I received a new invitation from Jasia Reichardt that, again I cannot attend, but I want to share with all of you, this exhibit, because it will be interesting.
As you'll know Jasia Reichardt is the niece of Stefan Themerson,
eclectic character, writer, painter, drawer, founder of a publishing house as well.
And...in this case, the Gaberbocchus, his publishing house, will be the protagonist of this event: Themerson&Themerson.
Organized by London Centre for Book Art, from 18 september to 22 November it will be possible to visit an exhibition of this avant-garde press founded not just by Themerson but also by his wife Francizska in 1948.
Private view Thursday 18 september 6:30-9 pm.
Thanks to this publishing house the Themersons released more than sixty titles over thirty years mostly of them illustrated. Not just their work, to be precise, but also the ones of seminal experimental European writers shared to a British audience.
The interest of Themerson wasn't the ones of selling a lot, of books, no. I know that in a world like this one, where profit is the only mantra, it can appears weird, but Stefan thought first of all that books had to be «best-lookers than best-sellers» resulting in striking, unconventional radical commitment to publish books not for profit but to create a platform for art and literature that was deemed unpublishable by the mainstream.
Anarchic, playful, and strongly independent in all their activities, the Themersons and Gaberbocchus Press resisted categories and conventions.
When people asked about the strengths and weakness of the press, Themersons gave the same answer to both questions: «Refusal to conform».
People to be thanked for this exhibitions are:
Daniel Haynes, Catherine Moore, Harriet Neville, Joe Hales.
A special thank to Jasia Reichardt and Robert Devcic for their generosity and support.
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