Michael Koppa:
Prints & Collage

November 7, 2001 - January 18, 2002

This exhibition, which is split between the Main Floor, West Wing, of the Golda Meir Library, and the Special Collections Department on the fourth floor, features the collage and letterpress work of St. Francis, Wisconsin, artist Michael Koppa. The exhibition encompasses Koppa's eleven-year career as a professional artist, and includes original collages and typographic prints; artist's books and fine letterpress work; type lock-ups and examples of pre-production work. A native of Milwaukee, Michael Koppa began his career as "Son of Koppa," working at his parent's grocery store, Koppa's Foods on Farwell Avenue. There he founded the world's first, and so far only, grocery fanzine, The Sphere, which ended its two-year run at fame in 1995.

Koppa's interest and research in typography and book design recently led him to acquire foundry type and a Vandercook proofing press, on which he produced an exquisite, hand-set, hand-bound, limited-edition presentation of David Steingass's Native Son at Home (2000), under his current imprint Heavy Duty Press.

Koppa is also a noted collage artist, and his substantial body of work has been shown in numerous venues, including the Charles Allis Art Museum and Grava Gallery.

This Fall, Koppa was a visiting Fellow at the Gell Center at Writers & Books in upstate New York, he participated in Oak Knoll Fest 2001 in Newark, Delaware, and he offered a free public presentation on his bookwork as part of the Golda Meir Library’s Book FOR[u]Ms Book Artists Speaker Series on November 7.

A comprehensive collection of Michael Koppa’s books and broadsides are held in Special Collections, and may be used upon request in accordance with the Collection’s guidelines. Special Collections is open Monday-Friday, 8:00 am-4:30 pm.

For more information, please contact Special Collections Librarian Max Yela at (414) 229-4345, or special@gml.lib.uwm.edu.