Airprint Press (Mobile Version)

Open access to artist books

Serendipity: Williams House

2014-2016

About the Serendipity: Williams House book series

Serendipity: Williams House (S:WH) is the studio and experimental exhibition space of artists Lucy Kirkman Allen and Justin Hunter Allen. From 2014-2016, the Allens invited artists from across the USA and abroad to install artwork in a single room of a farmhouse in Onemo, VA. Because of its isolated location, these exhibitions were conceived and documented to exist solely in book form. The book series was released in April, 2017.

Fourteen collaborators in eight books bring together critical and creative writing with paintings, sculptures, and prints. The project is about artistic relationships, the studio ecosystem, and extended conversations with friends. Contributor Michael Corris writes of the project, "Maybe it’s the idea that there is still some life in the concept of the catalogue at all. The catalogue-as-work, rather than simply document, is the oldest Conceptual Art trick in the book. It is the book."

You can find out more about S:WH and other Serendipity projects here.

"Since Justin and I started working together on curatorial projects, we've found that making books/catalogues is an asset because they are mobile, carry the breath of the curatorial vision, and let someone in the future to 'know' the show. We will produce a small print run of the Fox catalogue, with copies for contributors and the DMA library. The catalogue will also be released online, with the encouragement to print and reproduce physical copies. We want to present the opportunity for anyone to pick it up and familiarize themselves with, or participate in, the conversation." Lucy Kirkman Allen, 2014

Thanks to Worth Kirkman for his generous support of this project.

Airprint Press, part of the Airplant Project, is an artist-run press dedicated to free access to its published books.

Above images of S:WH and exterior by Joshua Caleb Weibley

S:WH 2014-2016 is:

Correspondence
Texts by
Michael Corris
Richard Bailey
Michael Dorsch

Fox
Works by
Justin Hunter Allen
Lucy Kirkman Allen

Eagle or Hawk
Text and works by
Travis Iurato

Twilight Time
Text and works by
Joe Allen

Fullmoon Mysticism
Text and works by
Philip Hinge

4 Winds
Text by
V. B. Bandjunis
Works by
Cynthia Bandjunis

Royal Waves
Works by
Kelly Kroener
Eli Walker

Stranger States, No Longer Real
Works by
Makiko Nagaya
Peter Lewis