This is a busy month for Christopher Saclolo. His work is on exhibit as part of the InterArts MFA Thesis Exhibition (April 26–May 18) at the CBPA Gallery, and he also is one of the featured artists exhibiting as part of the Chicago Public Library’s exhibition program.

Pictured: Nasaan Ang Isip Mo?, letterpress, 2010; Encounter with Magellan, linoleum print, 9” x 12”, 2012; KUNG HINDI SIRA WAG AYUSIN, letterpress, 11” x 17”, 2010

Whereas the InterArts exhibition enables artists to take up ample space to explore and express their ideas with installations, projections, and allows visitors to handle and read through the artists’ books, the Library space is less expansive. In his Thesis exhibition, Saclolo presents his luxuriously bound books in a cozy nook, tempting the viewer to pick up each one and indulge reading. The West Belmont CPL Branch exhibition space and vitrines are quite a bit more restrictive in space and access. Saclolo works within the haiku-like limitations of the Library by presenting works whose meanings can be grasped by viewers in one page, or by circling around an accordion display to see all sides without having to travel far. The work by Saclolo, who explores his cultural identity as a Filipino American through printmaking, letterpress, and artists’ books, is on display in the West Belmont branch of the Library from May 1–May 31. Included in the West Belmont exhibition are linoleum prints, letterpress broadsides, and hand-bound comic books.

For more information on the exhibition, click here.

Frontispiece artwork: Not My Country, accordion book with hand cut text, 2012