VEVAIS EDITIONs

The VEVAIS EDITIONs are "edition GALERIE VEVAIS" and "VEVAIS-WERKDRUCK". Both publishing houses, based in the east part of Germany (near the Poland border) are the brainchild of the German architect, designer and poet Alexander Scholz. Coming to publishing from the world of architecture allowed Scholz to approach “the book” in fresh, original, and dramatic new ways. His books look like no other publisher’s. He uses Europe’s finest craftsmen to create his visions, which combine glass, wood, aluminum, acrylic glass, and other synthetic materials in conjunction with elements of the classic tradition of fine book making like classical book decoration, letterpress, embossing or cut out. VEVAIS books often look like works of sculpture, Reformation bibles, boxes of bonbons, and so forth, They have won major awards and repeatedly been called "the finest books in the world." As visually compelling as they are, Scholz pays as much attention to how a book will open, how it feels in the hands, and even how the papers and ink smells as he does to the larger matters of design. An VEVAIS EDITION book contains works of art as well as being a work of art in its own right through special printing techniques and high-quality lithography. Scholz has said that he makes the books he cannot find in stores but would want to buy if he could find them. Photographer Jock Sturges called Scholz "an artist’s artist" and a "mad genius", and poet John Wood wrote to Scholz speaking of his book saying, "It is more wonderful that I ever even imagined you could make it." Paul Cava has said, "Alex, you may be a bad business man but you are my hero" and went on to say that Scholz was never afraid of "difficult subject matter." And the distinguished Harvard University author and scholar Dr. John Stauffer, Professor and Chair of the Program in the History of American Civilization, speaking of a presentation at Harvard based on an VEVAIS EDITIONs book said, it “was the highlight of my year, brilliant andpassionate. " Scholz began in 1997 as a classic underground publisher creating magazines (MINOTAURUS) and books (as edition MINOTAURUS) in Copyshops and later ones that combined CDs, DVDs, and art in a creative mixing of media. He established a network between artists, designers, writers, musicians, movie makers, and sound technicians as a kind of real family. This is still important today, and Scholz see his artists and designers, printers and bookbinders as partners having equal rights. The awards soon began coming in and Scholz began attracting attention all over Europe, North America, China, and Japan, and soon he was deluged with requests from artists for their own edition VEVAIS book. VEVAIS books are in the collection of the NYPL, the collection of ART & MEDICINE, the Art Library of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin or the Stadt- und Landesbibliothek Potsdam and have won awards like the German Design Award, iF, red dot, German Photobook Award, Stiftung Buchkunst and many many many others.