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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Poetry | Broadsides


Earth’s Cries Recorded in Space

The broadside, a distinctive form of artistry, came about in the 16th century. Traditionally, a broadside was an attractive, eye-catching message scribed on a large sheet of paper and intended to be posted or hung in a public space, thereby transforming that space. By bringing a mixture of poetry and art to the people in this way, the poster or broadside became part of daily conversation

The modern broadside has the very same mission, each being an original literary-visual collaboration, an evocative combination of poetry and art meant to be enjoyed by a wide audience.  Thus displayed for all to see, the age-old mission of the broadside as street literature is accomplished. Any given viewer on any given day may be stimulated both by the language of the poem and the visual image, each in the service of the other

Whereas early broadsides were ephemeral, the modern broadside, using archival inks and papers, and executed by printers of high literary merit, has no such short life. Today, as in early works, text and graphics appear on a large sheet.  Each eloquent art poster or broadside is a work which represents a unique and innovative collaboration between a poet and an artist. In rendering a modern broadside, the visual or graphic artist experiments with forms and techniques influenced by his/her individual association with the poet.

The broadsides shown here are from the literary/visual collaboration of poet Irene Mitchell and artist Daniela Bertol.  They have created two series of distinctive broadsides "Seduction" and "Heart of the Matter", each a limited first edition archival print, numbered and signed.

 Choosing the Éclair

Epistle

Chiaroscuro

 Every Bright Green Yet Uncorrupted

 Gazing with Galileo

N.B.  “Gazing with Galileo” appears in Mitchell’s collection Sea Wind on the White Pillow (Axes Mundi Press).  All other poems appear in her new book, A Study of Extremes in Six Suites (Cherry Grove Collections)