I Know How to be Helpful Artist's Book by Roni Gross
This piece is a semi-finalist for the 2024 MCBA Prize, and will be included in the 2024 MCBA Prize Exhibition from August 17th - October 12th, 2024. Pieces purchased before the end of the exhibition will ship on October 18th, 2024.
Additionally, this piece is featured in the August 2024 issue of The Fore Edge, a quarterly newsletter from MCBA that highlights new artists’ books and zines for collections, universities, and libraries. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, there is a sign up available here.
“I Know How To Be Helpful, a letterpress printed, limited edition by Z’roah Press, is a collision of 3 different visual elements: pen and ink drawing, linocut and the mass of woodtype.
Metaphorically and structurally it presents the loss of innocence of a young girl. The idyllic landscape disappears, and the gritty black and white drawing composes itself as the pages turn. The action of the book mirrors the tension of the protagonist, and we hold our breath to find out if she escapes.
The book is bound in a drum leaf structure, with pages that get gradually shorter. The body of the reader must adjust, as the path of the protagonist changes direction and picks up speed. The poem, by the same name, is by Lisa Wujnovich.” -Roni Gross
The linocut, from before such a thing was ever imagined, is the work of Roni Gross. The drawing, from when it was happening too quickly, is the work of Peter Schell. Words and thoughts were set in Mrs. Eaves and Futura and printed from polymer plates on Rosapina Paper. Endsheet and title page are printed from wood type, with Baskerville titling. Biruta Auna bound the book, which is covered in Canapetta and Cialux cloth, and hot stamped.
14” x 2” x 9”
*Consignment item. Not eligible for 10% membership discount. All consignment purchases are final and non-refundable once shipped.
This piece is a semi-finalist for the 2024 MCBA Prize, and will be included in the 2024 MCBA Prize Exhibition from August 17th - October 12th, 2024. Pieces purchased before the end of the exhibition will ship on October 18th, 2024.
Additionally, this piece is featured in the August 2024 issue of The Fore Edge, a quarterly newsletter from MCBA that highlights new artists’ books and zines for collections, universities, and libraries. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, there is a sign up available here.
“I Know How To Be Helpful, a letterpress printed, limited edition by Z’roah Press, is a collision of 3 different visual elements: pen and ink drawing, linocut and the mass of woodtype.
Metaphorically and structurally it presents the loss of innocence of a young girl. The idyllic landscape disappears, and the gritty black and white drawing composes itself as the pages turn. The action of the book mirrors the tension of the protagonist, and we hold our breath to find out if she escapes.
The book is bound in a drum leaf structure, with pages that get gradually shorter. The body of the reader must adjust, as the path of the protagonist changes direction and picks up speed. The poem, by the same name, is by Lisa Wujnovich.” -Roni Gross
The linocut, from before such a thing was ever imagined, is the work of Roni Gross. The drawing, from when it was happening too quickly, is the work of Peter Schell. Words and thoughts were set in Mrs. Eaves and Futura and printed from polymer plates on Rosapina Paper. Endsheet and title page are printed from wood type, with Baskerville titling. Biruta Auna bound the book, which is covered in Canapetta and Cialux cloth, and hot stamped.
14” x 2” x 9”
*Consignment item. Not eligible for 10% membership discount. All consignment purchases are final and non-refundable once shipped.
This piece is a semi-finalist for the 2024 MCBA Prize, and will be included in the 2024 MCBA Prize Exhibition from August 17th - October 12th, 2024. Pieces purchased before the end of the exhibition will ship on October 18th, 2024.
Additionally, this piece is featured in the August 2024 issue of The Fore Edge, a quarterly newsletter from MCBA that highlights new artists’ books and zines for collections, universities, and libraries. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, there is a sign up available here.
“I Know How To Be Helpful, a letterpress printed, limited edition by Z’roah Press, is a collision of 3 different visual elements: pen and ink drawing, linocut and the mass of woodtype.
Metaphorically and structurally it presents the loss of innocence of a young girl. The idyllic landscape disappears, and the gritty black and white drawing composes itself as the pages turn. The action of the book mirrors the tension of the protagonist, and we hold our breath to find out if she escapes.
The book is bound in a drum leaf structure, with pages that get gradually shorter. The body of the reader must adjust, as the path of the protagonist changes direction and picks up speed. The poem, by the same name, is by Lisa Wujnovich.” -Roni Gross
The linocut, from before such a thing was ever imagined, is the work of Roni Gross. The drawing, from when it was happening too quickly, is the work of Peter Schell. Words and thoughts were set in Mrs. Eaves and Futura and printed from polymer plates on Rosapina Paper. Endsheet and title page are printed from wood type, with Baskerville titling. Biruta Auna bound the book, which is covered in Canapetta and Cialux cloth, and hot stamped.
14” x 2” x 9”
*Consignment item. Not eligible for 10% membership discount. All consignment purchases are final and non-refundable once shipped.
Roni Gross (she/her) is a book artist who trained first as a musician and then as a choreographer. She is interested in the theater of the book, it’s pacing, the music of language, and the resonance of color. Creating an environment in which to experience language, is the aim of her work. She publishes limited edition letterpress printed books which are collaborations with the sculptor Peter Schell under the press name Z’roah. She is a 2020 AIGA award winner for 50 Book Covers competition. Roni co-published (with Barbara Henry), The Vandercook Book, in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Vandercook Press, which traveled around the United States for 2 years. She has produced limited edition chapbooks and broadsides for numerous poets including LaTasha Nevada Diggs, Marie Ponsot, Edwin Torres, Jean Valentine and C.K. Williams, Roni has had solo exhibitions at the Arnolfini Art Centre, in the UK, University of West England, and The Center for Book Arts. and participated in many other group shows, including “90 of the 90’s” at the New York Public Library. In 2019 she started and continues to produce Book Talk, an online series to engage in critical dialogue about artist books, which is sponsored by The Center for Book Arts She currently teaches at The Center for Book Arts in NYC, SUNY Purchase, and has taught at Penland, The New School, Pratt and Hot Bed Press. Her work is in the collections of The New York Public Library, The Library of Congress, Harvard, Yale, the Bodleian and many other public and private collections.
Instagram: @GrossRoni
