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Eric Reynolds on Robert Pollard Book Release Party in Durham on 8/15 (PR)
posted June 17, 2008
 

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS & MERGE RECORDS PRESENT:

TOWN OF MIRRORS:
A Robert Pollard Book Release Party and Art Exhibition

at the MERGE RECORDS HQ
Friday, August 15, 6PM

DURHAM, N.C. --- The Merge Records HQ will be hosting Dayton, Ohio's Robert Pollard on Aug. 15th for Town of Mirrors, an art exhibition and book release party celebrating the release of Town of Mirrors: The Reassembled Imagery of Robert Pollard, to be published in August by Seattle's Fantagraphics Books. Town of Mirrors will be the inaugural art show in Merge's downtown Durham office as part of Durham's Third Friday, a monthly downtown arts and culture crawl.

The forthcoming Town of Mirrors coffee table art book will premiere at the event, with many of the actual collages from the collection hanging in the show alongside several new works. The Reassembled Art of Robert Pollard collects the very best of Pollard’s visual art and lyrics/poetry from his storied career. Featuring over 180 of Pollard's favorite collages, hand-picked by the artist, as well as over a dozen new collages produced exclusively for this book, Town of Mirrors is the first comprehensive collection of Pollard's visual art ever released. Original artwork and copies of the book will be available for purchase.

Listing info:

WHO: Robert Pollard
WHAT: Town of Mirrors Book Release Party & Art Exhibition
WHEN: Friday, August 15th @ 6pm
WHERE: Merge Records HQ409 E. Chapel Hill St. Durham, NC

Robert Pollard is the Dayton, Ohio singer-songwriter, who was the leader and creative force behind the legendary rock group Guided by Voices, one of the most influential bands of its generation (SPIN magazine recently named Pollard one of The Top 50 Rock & Roll Front Men of All-Time). Town of Mirrors is his first book.

In addition to being a revered songwriter and recording artist, Pollard is a gifted and prolific visual artist, working mostly in the medium of collage. His work has been exhibited at Michael Imperioli's Studio Dante in New York and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. He has created the covers to almost every Guided By Voices record and countless other Pollard-related releases.

Robert Pollard released four records on Merge, the most recent of which, Coast to Coast Carpet of Love and Standard Gargoyle Decisions, were released in October 2007. Mr. Pollard most recently released Robert Pollard is Off to Business on his own Guided By Voices, Inc label. He was a fourth grade schoolteacher until 1994, when Guided by Voices first broke into the national consciousness with the release of the album Bee Thousand. With over 900 songs registered to his name with BMI, Pollard is among the most prolific and acclaimed songwriters of his time.

Town of Mirrors is published by Seattle's Fantagraphics Books, best known as North America’s premiere publisher of graphic novels and comic strips.

Please send press inquiries regarding this event to Christina Rentz at christina@mergerecords.com and for more information about Town of Mirrors, contact Eric Reynolds at Reynolds@fantagraphics.com or 206.524.1967. A selection of digital imagery is available.

Book Info:

Town of Mirrors: The Reassembled Imagery of Robert Pollard
By Robert Pollard
Introduction by Rick Moody
$29.99 Hardcover
Music / Art
144 pages, full-color, 10" x 10"
ISBN 978-1-56097-924-1
PUBLICATION DATE: Aug. 15, 2008

The visual art of Robert Pollard is uncanny, moving, strange, and it summons a dark melancholy at the same time; an austere beauty is forged in what is degraded and worthless in the image repertoire of culture itself. -- RICK MOODY, from his introduction