“Radiant Pages,” a new exhibit at the Art Museum of West Virginia University (WVU), encourages visitors to see beyond the pages of books and explore the impact they have on individuals and society.
Co-curated by Adam Komisaruk, a professor with WVU’s Department of English and the Art Museum of WVU’s 2024 faculty fellow, the exhibit showcases art from the Art Museum of WVU’s collection, the WVU Libraries Rare Books Collection and pieces on loan from the Cincinatti Art Museum.
The exhibition looks at how books are aesthetic art and how their content “radiates” beyond their pages to change the world.
“Books provoke laughter, tears — they arouse us in every way you can think of,” Komisaruk said. “Books have inspired revolutions and brought down governments. The Holocaust happened, in part, because of books. The abolition of slavery also happened, in part, because of books.”
"The Iliad," by Homer
“Radiant Pages,” not only explores how books impact society, but also how they impact individuals.
“When we pick up a book, we activate a whole network of sensations that connects us to the surrounding world, even before we've read a word,” Komisaruk said. “A book has heft, it has texture, it has a smell. It bears traces of its origins, such as wood-pulp paper, oak-gall ink or calfskin binding. It can be a beautiful object in its own right. Even an e-book can strain our eyes, crane our neck, callus our fingers.”
Komisaruk was inspired to pitch the exhibit by his previous work examining the greater impact of books on society. Robert Bridges, curator of the Art Museum of WVU, and Heather Harris, educational curator of the museum, helped bring his vision to life.
“I've been given a lot of freedom, but at the same time a lot of thoughtful guidance. The museum staff has been incredibly supportive, professional, and creative,” Komisaruk said.
Both physical books and art featuring books are among the works, including “The Old Dancer,” by C. Jennings.
"The Old Dancer" by C. Jennings
“It's so wonderfully weird,” Komisaruk said. “It's as if books are the only things providing an anchor, even though they may be full of fiction for all we know.”
Komisaruk said he hopes visitors come away with a new curiosity about books and their impacts.
“It's sometimes said that we tend to look through books rather than at them, disregarding the container as though it were transparent to get to the contents,” Komisaruk said. “The surface and depth of a book aren't mutually exclusive— they're mutually entangled, though not always mutually complementary. I'd encourage visitors to think about what makes a book a book, as opposed to some other medium. At what point is a book no longer a book, but something else? What might be its future possibilities?”
“Radiant Pages” will remain on display in the McGee Gallery at the Art Museum of WVU through May 11, 2025. For more information about the museum’s spring exhibitions, visit artmuseum.wvu.edu.