What emerged as an idea to personalize a limited edition of Alejandro Sanz's books in 2020 seems to be emerging as a manifestation that calls for reflection on new forms of interaction between the artist and new collectors or new audiences. A gesture like asking the famous singer to fix the imprint of his hands impregnated in paint on a series of books showed the editor Martí Berrio that such interaction turned the book into an object loaded with multiple meanings by making each copy a unique work. After many years working in the graphic arts sector and with a publishing house specializing in design, architecture and art books, BY Publications, founded in 2013, Berrio seemed to find what he was looking for: “Making unique books, which far of scamming with art for the poor, offer the possibility of having unique and original pieces by prestigious artists”, he explains.
Based on this premise, he started a collection of artist's books in which the unique piece becomes communal in its way of living it and almost collective in its production process. The two hundred books that make up the circulation of each artist are placed together, forming a mosaic that becomes the canvas or mural on which the artist paints or makes the intervention that he decides. At the end, the books are separated and distributed. The first title, published in March 2021, The Nature of Painting, by the painter Hugo Fontela, with photographs by Jean Marie del Moral and Carmen Figaredo, and texts by Juan Cruz, is presented as one of the main monographs on the artist.
According to Berrio, all aspects are taken care of to the maximum so that the book becomes a personal object, a process that culminates when the artists who are both object and subject of the project intervene on each and every one of the copies: two hundred books , placed as a canvas or mural, or as the floor on which to dance while painting. The latter was the case of Jorge Galindo, who considers painting and dance as parts of the same original expression. His book, La Pintura y las Flores, appeared in August of last year, with photos also by Jean Marie del Moral and texts by Rafael Doctor Roncero.
In all cases, the piece is delivered ready to be exhibited, and is accompanied by videos and interviews that allow us to follow the process of creating these works that, once finished, are fragmented to sell and distribute. “What excites me the most is that we make it possible for young people to access an original work by artists such as Fontela, Galindo, Plensa or Secundino Hernández. And that this work, like the collection, will be revalued, "says the editor. Each title has a starting price that is revised when a certain number of copies are sold.
Interior, by Jaume Plensa, which appeared in July, with photos also by Del Moral and text by Màrius Carol, is the latest installment in the collection. In the giant collage made by the Catalan artist, he makes reference to Macbeth: “There is a memory of the whole in each book cover, which is also my memory and my material”, as he explains in the video that accompanies the publication. He finds especially exciting the fact that these books into which the work is divided form a community, like a big hug, an objective that he claims to have pursued for a long time: “All these books will be linked by an invisible thread, they are two hundred fragments of fragments”.
Due to the originality of his proposal and his search for the unique book, Martí Berrio has joined the Associació de Bibliòfils de Barcelona, a recognition he receives with obvious emotion and pride. The collection wants to grow consistently and solidly, publishing two or three titles a year. Juan Uslé, Joan Fontcuberta and Secundino Hernández are the next names that will become part of this stimulating community.
