordion extending from back pastedown. Pop-ups. Color. Images inkjet printed on 100% rag Lenox paper. Original background drawings. In slipcase. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Howard Munson: "1913, Moscow, actors prepare for an evening of avantgarde theatre backstage. My imagination is inspired by the activity, the costumes and scene design. The October revolution produced an epidemic of theater for liberated workers, peasants and intellectuals. Theater could influence and enlighten more readily than a book when the population was largely illiterate. Making this book, I can imagine and live momentarily in those very exciting years."
(SOLD/Out of Print)

The Way of the Brush
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2005. Edition of 10.

11.2 x 7.75"; 12 pages. Accordion book on 100% rag Lenox paper. Original brush work color copied, and images tipped in. Cloth-covered boards with paper title label inset in front board. In slipcase with cloth- covered edges and paper title label on spine.

Howard Munson: "This book was an exercise in the use of the Japanese brush and ink; free flowing marks with no meaning, small compositions, in reference to the art of Japanese calligraphy."
(SOLD)

Years of the Modern
Poem by Walt Whitman
Book design and graphic art by Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2015. One-of-a-Kind.

7.25 x 8.75"; 12 pages. Accordion extending from back pastedown. Pop ups. Lenox 100% rag paper. Inkjet printed. Bound in bookcloth over boards. In slipcase. Signed by the artist.

"Years of the Modern," a poem by America's 19th-century visionary, is at home with and here surrounded by Howard Munson's more contemporary graphics and pop-ups.
(SOLD)

ZANG TUMB TUMB
By Howard Munson
San Francisco, California: Howard Munson, 2018. Edition of 4.

8 x 11.25" closed; accordion fold with pop-ups. Extends from the back pastedown fore edge. Inkjet printed images printed on 100% rag printmaking paper. Seven page introduction pamphlet adhered to front board of accordion pull out. Unique covers and interior background in each book. In custom illustrated slipcase. Signed and numbered by the artist. Includes DVD.

Howard Munson: "ZANG TUMB TUMB is a pop-accordion book inspired by the Futurist's theater and includes a DVD recording of Filippo Marinetti reading his poem 'Zang Tumb Tumb.'

"The Futurists movement began with its founder Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in Italy. Italian Futurism was the first cultural movement of the twentieth century to aim directly and deliberately at a mass audience. Their aim and their claim was to transform the mentality of an anachronistic society through manifestos and theater. (We could use their approach today.)"

Introduction: "'Zang tumb tumb,' Marinetti's 'onomatopoetic artillery' as he called it, was originally written in a letter from the Bulgarian trenches to the painter Russolo in 1912. Inspired by Marinetti's description of the 'orchestra of the great battle. …'
(SOLD/Out of print)