The essential focus of the collection is on artists' books
All events and workshops normally scheduled at the Jaffe Center are canceled through at least May 11, 2020, which is the end of FAU's current Spring Semester. This includes Wednesday Tours, Real Mail Fridays, the Springtide Makers Marketplace, and all workshops scheduled through May 11. We hope to be back to our regular operating schedule soon.
One of the most unique voices in artists’ books is right here in South Florida: Claire Jeanine Satin is a contemporary artist who has been working in the book form for decades. JCBA’s spring exhibition samples a cross section of Satin’s artists’ books and related works. The materials are mostly experimental––plastics, metals, monofilament. The overriding concept is one of Chance Operations, a concept informed and influenced by John Cage: chance operations as “a means of locating a single among a multiplicity of answers.” Peering through transparent pages to see a multiplicity of text and images, anything, it seems, is possible, and nothing is as expected.
Together with his late wife, Mata, Arthur built an outstanding collection of books as aesthetic objects focused on artists' books and limited editions. His collection began over 50 years before he and Mata gave these books to FAU in 1998. Rather than being the end of something, that gift was an inspired beginning, garnering an enthusiastic group of loyal supporters that grows with each passing year. The Arthur & Mata Jaffe Center for Book Arts is their legacy.
Every now and again, perhaps over coffee in the bindery at the Jaffe Center for Book Arts, I’d find myself sitting across from Arthur Jaffe and, in a wistful mood, no doubt, I’d ask him, “Did you ever think, way back when you and Mata gave your book collection to FAU, that it would become what it’s become?”
The Jaffe Center looks forward to hearing from you. If you are looking to schedule research hours, bring a community group on tour, or offer us thoughts on your expierence in one of our workshops, please send us a message.
