What can a book be? A leporello that unfolds to over a meter. A book with images, texts, photographs, videos, or sounds. An object that you can open and view from all sides. Or a small edition in which every single page is a work of art in its own right.

Fischers Fang marks the first presentation of Karl Manfred Fischer’s extensive donation to the city of Erlangen. Since the 1970s, Fischer has collected around 550 artist’s books, portfolios, visual works, and editions.

Artist’s books serve as an interface between art and literature, between image and text. They are independent works of art in which the book itself becomes both the medium and the object of artistic exploration. In addition to the classic book form, there are conceptual and object books, collages, leporellos, scrolls, loose-leaf collections, intermedia boxes, and multiples made from various materials—as unique pieces or in authorized editions.

The exhibition offers a first glimpse into Fischer’s collection. A central focus is Hartmut Andryczuk’s Hybriden-Verlag, featuring artistic works by Andryczuk himself as well as by featured artists such as die Tödliche Doris, Elisabeth Masé, and Lea Draeger. Additionally, on view are issues of the artist magazine Entwerter/Oder, edited by Uwe Warnke, works by Wilhelm Schramm, and other editions, self-published works, and regional art scenes.