Ian Gerson
Ian Gerson, Invisible Landmarks, 2022, Risograph printed zine, Printed by Dan Schmahl (Super Hit Press), 8 1/2 x 5 inches. Photography courtesy of the Artist.
Ian Gerson
Invisible Landmarks is a research driven book arts project that Ian Gerson began while in residence at the Galveston Artist Residency. The risograph printed zine reflects an interest in archival memory, place, and democratic multiples. Gerson’s larger art practice engages with place in a much more physical sense by incorporating locally found materials into installations and woven works. Art League Houston’s ongoing exhibition Tremble is a great example of this.
Ian Gerson, Intersection, 2023 at Art League Houston. Materials include found ropes, mylar emergency blanket, dried palm fronds, dried beach reeds, live oak ball moss, construction netting, clear plastic bag, found plastic straps, personal clothing scraps, muslin dyed with rusted bayou water, photographs taken in 2001 from personal archives, found and sanded cedar and pine, driftwood, indigo-dyed pine, nails, drywall screws. 99 in x 180 in x 22 in. Photograph by Erica Lee.
Ian Gerson is a queer and trans interdisciplinary artist and educator born and based in Houston, TX. Ian has shared work across art spaces in the US and in Mexico City, including Socrates Sculpture Park, The Bronx Museum, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and BOX13 ArtSpace, and has participated at several residencies including Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, MacDowell, and the Galveston Artist Residency. Their work has been supported by a 2022 Houston Artadia Award, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a Foundation for Contemporary Art Grant, and a Public Art Grant from the City of Galveston. Ian holds an MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin.
Invisible Landmarks
Gerson’s zine Invisible Landmarks has a cover that faintly resembles an old school video game title screen. The title font is Courier-esque, and most of the text is fuzzy. The paper is a soft cool hue, while the text is a light blue. While black text and images would have been much more legible for the reader, this particular light blue alludes to “photo blue”, a color which scanners consistently fail to record.
The zine opens with an introduction that places the reader in 1975 on the streets of downtown Galveston. A QR code directs readers to a ten minute audio recording. During this audio tour, Gerson describes walking in this world and visiting the various bars featured in Invisible Landmarks.
Ian Gerson, Invisible Landmarks (page 4), 2022. Courtesy of the Artist.
Invisible Landmarks was printed by Dan Schmahl of Super Hit Press. Gerson will lead a collective zine making workshop featuring the photocopy process they used at The Printing Museum on July 1, 2023.
On view at The Printing Museum through June 17, 2023. Gerson’s solo exhibition Tremble is on view at Art League Houston through July 22, 2023.
To learn more about Gerson’s artwork, please visit their website or find them on Instagram.