‘Origami Art’ Book-Signing at Paper Tree

SAN FRANCISCO — A book-signing for “New Expressions in Origami Art: Masterworks from 25 Leading Paper Artists” will be held on Saturday, Aug. 19, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Paper Tree, 1743 Buchanan St. in San Francisco Japantown.

Laser physicist and origami artist Robert Lang, who is featured in the book and also wrote the foreword, will be signing along with fellow artists Goran Konjevod, Bernie Peyton and Paper Tree’s own Linda Mihara.

Written by Meher McArthur, the book features the work of 25 contemporary master folders who are among the most innovative origami artists working today. They are pushing the boundaries of origami vigorously in new directions in terms of style, scale, materials, subject and scope. This elite group includes Joel Cooper, Erick Demaine and Martin Demaine, Paul Jackson, Beth Johnson, Michael G. LaFosse and Richard L. Alexander, and Richard Sweeney.

The trailblazing efforts of Japanese artist Akira Yoshizawa elevated paper folding to an art form by showing how subtle shapes and figures could be created from a single sheet of paper though a variety of non-traditional folding techniques. Artists in other parts of the world — including the U.S., France, England, China and Scandinavia — took Yoshizawa’s cue and pushed these techniques further and further. The result has been the emergence of many new and surprising sculptural forms created through techniques such as wet folding, curved creasing, tessellating and the application of alternative materials besides paper.

Free admission. Meet-and-greet at 4 p.m., lectures at 5 p.m. (call to reserve a seat), book-signing at 6 p.m. For more information, call (415) 921-7100 or visit www.paper-tree.com.

This book is available on Amazon: