Dedicated to the production and distribution of (very) limited edition artbook multiples by contemporary artists, I established flask in 2004. Over the years I have worked with over twenty artists including Luanne Martineau, Yang Lui, Wanda Koop, Vikky Alexander, Jeanne Randolph and Jim Holyoak.

Approaching artists whose work interested and intrigued me, I would ask if they would be interested in extending their artmaking process into an artbook multiple. We would then work together in the realization of a project.

The form and content of each artbook multiple develops through a process of experimentation and dialogue. In the production, a wide variety of printing, book construction and artmaking processes are used and the notion of ‘the book’ is extended. For most of the artbooks the artist creates a part of the book itself. Examples of this would be Luanne Martineau’s needle felting of each cover for Freakout, Alison Bigg’s printing of etchings for each of lostfoundsound, Christine Walde’s building of glass sculptural components for Bride Machine and Jim Holyoak’s hand painting of each cover of his lettered edition of Book of Nineteen Nocturnes. In this way, although editions, each artbook multiple is also unique. In addition, along with the artists and flask’s resources, experts in a number of fields also contribute to the eventual outcome, including; various forms of book binding and printing, offset, giclee, screen-printing, digital, lithography, etching, drawing, photography, collage, letterpress, and fabric arts.

Artbook multiples published by flask have been exhibited at galleries and museums including The National Gallery of Canada, Trepanier Baer Gallery (Calgary), Jessica Bradley Projects (Toronto), Paul Petro Contemporary Arts (Toronto), McBride Contemporain, and are in public collections including; The University of British Columbia Library (Rare Books and Special Collections), The National Gallery of Canada (Library), The Art Gallery of Ontario (Edward P. Taylor Library and Archives), The University of Victoria (Special Collections Library) and the Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections at York University.

Books are distributed through galleries, artist book stores and this web site. Please let me know if you would like to be included on the mailing list for upcoming editions. lgammon@uvic.ca