We see art all around us - on walls, in frames, on plinths, in glass cases, in the landscape, in museums, in the news, on our walls at home. There's a mistique in the myth of the artist as someone who spends hours alone, making art as a form of alchemy - the base materials of paint, canvas, paper and pencil, transformed into the beauty of image and object.

    Meet aims to develop and promote artists' development through critical engagement - to meet, discuss and develop their own current, ongoing work.  There's less emphasis on reflecting on a project completed - we're interested in the here and now, the what's going on. Meet also aims to show how books are instrumental in development, and also as a complete object, but also as a working document,  forever in progression . Some artists are very private, where we see a glimpse of their working practice, and we can look through what is a very private matter - how artists go about thinking and doing.

    Some books are in glass cases, but all are valuable: as a record, a document of work in progress, of working methods, ideas, inspiration; each artist shows their individuality through process and product, which is a very different concern to originality, which in itself is a public expectation and a private challenge, for some.

    This exhibevent aims to celebrate books- sketchbooks, journals, artists books - the life of a working artist, to celebrate individual approach, to reflect on artistic practice. Books can be visited at the Library, and some artists have made work specifically for the public to handle. Books in glass cases can be viewed online next to the exhibition, for those who would like to see these page by page. Every book is also photographed and  is online here, and the opportunity to comment, question, praise, or express other views is also given here. We're an inclusive organisation, a community of artists within the wider community, and we hope to bring out thoughts, ideas and creativity into the very fabric of the Library, a place for information exchange, archives, and a culture of sharing in a greater understanding, a wider vision.

Vive la différence!

Madelaine Murphy