Tricia Treacy (2018 Fellow) and the Bologna-based artist Francis Offman will explore the materiality and physicality of their books. The event will be moderated by Vittoria Bonifati, a curator based in Rome.

Books by Treacy and Offman are on view at the Academy’s exhibition Artists Making Books: Pages of Refuge from September 27 to December 7, 2024.

Biographies

Tricia Treacy’s studio practice is at the intersection of print media, installation, artist books, often weaving research into participatory and interdisciplinary projects. For over twenty years, she has attempted to blur the boundaries between art and design, craft and technology, human and machine, memory and tradition, structures and chaos, while extending the notion of a book as a means to disseminate art. With an assortment of artist books housed in collections around the world, they tell stories, document creative research projects, and often prod others to consider ways in which they can collaborate and participate in the larger contemporary art community. She has received a project grant from the Center for Craft Creativity and Design, and the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, among  the highest recognition in the arts. Treacy’s work can be found in more than fifty collections, including the National Library of the Netherlands in the Hague, the Virginia Commonwealth University Special Collections in Doha Qatar, the Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center Artist Book Collection, and SFMOMA Library.

Francis Offman (b. 1987, Rwanda) is an artist based in Bologna. His work reflects the ecology of the materials used, weaving personal memories and geohistorical narratives. Offman’s solo exhibitions include Economics of Painting at Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre, UK (2023) and Notes from the Heart, Società delle Api, Monaco (2024). Recent solo and group exhibitions have taken place at Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Turin; Herald St, London; Liverpool Biennial; Triennale Milano; Museo delle Civiltà Romana, Rome (all 2023).

Vittoria Bonifati is a curator based in Rome. She is the founder and artistic director of Villa Lontana, an independent project space initiated in 2018. Her research focuses on ancient and contemporary practices both in the field of visual arts and sound. In 2019 she started the music label Villa Lontana Records focused on archival and unreleased material from the electronic avant-garde and contemporary sound-art scene. Since 2021, she curates the ongoing film program 16MM RUN at the MACRO Museum in Rome featuring avant-garde and experimental films in 16mm format. She curated Jonathan Monk's solo exhibition SL at the Torre Bonomo in Spoleto and edited the artist book Sol LeWitt Rules published by Viaindustriae and Mahler & LeWitt Studios. Other recent projects include: La Terra delle Sirene Public Program at the Madre Museum in Naples; Sirenland part of the Italian Pavilion at the 18th International Biennial of Architecture in Venice; and the ten-year-long exhibition The Colours of Antiquity at the Capitoline Museums in Rome. Her most recent writings have been published in Octopus Notes, an annual journal of critical and academic essays. Bonifati is on the board of Flat Time House in London. She holds a BA in art history from La Sapienza University of Rome and a MA in curating contemporary art at the Royal College of Art, London.