Art Metropole

Born in London, Ontario, on September 1, 1948. Lives and works in London, Ontario.

Political conflict, social activism and cultural displacement are some of the themes woven through the work of Jamelie Hassan. Whether using watercolour, photography, ceramics or installation, Hassan heightens awareness of one’s sense of geographic, societal and political location, while also suggesting the fragility, tenuousness or relativity of any such sense. Early watercolours reproduce rejection letters relatives received from Canadian immigration officials. Later, during the first Gulf War, Hassan made a billboard of a photo of she had taken in Iraq in the late 1970s, adding the text “Because… there was and there wasn’t a city of Baghdad.” Born to Lebanese immigrant parents in London, Ontario, Hassan studied art in Rome, Beirut and Windsor. Though grounded in the regionally focused London art scene of the 1960s—and having co-founded key area art centres Forest City Gallery and Embassy Cultural Centre—Hassan’s perspective has also been shaped by lifelong international travel. A recipient of Governor General’s Award, Hassan has been collected by the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario, among other institutions.

onestar press, a collection of books, multiples and movies by artists is dedicated to the production of books, multiples and movies by artists.

The overall production of onestar press includes more than 200 books, 200 multiples and artists’ films since 2000. The space and freedom given to artists, the flexibility in the realization of their concepts, the access to and use of new technologies have allowed onestar press to collaborate with international artists on a variety of projects. The vision of onestar press, concerning contemporary creation, remains non-didactic and diversified. These beliefs translate through the publication of artists from different generations, countries and attitudes. This action serves as a means to constitute a subjective « encyclopedia », as a reflection of our civilization.

onestar press’s team

Christophe Boutin was born in Paris in 1957. After graduating from Ecole Estienne and two additional years of study at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, he co-founded the punk band « Edith Nylon » in 1977 and recorded three albums through 1983. Soon after, Boutin made his transition into the visual arts where he exhibited his works in numerous galleries and institutions such as Yvon Lambert (Paris) in 1987 and Giorgio Persano Gallery (Turin) 1992. In subsequent years the digital age inspired Boutin to direct his focus towards the development and creation of artist’s books as works of art and thus he co-founded both onestar press and Three Star Books ; two distinguished book presses dedicated to the publication of books by artists.

Since the inauguration of onestar press and Three Star Books, Christophe Boutin has conducted numerous workshops and conferences focusing upon artist’s books in art schools and institutions such as : Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Norway ; Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna ; The Moderna Museet, Stockholm ; IUAV, Venice ; Fondation De Appel, Amsterdam ; Ecole des Beaux Arts de Paris. In 2013, at the invitation of Bernard Blistène (Director of the department of cultural development at the Centre Pompidou) Christophe Boutin and Melanie Scarciglia (co-founder of both onestar press and Three Star Books) participated in founding BOOK MACHINE (Paris), a 3-week engagement of conferences, performances and artist’s book publishing all entirely dedicated to the process of book production in the grandest sense. Art critic and curator Patrick Javault contributed in programming events and New York-based artist Mika Tajima was invited to design the interactive scenography for BOOK MACHINE (Paris).

Consequently through his position in development and publishing at both presses, Boutin launched the print and web-based publication Afterart News with Melanie Scarciglia prior to co-founding Three Star Books in 2007. Christophe Boutin has worked to publish books with artists such as, Marina Abramovic, Tauba Auerbach, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Maurizio Cattelan, Liam Gillick, Matt Mullican and Lawrence Weiner among many others.

Melanie Scarciglia was born in Paris in 1979. She studied Art history and History of Cinema at University Paris-Sorbonne, earning her Master’s degree in 2002. As co-founder of the artist’s book publishing house onestar press and Three Star Books, Melanie oversees production, publishing and sales in addition to development of showroom presentation.

In 2002, Scarciglia produced « Making the book » an ongoing documentary on the numerous artists involved in the collection of onestar press. The first stages of this project was presented to the public in 2002 at the Palais de Tokyo in L’espace du Stand and also at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art (Philadelphia, PA USA) in 2008. In 2013, at the invitation of Bernard Blistène (Director of the department of cultural development at the Centre Pompidou) Melanie Scarciglia and Christophe Boutin (co-founder of both onestar press and Three Star Books) participated in founding BOOK MACHINE (Paris), a 3-week engagement of conferences, performances and artist’s book publishing all entirely dedicated to the process of book production in the grandest sense. Art critic and curator Patrick Javault contributed in programming events and New York-based artist Mika Tajima was invited to design the interactive scenography for BOOK MACHINE (Paris).

Consequently through her position in development and publishing at both presses, Scarciglia launched the print and web-based publication Afterart News with Christophe Boutin prior to co-founding Three Star Books in 2007. Melanie Scarciglia has worked to publish books with artists such as, Marina Abramovic, Tauba Auerbach, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Maurizio Cattelan, Liam Gillick, Matt Mullican and Lawrence Weiner among many others.

Sébastien de Ganay joined Christophe Boutin in November 2000. Born in Paris in 1962. After receiving his Master of Arts from Columbia Film School, he directed and produced documentaries and short films. He works as an artist and has been exhibiting his work since the early 1990’s.

Darlene Lin was born in Chicago, IL (USA) in 1982. She studied film and photography at The School of Visual Arts and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Art in Photography. Upon relocating to Paris, Darlene joined team onestar press in 2011 assisting in book production and sales.