Guðmundsson, Kristján

Or

Devon, England: Beau Geste Press, 1973. Limited First Edition. Stapled Wrappers. Signed & Numbered by Kristján Guðmundsson. A chapbook featuring works of conceptual & visual art by the award-winning Icelandic artist, Kristján Gudmundsson (1941-2025). Gudmundsson, like many artists & authors affiliated with Beau Geste Press, is often described as a charter member of the Fluxus movement. This connection becomes evident when viewing the work of an artist like Gudmundsson, especially the work on the final page of the volume, which features a punched-out circle next to the word “or.” This contribution, in particular reminds Your Devoted VP-of-Operations at Third Mind Books of a 1964 piece by Yoko Ono titled “A Hole to See the Sky Through.” The visual art in this collection is a Cy Twombly-esque collation of scribbled circles and is suggestive of the various affinities Fluxus had with its direct predecessor, Abstract Expressionism. A particularly rare collection from a late, great Icelandic artist. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who was the manager of the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England founded by Bill Butler (1934-1977, the famed American-expatriate poet, bookseller & publisher). From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, Unicorn proffered & published many outstanding productions by William S. Burroughs, J.G. Ballard, et al., some of which have become the scarcest, all-but-unobtainable Beat-&-Beyond collectibles (see for example our item No.s 8217, 8366). After prevailing against censorious harassment efforts, Unicorn closed & Butler died in short order. Cupidi went on to found the Public House bookshop in Brighton, which had a long & successful run but which is also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been privileged to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining gems of Unicorn & Public House, including this. Third Mind Books proceeds to reverently curate & incrementally present the Butler-Cupidi-Unicorn-Public House Legacy which is in our custodial hands- until it passes to yours. Small-format chapbook in stapled wrappers: Limited First Edition, Copy No. 37/100, as indicated by hand-numbering (in thin, black pen ink) at colophon page. This copy is additionally signed just beneath the limitation. Gudmundsson’s signature, in the same thin, black pen ink, reads: “K. Gudmundsson.” In Fine-Very Fine condition with only minute shelf-wear & some light bumping to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers & spine-edge; one since-flattened bump-crease at top right-hand corner of 5th page; tiny amount of rusting, bleeding to staples at interior & exterior; otherwise, pristine with interior unmarked. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #9531]

Price: $200.00 save 10% $180.00