I have worked with Merlin before: firstly, in 2013, on the book that Merlin wrote about the work of the Franco-Russian painter Serge Charchoune, published to coincide with an exhibition of Charchoune’s work that was shown at Talbot Rice Gallery in Edinburgh and the Smart Art Museum Chicago; and, more recently on the monograph about the work of Merlin’s partner, the painter Carol Rhodes, that was published by Skira, Milan in 2018.
This is a wonderful body of work of paintings and drawings, mainly of the view from Merlin’s home and studio on Carlton Place, overlooking the River Clyde in Glasgow. It has been a pleasure to work with these images that have become very familiar to me as the book has taken shape. The book is 165 x 240mm, 80 Pages with a soft cover, printed by Allander in Edinburgh on GalerieArt Matt 170gsm with a cover of GalerieArt Matt 300gsm, a coated matt paper with a tactile quality that has allowed the detail in the works to shine through. The book is typeset in a combination of Meta Serif Pro and Meta Pro with pared back typography and layout that prioritises the artist’s paintings and drawings. The photographs of Merlin’s work were taken by Jack McCombe and the book features an interview with the artist with Louis Block, courtesy of The Brooklyn Rail.