France to Japan: Nativizing the Leather-bound Book

Bookbinder Ohie Toshio is an exemplar of the long Japanese tradition of adopting and adapting foreign art forms. Ohie first introduced the practice of bookbinding in Japan in 1974 after studying the art in France for five years. Through Ohie’s efforts, patrons began to see their favorite works of literature as treasures to be enshrined in a splendid binding, enhanced by graphic design and materials developed to suit the writing, and with illustrations by esteemed artists. As shown in the selection of books currently on display in the exhibition Ohie Toshio and the Perfection of the Japanese Book, Ohie’s work utilizes avant-garde, Arts and Crafts, and Aesthetic movement styles, as well as contemporary design and visual quotes from bookbinding history—all to suit books with an equally wide array of content. In this presentation, the artist, with the assistance of a translator, will discuss his techniques of French bookbinding, his precise selection of materials, and his collaborations with graphic designers, printmakers, photographers, and calligraphers.

Brown Auditorium | Free, tickets required | Tickets: 323 857-6010 or reserve online.

Image: Asters, 2005, leather-bound,book with slipcase and chemise, lithographs by O Jun, collection of Ohie Toshio.