Alain Taral and the 'Bound For Success' International Bookbinding Exhibition

Inlay Arts Renaissance

MiArtStudio.com is about discovering the top talents creating today's inlay arts renaissance. (Mi, pronounced 'My', is an acronym for the marquetry and inlay arts.) The inlay arts are composed of diverse art forms, including marquetry and inlay: variously considered as fine art; decorative art and as applied arts for specialized niches, such as bookbinding. 

Sir Paul Getty Bodleian Bookbinding Prize 

This post is about the first Sir Paul Getty Bodleian Bookbinding Prize that was presented by its sponsor, Mark Getty, on June 12th, 2009 in a special ceremony celebrating the official opening of the exhibition BOUND FOR SUCCESS: Designer Bookbinders International Competition 2009. 

Alain Taral with Mark Getty

Out of a total of 350 submissions, there were 25 distinguished winners representing 9 countries, with another 117 short listed submissions. Competition entries, representing 29 countries, offer highly creative and surprisingly diverse interpretations on the theme of water." [Quotes from Oxford University Services]

Alain Taral Awarded First Prize

The first prize was awarded to Alain Taral, a gifted French marquetarian turned master bookbinder, for a remarkable binding made of pear wood covered with a marquetry ‘skin’ fashioned from an array of natural veneers. 

Regarding his design concept, Taral explains:  

“Water comes to us from rocks, from mother earth, but also from clouds, sometimes from tears… at the beginning just a few drops that then come together to form streams and lakes”.

Alain Taral's First Prize Winning Design

Bound For Success

The Bound For Success exhibition, first shown at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, is now in the middle of a tour to the following venues in the USA: it was recently at the Boston Public Library (18 September – 13 December 2009); it is currently at Bonhams and Butterfields in San Francisco (12 February – 6 March 2010); and will complete the tour at The Grolier Club in New York City (19 May – 31 July 2010). 

Opening Reception
 
Last Thursday, February 11th, I attended the opening reception for BOUND FOR SUCCESS at the Bonhams and Butterfields San Francisco location, hosted by the Bonhams and Butterfields trustees and "Friends of Designer Bookbinders".
Curator and Designer Bookbinders fellow Simon Eccles showed me the prize winning bindings by Alan Taral, Jenni Grey and Edgard Claes. He shared his vision for a fully endowed annual award and international competition that will celebrate, in the words of Mark Getty, “the most creative work in one of the most compelling fields of contemporary art and craft”.
 
Alain Taral 

So, in keeping with MiArtStudio blog’s mission, I'm introducing you to Alain Taral, one of today’s top inlay arts talents, and his personal brand of ‘fusion marquetry’. 

Alain Taral

'Fusion Marquetry'
 
I was impressed by Alain Taral's winning binding, in which he: "uses 'fusion marquetry’ as his cover decoration, utilizing many different precious wood veneers including palm tree, yew, bubinga, lati, plane tree, amboina, elm burls, thuya, and faiera. Other elements of Taral's bookbinding include wooden joints with a steel axis, suede flyleaves, a marquetry title and a wooden slipcase covered with Karelian Birch veneer."

Innovative Bookbinding Collaboration
 

In a future post I’ll discuss an innovative bookbinding collaboration between Alain Taral and Edgard Claes that features hardwood and polycarbonate inlays. I’ll also devote a post to Alain Taral’s explanation of ‘fusion marquetry’ and what new projects and collaborations he is considering.