Ahead of a free and public opening reception for the exhibition, Thursday, Feb. 23 from 5:30 -7:30 p.m., WGCU’s John Davis caught up with Ane Thon Knutsen for a conversation about her work, her fascination with Virginia Woolf, and how much of Woolf’s personal ideology revealed through her writing remains relevant today.
Norwegian multidisciplinary artist, designer, and Oslo Academy of the Arts professor, Ane Thon Knutsen is perhaps best known for her letterpress installations adapting the works of Virginia Woolf. Knutsen’s work straddles the intersection of graphic design, art, research, and typesetting on a traditional letterpress. Knutsen’s work with letterpress is self-taught, much like Virginia Woolf. In 1917, Virginia and Leonard Woolf purchased a letterpress that became Hogarth Press. Initially, printing was a hobby for Virginia Woolf, but became an important tool, not just for publishing her more experimental stream of consciousness writings, but as Knutsen hypothesizes, in the editing process itself.
This week, Knutsen is creating an installation titled “Printed Words: Adaptations of Virginia Woolf” in the University Archives and Special Collections at the FGCU Wilson G. Bradshaw Library.
The exhibition will be available Feb. 24 – June 12, 2023 and will culminate with the 32nd Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, that will be hosted by FGCU this year June 8 – 11.
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