Coracle press

A unique English outgrowth of the 1960s European revolution in prints, books, and multiples, Coracle Press was founded in London by artist-poet Simon Cutts in 1975, incorporating the remains of Tarasque Press (1964-1972), a prior publishing enterprise of Cutts' (with Stuart Mills). In 1976 Cutts established Coracle Press Gallery in a building adjacent to the press, creating a physical expression of his interest in the relationship between the book and the exhibition. Influenced by concrete poetry, conceptual art, and their Futurist and Constructivist antecedents, Coracle dissolved distinctions between the art object and its presentation. Every aspect of a Coracle exhibition (announcement, installation, catalog, poster) was conceived as part of the art it presented and often involved the artist's collaboration, while a book of poetry was conceived as both an art object and an exhibition space for poems. Thematically, the press had a certain focus on landscape and nature, exhibiting and publishing Ian Hamilton Finlay and the Land Artists Richard Long and Andrew Goldsworthy. Richard Wilson, David Willets, Stephen Duncalf, Hamish Fulton, and Cutts himself were among the otherwise more frequently exhibited and published artists, though in the late 1980s the press's authors ranged to the more theoretical Joseph Kosuth. After the Coracle Gallery closed in 1987, Cutts co-directed a London bookshop/gallery workfortheeyetodo that emphasized an international conceptualism. Since 1997, Cutts and his partner Erica Van Horn have continued Coracle from Tipperary, Ireland, returning to the press's earlier pastoral inclinations.

From the description of Coracle Press records, 1953-2008. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 78314371

The Coracle Press is a small publishing press, established in 1975 in London by the artist Simon Cutts. Since 1996, it has been based in South Tipperary, Ireland. The press publishes poetry, art books, and other printed ephemera.

From the description of Coracle Press collection, 1972-2007. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 516079306

Biographical/Historical Note

A unique English outgrowth of the 1960s European revolution in prints, books, and multiples, Coracle Press was founded in London by artist-poet Simon Cutts in 1975, incorporating the remains of Tarasque Press (1964-1972), a prior publishing enterprise of Cutts’ (with Stuart Mills). In 1976 Cutts established Coracle Press Gallery in a building adjacent to the press, creating a physical expression of his interest in the relationship between the book and the exhibition. Influenced by concrete poetry, conceptual art, and their Futurist and Constructivist antecedents, Coracle dissolved distinctions between the art object and its presentation. Every aspect of a Coracle exhibition (announcement, installation, catalog, poster) was conceived as part of the art it presented and often involved the artist’s collaboration, while a book of poetry was conceived as both an art object and an exhibition space for poems. Thematically, the press had a certain focus on landscape and nature, exhibiting and publishing Ian Hamilton Finlay and the Land Artists Richard Long and Andrew Goldsworthy. Richard Wilson, David Willets, Stephen Duncalf, Hamish Fulton, and Cutts himself were among the otherwise more frequently exhibited and published artists, though in the late 1980s the press's authors ranged to the more theoretical Joseph Kosuth.

Along with its own exhibition and publication program, Coracle served as a production and printing press for other arts organizations. Cutts also partnered, co-directed, or otherwise collaborated with several presses and galleries, including, beginning in 1985, Victoria Miro Gallery, the Florence location of which Cutts directed in the early nineties while living in Italy. In 1986, Cutts established the Coracle Atlantic Foundation in Liverpool, and in 1987 Coracle Distribution. The Coracle Gallery in London closed in 1987. From 1993-1997, while living in Norfolk, Cutts co-directed a London bookshop/gallery workfortheeyetodo that emphasized an international conceptualism. Since 1997, Cutts and his partner Erica Van Horn have continued Coracle from Tipperary, Ireland, returning to the press’s earlier pastoral inclinations.

From the guide to the Coracle Press records, 1953-2008 (bulk 1975-2001), (The Getty Research Institute)