Opening Lotus.
Graphite drawings on thin triangular paper, laminated. [8] leaves, ms. title & signature on first leaf, metal spiral-bound. [From verso of final leaf]: Amsterdam: Self-published, 1988.
One of Carrión’s last bookworks, Opening Lotus, a unique triangular book, was made the year before the artist’s death from complications caused by HIV/AIDS. In the last decade of his life, Carrión (1941-89) created a small group of hand-drawn books, several of which are recorded in the catalogue raisonné compiled by Agius and Ocampo and the 2016 exhibition Dear reader. Don’t read. The present bookwork is not recorded in either. It comes from Guy Schraenen’s collection, but he appears not to have lent this book to the exhibition he curated.
Signed by Carrión on the upper cover and dated on the lower cover, Opening Lotus consists of three graphite lines, one much thicker than the other two. From one page to the next, the two thinner lines expand outward, representing the titular budding lotus when the reader arrives at the final page. Similar to Carrión’s other unique books of the period, the covers and leaves constituting the work have been carefully laminated.
In fine condition.
❧ Not in G. Schraenen, ed., Dear reader. Don’t read. (2016).
Not in J. J. Agius & R. Ocampo, eds., Ulises Carrión: Books & More, Catalogue Raisonné (2013).
Price: $5,000.00
Item ID: 8630
