Monograph Bookwerks

MONOGRAPH BOOKWERKS is a fine art and object bookstore featuring a curated selection of books on contemporary art and artists, architecture, design, fashion, photography, artist biographies and art criticism.

Rare and uncommon, and new and used books from around the world share shelf space with local publishers and small press editions. The store also carries studio pottery, mid-century ceramics, vintage art and office supplies and selected art objects, prints and paintings.

Artists John Brodie and Blair Saxon-Hill opened Monograph Bookwerks in May 2010 to provide a place in Portland for artists and the public to study, explore and purchase the best contemporary art books being published today. It is their belief that the resource of a serious art bookstore will forward excellence in art and design locally, and connect Portland with the greater world of art and culture, and vice versa.

John Brodie was born in Portland, OR and has been painting for about 20 years, with explorations in book art, mixed media, sculpture and installation. In January 2007 he founded TodayArt, an umbrella company that fosters and promotes visual arts, whose first project was the formation of the 9,000-square foot TodayArt Studios in Southeast Portland. From 1996 to 2006 he was a member of the notorious 333 Studios, a loose collective and fine arts studio. In June 2009, he produced "Store for a Month" an art exhibition and temporary "store" in Portland (based on Claes Oldenburg's famous Store of 1961) that featured over 70 Northwest artists. In 2010 Brodie was included in Portland2010: A Biennial of Contemporary Art. He also owns a frenchy restaurant.

Blair Saxon-Hill, an Oregon native and a member of TodayArt Studios, completed her studio art thesis in installation art at Reed College in 2002. Since that time, she has primarily focused on abstract and landscape driven oil painting and sculptural wall drawings. Her material and process based investigations currently engage with topography, form and gravity. Prior series of works have focused on hunting and gathering, metamorphosis, submersion, death, and what she terms "embodied inquiries." Primarily a painter, she also creates site-specific installations, artist books and original prints. She is represented by Fourteen30 Contemporary.