1192 - Offhaus, T.

Offhaus, T. Transition. (Artist’s) book based on a text by Hannah Höch. (Edited by Henry Günther). (Gotha), Atelier Buch Kunst der Edition Balance (2007). Gr.-8° (27.5 x 28.5 cm). [22] pp. with 21 original watercolors, including text and 1 separate, numbered (No. 6/7), inscribed, and signed original drypoint etching. Original half-leather binding with original watercolors on both covers in an original linen slipcase. One of 7 unique copies. With a handwritten colophon by T. Offhaus on the inside back cover. - The Thuringian graphic artist, painter, and musician T. Offhaus (b. 1967) has published numerous artist’s books through Edition Balance. - “The contemporary artist’s book does not aim to revisit the great past through texts or classical illustration styles, but rather seeks to be a means of expression for the present—created by today’s artists for today’s audience. It seeks to make the experiential backdrop of our present lives tangible through artistic transformation and intensification, while simultaneously pointing toward the decisive vector of the future. Artists, including book artists, are sensitive pioneers of what is to come—which we first experience in art before it enters our lives. Book art, in this sense, is not an altar or repository for the past, but something for tomorrow, just as all serious art is for tomorrow. “The public, collectors, and museum professionals must therefore undergo a learning process to arrive where the artist already is” (Wulf D. v. Lucius, in *Book – Art – Balance*. Henry Günther: Book Designer, Editor, Bookbinder. The Artist’s Books of Edition Balance, 1990–2006. Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main 2006, p. 9 ff.). — Impeccable.