Joe Average

Victoria, Australia, 2010. Gibney, Jennifer. Square 32mo. (14)pp., accordion-fold, decorated on both sides of the page. An original artist's book by Jennifer Gibney, with hand-drawn text and pen illustrations in black, sepia, and sanguine ink, housed within a hand-painted and decorated wooden box. The story concerns a jester-like character who is overwhelmed by the pressures of life until he opens a book and "opens a dream," escaping into the endless possibilities of his imagination. On the lid of the box is a painting of Joe Average with the word "ordinary" repeated over and over on his clothing and hat, trapped beneath a lattice of textured brass strips. A porcelain sculpture of Joe Average, in the same pose as on the illustration on the lid of the box, is laid into the box on top of the book. Gibney is both a painter and a sculptor, with a background in graphics and book illustration, and she drew on all of these areas of expertise to create this unusual book. With a colophon card laid in, signed by the author. Extremely fine.