Elegance by the Book: Elisabetta Gut, 'Books Without Words,' at National Museum of Women in the Arts

How’s your Italian? How about your grasp of French surrealist poet Paul Eluard? A conversational ability in both these areas would be a boon in viewing the heady works of Italian artist Elisabetta Gut, on view now at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. But Gut’s mixed-media work — her first solo exhibtion in this country — is surprisingly accessible, no matter what you scored on your AP exams.

“Books Without Words: The Visual Poetry of Elisabetta Gut” showcases more than 20 of the artist’s works of book-art — collages, poems, books as components of sculptural art and art enmeshed into the familiar form of a book. Through this melding of words and media, Gut expresses the passion, energy and poetry of her life in a form that transcends language.

There’s a conceptual, Dadaist quality to Gut’s work — see the ironing accident-inspired “Chiodi,” her witty response to Man Ray‘s iconic iron sculpture “Cadeau.” But Gut rejects the modern (she threatened to “go live in the mountains as a hermit” upon the mere mention of computers) in favor of the old-world, tactile and literally meaningful book.

Gut said that “fortuna” leads her to the antique journals that she deconstructs and reinvents in “a moment of lumination.” The books that come out of this “crazy moment,” though, are far from haphazard. Among the standouts are “Volo-volume,” which expresses her grief over the death of her husband, and “Libro-nido,” a tiny “prayer to nature” placed in a nest found while walking with her son through the woods.

Gut is a confessional artist who makes her life — from a dream of the moon to the memory of her mother playing piano — the subject of her art. For poets, this school of expression is often cast as a feminine realm. But Gut said she would never put such a label on her work. And she needn’t worry; the technical skill, depth of expression and intelligence of her work would make such a dismissal ridicolo, anyway.

» National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW; through Jan. 16, 2011; $10; 202-783-5000. (Metro Center)

Written by Express contributor Jessica Roake
Photo courtesy NMWA