The Book Art of Karen Guancione - spring exhibition in Alexander Library; opens March 1st Special Collections and University Archives, of the Rutgers University Libraries invites you to the opening of: A Portable, Constant Obsession The Book Art of Karen Guancione Thursday March 1, 2012 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Remigio U. Pane Room, 1st floor Archibald S. Alexander Library College Avenue Campus Talk by Karen Guancione Remarks by Michael S. Joseph, Curator and Asha Ganpat, Artist Reception following the program Exhibition on display in the Special Collections galleries until August 31, 2012. To RSVP, send email to events@rci.rutgers.edu or call 732-932-7505. For more information or assistance with parking, please contact Fernanda Perrone at 732-932-7006 x363 or hperrone@rulmail.rutgers.edu

© Karen Guancione artwork Trash (Accordion Plastic Bag Book): mixed media, scanned images, machine-sewn plastic bags from many countries, paper and other recycled materials, grommets: size variable (2005); Spiral Bound Garbage Books: found materials, over 400 books made from decades of accumulated recycled trash, packaging and paper scraps from around the world; individual scraps are dated and each book numbered (2007—present). Photos: Bruce Riccitelli

Karen Guancione's multi-media artwork combines brilliant pieces of collage and cloth, found materials and intense applications of color that share a sensual delight in "the stuff of life." She tells stories of women's work, immigration, labor, the environment, and issues of identity and class. "A Portable, Constant Obsession: The Book Art of Karen Guancione" is the first exhibition dedicated exclusively to Guancione's book works, which form one of the major areas of her extensive and significant body of work.

Karen Guancione is an internationally recognized visual artist whose interdisciplinary work includes large-scale installations, community art projects, performance, sculpture, printmaking, papermaking, bookarts and video. Although she is based in New Jersey, she is a familiar presence in arts communities in France, Italy and Mexico, to which she travels frequently. Karen has been awarded a Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Artists and Communities Grant, three New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowships, a Ford Foundation Grant, a Puffin Foundation Grant and an Arts and Culture Exhibition Grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation. She is also the first time recipient of the Erena Rae Award for Art and Social Justice.

Karen Guancione's work has been exhibited worldwide and is in numerous public and private collections. She is an adjunct professor of art at Montclair State University, Middlesex County College, and SUNY Purchase, and has been a visiting artist and lecturer at Pratt Institute, Rutgers University and numerous schools and institutions in the United States and abroad. Since 2007, she has been the Artistic Director of the annual New Jersey Book Arts Symposium and Exhibition.

This exhibition is co-sponsored by the Institute for Women and Art.