Ø  Salle de la Bretèche, Nyon  22-28 août 2006

Work in dialogue: Zuev, Bortnikov, Costantini, Brett

The idea of this exhibition is to bring together the works of four great masters of contemporary ex-libris: Vladimir Zuev, Evgenji Bortnikov, Simon Brett and Costante Costantini.

Zuev, from Russia, uses intaglio printing of metal plates worked by - inter alia - etching, aquatint, and/or dry-point. The three others (Bortnikov, Russia;  Brett, GB and Costantini, Italy) use principally relief printing techniques, from woodcut, wood-engraved or linocut blocks... with a little exception from Constantini.

Zuev's work will be presented on the walls of the Gallery space, whereas the works of the other three artists, in contrast, will be presented in albums on a table.The idea is to stimulate some thought in the spectator as to where a bookplate should be seen - on the wall or in a book - and to question an artificial hierarchy of techniques which some collectors tend to promote today.

A catalogue with forty-eight works 'in dialogue' and substantial texts will be available and given to congress participants.