artists' books collection
[triangle's] two pinwheels, works 1964-1985, by richard tuttle
Richard Tuttle’s [Triangle’s] Two Pinwheels: Works 1964-1985 functions as both an exhibition catalogue and an artist’s book (as does the work by Jasper Johns, above). The object itself was designed by Tuttle and Simon Cutts of Coracle Press, London, in conjunction with solo exhibitions of the artist’s work held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (October 30–December 8, 1985) and the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (November 29––February 8, 1968).
The triangle-shaped paperback, glue bound with offset printing in muted colors, is characteristic of Tuttle’s work as a post-minimalist artist, concerned foremost with the rendering of line and detail. The book’s title betrays both its form and content and speaks to Tuttle’s interest in the use of scale. When opened it reveals four sections of work: an assemblage of wire pieces dating from 1972, written notes in Tuttle’s handwriting, a series of triangular drawings, and two sculptural pinwheels as indicated in the book’s title. The work is quiet and intimate, much like Tuttle’s drawings, works on paper, and shapes formed of corrugated cardboard. Congruent to his artistic practice, [Triangle’s] Two Pinwheels explores the poetic expansiveness of humble materials, and the ability of uncertain, fragile objects to exist as entities in themselves, freed from the confines of texture, shape and volume.