Exhibit: REGENERATE! Book Arts in Hawai'i

Title: REGENERATE! Book Arts in Hawai'i
On View: Wednesdays-Saturdays, August 31-October 12 during gallery hours from 10:00am-4:00pm

Curated by: Thad Higa & Minny Lee

Full Description: The Donkey Mill Art Center is proud to present REGENERATE! Book Arts in Hawai'i. This exhibition surveys contemporary artist books in the Hawaiian Islands. Curated by Oahu-based book artists Minny Lee and Thad Higa, REGENERATE! focuses on the book as a document of change. 

In an era of transience and portability, artists approach books as one of the most malleable and dynamic vehicles of art. There are books from printmakers, concrete poets, dancers, musicians, photographers, graphic designers, and any artist seeking to regenerate their own form in printed matter. Books of our time range from narrative to non-narrative, abstract to didactic, encyclopedic to poetic. REGENERATE! also includes a reading area where visitors can spend time with a selection of works from the show.

In coordination with the exhibition, artists talks and workshops will be held at the Donkey Mill for anyone interested in learning how to share their art, ideas, and passions in book form. We hope you will join us.

Curator Bios:

Thad Higa: 

Thad Higa is a writer, designer, and book artist based in Honolulu. Higa studied creative writing at Seattle University and studied bookmaking in the crevices of youtube and moldy west coast basements. He was the spring artist in residence at Box Jelly in Honolulu. His work has been exhibited in Contact: Acts of Faith, at the Hawaii State Art Museum, Printed Matter, zine and book fairs in Honolulu and Seattle. His books and zines can be found sometimes on random counters of places in the world. Higa is the founder of Hawaii Zine and Book Library, an itinerant speakeasy for books in Honolulu. 

Minny Lee:

Minny Lee is a Honolulu based artist whose work combines images and text. Lee obtained a Master of Arts in Art History from City College of New York and a Master of Fine Arts in Advanced Photographic Studies from ICP-Bard in New York City. She was awarded a fellowship from the Reflexions Masterclass in Europe and participated as an artist-in-residence at Halsnøy Kloster and the Vermont Studio Center. Lee’s limited edition artist’s books, Encounters and Million Years, are in the collection of the International Center of Photography Library, New York Public Library, Special Collections at the University of Arizona, Special Collections at Stanford University, and the Sloane Art Library at the University of North Carolina. Lee was a lecturer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Zines she edited of photographs taken by students in her classes are now in the permanent collection of the San Francisco Art Institute Library and the International Center of Photography Library. Lee is a faculty member at the Honolulu Museum of Art School and the International Center of Photography.

Participating Artists: 

Jody Arthur

Gaye Chan

Kels Choo

Tara Cronin

Barbara Davis

Jan Dicky

Nicole Dikon

Marika Emi

Brady Evans

Jose Ferreira

Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt

Thad Higa 

Taylor Johnson

Jisoo Aina Kang

Valerie Kim

James Knusden

Justin Koo

Andrzej Kramarz

Omer Kursat

Jihae Kwon

Jacqueline Rush Lee

Minny Lee

Wayne Levin

Matt Mallams

Aashish Maskey

Tamara Moan

Jager Palad

Tinfish Press (Susan Schultz)

Matt Shallenberger

Laura Smith

Iolani High School Students

Phoenix Tran

Alison Uyehara

Jared Wickware

Gritty Committee Zines

Flexions Zines

C.M. Butzer

Lisa Louise Adams