Praun & Guermouche is a platform for book production and publishing, established in June 2020 by graphic designer Sandra Praun and artist Oscar Guermouche. The core of our collaboration is the translation of artistic œuvres, projects, or individual artworks into book form. We believe that the way books convey art has intrinsic value, and accordingly the books we produce should both reflect and complement the art. This means that we not only design books based on their contents, but that we also shape the contents in accordance with the book. For the works to come into their own, they need to be translated into the materiality, spatiality, and narrativity of the book. It’s a matter of creating a space in which the art can communicate in other ways than in documentation, in an exhibition, or even in the works themselves. In our practice we use the possibilities and limitations of the bound book as our starting point. At the same time, we are always trying to challenge our own ideas about the relationship between the art and the art book. In addition to book production and publication, our platform also includes a shop, a library, and a showroom. In the showroom we host small exhibitions and talks in connection with our publications. In the summer of 2020, works by Hanna Ljungh, Anders Ängsvik, and Oscar Guermouche are on display. The library consists of books that we have published or been involved in in other ways. Allowing the public to freely borrow books is our commentary on the cultural political situation in Sweden, where more and more libraries are being closed down. In parallel to our own work, we also take on commissions for concept development and design. Our clients include Magasin III Museum for Contemporary Art, Roy Andersson / Studio24, White Architects, Bonniers Konsthall, and Art and Theory Publishing.
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Sandra Praun is a graphic designer, born 1971 in Stockholm. She is a graduate of Berghs School of Communication and the Department of Graphic Design and Illustration at Konstfack—University College of Arts, Crafts and Design (MFA) in Stockholm. She has been running her own design studio since 2001 focusing on book design for clients such as Moderna Museet, Nationalmuseum, and the Public Art Agency Sweden, as well as publishing houses such as Hatje Cantz, Albert Bonniers förlag, and Revolver Publishing. Her work has received awards such as the Swedish art book prize Svensk bokkonst, the Red Dot Award, and the German Design Award. She has also been a guest lecturer at the Royal Institute of Art, Forsbergs skola, and Kulturama, amongst others, since 2001. Oscar Guermouche is an artist, born in 1977 in Stockholm, and living on Öland. He obtained his master’s degree from the Department of Fine Art at Konstfack in Stockholm. His work has been exhibited at Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, ICIA in Gothenburg, the National Centre for Contemporary Art in Moscow, Kunsthalle Rostock, and Sleepwalker Projects in Toronto, amongst others. His work is included in several art collections, such as those of Magasin III Museum of Contemporary Art, the Public Art Agency Sweden, and the City of Gothenburg. He has published a number of articles and essays, for example in Paletten Art Journal, the Swedish Association of Art, and Flamme forlag. He is also a frequent guest teacher and lecturer at the Royal Institute of Art, Konstfack, Valand Academy and several other art and design schools. He is also active in Konstnärsnämnden—the Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s working groups, as vice-chairman of the Visual Art’s Fund, and chairman of the Iaspis delegation, as well as a member of Konstfack’s university board.
