Klange (Sounds) by McCallion, Barry - 2015

East Hampton, NY, 2015. Artist's book, unique, on Kozo paper, backed with black Revere paper, signed on the colophon with artist's note that this book is a tribute to Wassily Kandinsky's book, KLANGE, published in 1912. Page size: 9-3/4 x 6-1/2 inches; 28pp. Bound: loose in wrappers that are affixed to tan paper over boards case with black cut-outs on front panel, housed in black cloth over boards clamshell box by Joelle Webber with white paper label on spine reading "KLANGE / for W.K." with collage on front wrapper color copied to front of box. McCallion has made a book without text inspired by the black and color woodcuts in ground-breaking work 1912 avant-garde book by Russian-born expressionist artist, Wassily Kandinsky. For his first book, at once influenced by folk art and Jugendstil, Kandinsky created poetry and woodcuts in an attempt to create the pure sound of language. Barry McCallion's use of black Revere paper collaged to white folios, with color onlays, some of which are painted in India inks, reflects Kandinsky's influence as well as his own aesthetic. Geometric shapes, reflected not only in the cut-outs but the collages as well, form their own rhythm with each turn of the page. The reader / viewer can see through each folio to the next - but it is not chaotic. Rather, it is provocative and exciting.