Hedi Kyle (born 1937) is a German-born American

book artist Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

and educator who has had a major influence on the development of book arts. She was born in what was then part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she fled with her mother and siblings; her father served in the army. After the war, the family was reunited and moved to the German island of

Borkum Borkum ( nds, Borkum, Börkum) is an island and a municipality in the Leer District in Lower Saxony, northwestern Germany. It is situated east of Rottumeroog and west of Juist. Geography Borkum is bordered to the west by the Westerems strait ...

. After she completed high school, she attended an art school in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

. Kyle was subsequently employed as a commercial artist in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. When she turned 21, she spent a year painting in Greece. She moved to the United States to live with a man she had met; they married and settled in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. The couple later separated and, during the 1970s, Kyle studied with bookbinder and conservator Laura Young in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She began teaching after Richard Minsky offered her a job teaching at the

Center for Book Arts Center for Book Arts (CBA) is a non-profit arts organization, founded in 1974. It is the first organization of its kind in the United States dedicated to contemporary interpretations of the book as an art object while preserving traditional pract ...

in New York City. She also taught at

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

. Kyle next moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

where she worked as a conservator for the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. In 1987, she was invited to teach at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In 1983, along with Timothy Barrett and Gary Frost, Kyle co-founded the Paper & Book Intensive, an annual series of bookbinding, papermaking, and conservation workshops. Over the years, Kyle has come up with new and innovative ways of assembling books which are often based on traditional bookbinding techniques. In 1993, the Center for Book Arts held an exhibition "Hedi Kyle and her Influence: 1977-1993" which featured work by Kyle and twenty contemporary book artists influenced by her. In 2015, the 23 Sandy Gallery in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

held an exhibition called "Hello Hedi" featuring works inspired by Kyle. At the urging of paper artist, engineer, and writer
Paul Jackson
she and her daughter, Ulla Warchol, publishe
Art of the Fold
about some of her most popular and creative techniques for making simple books and enclosures.Podcast interview from "Cut the Craft"
March 2021

References

External links

1937 births Living people Book artists Women book artists Artists from San Francisco American people of German descent 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists {{US-artist-stub