lubok in bavaria . . .

this past week i went to schwandorf’s oberpfälzer künstlerhaus to see lubok book’s bavarian exhibit twice (once with daniela d. and jnés b. and again with bernhard l.). the first time i became aware of lubok was at the museum of modern art’s ps1 art books fair in new york. then i was able to visit their home location in leipzig with jnés in 2013 . . .

lubok derives from russian and traditionally was a popular print, characterized by simple graphics with narratives from literature, religious stories and popular tales, used in houses and inns as decoration. lubok in leipzig was set up as publishing project following the encounter between christoph ruckhäbele and thomas siemon in 2007. their common fascination with artist books and the enthusiasm for the medium of graphic art soon resulted in the idea of publishing original graphic books in high editions with linocuts by contemporary artists. lubok books thereby continue the russian tradition of popular broad sheets: inexpensive originally printed graphics that were sold on fairs since the 17th century. the idea being, past and present, that art should be made available for broad sections of the population and therefore become democratized.

lubok verlag • christoph ruckhäberle • floßplatz 8 • d-04107 leipzig