Ó.P.L.A. | 20 Years of Artists' Books for Children

“An artist’s book is like a secret closet... open it and you'll be able to play with all the words, signs and colors of the world”.

Ó.P.L.A. (Oasis For Artistic Books) was founded twenty years ago at the Merano Civic Library; it's an archive designed to preserve and catalog artist’s books. The archive is open to scholars and to anyone who's curious to examine its collection. Ó.P.L.A. 20 anni di libri d'artista per bambini is a review of children’s books created by artists like Gilberti, Gill, Mirò, Boetti and many others.

Inside the book, writings by Alberto Munari, Steven Guarnaccia, Fabiola Naldi and Claudio Musso explain the authors' idea of what an artist’s book for children should be. Abstracts by Enrica Brughi, Paul Cox, Sophie Curtil, Milos Cvach and Katsumi Komagata give extra insights on the issue. Ó.P.L.A. 20 anni di libri d'artista per bambini collects the experience of the homonymous exhibition hosted at Palais Mamming. A selection of artist’s books dialogue with the works exhibited at the Merano City Museum, in a game of references and connections.

This book is also available in Italian and German.