“Diccionario Enciclopedico,” 2020, hardcover books, acrylic varnish, 10 x 29 x 6 inches
Artist Brian Dettmer transforms printed texts into awe-inspiring sculptures. Crafted through carving, Dettmer dives into existing books, often encyclopedias, atlases, or reference volumes, using knives and surgical tools. He does not add or rearrange content; instead, he removes material to expose images, diagrams, and fragments of text embedded within the pages. The resulting works resemble topographic reliefs or cross-sections of knowledge, where layers of information are uncovered through precise cuts. And now, viewers can examine his work in person, through a solo exhibition at Riverside Arts Center’s Freeark Gallery and Sculpture Garden in Riverside, Illinois.
The show is titled In-Formation, and it brings together a selection of Dettmer’s altered books, inviting viewers to reconsider how information is stored, revealed, and interpreted in physical form. The name of the show reflects the artist's ongoing interest in the relationship between data and material. By turning books into sculptural objects, he shifts them from tools of linear reading into physical experiences that must be explored visually. Viewers are encouraged to move around each piece, discovering how meaning changes depending on what is revealed and what remains hidden.
Based in Atlanta, Dettmer has exhibited internationally and is widely recognized for his role in expanding book-based sculpture as a contemporary art form. His work is held in major museum collections and continues to resonate in a moment when printed media is rapidly disappearing. At Riverside Arts Center, In-Formation offers a focused look at how books, once designed to organize knowledge, can be reimagined as objects that question how knowledge is accessed and preserved.
In-Formation is on view at the Riverside Arts Center’s Freeark Gallery and Sculpture Garden through January 2026.
Rather than being read from cover to cover, the books in Brian Dettmer’s work are carved into sculptural forms that invite close physical inspection.
“Great Houses of Gardening Corners,” 2025, hardcover books, acrylic varnish, 13.5 x 12 x 5 inches
“Great Houses of Gardening Corners” (Detail), 2025, hardcover books, acrylic varnish, 13.5 x 12 x 5 inches
Using knives and surgical tools, Dettmer removes layers of pages to expose images, diagrams, and fragments of text embedded deep within the book.
“The New American,” 2021, hardcover book, acrylic varnish, 6.75 x 4.125 x 1.875”
Encyclopedias, atlases, and reference volumes are transformed into dense reliefs that resemble cross-sections of accumulated knowledge.
“The Annals of America,” 2022, hardcover books, acrylic varnish, 31.5 x 29.5 x 4″
