The Kincade Chronicles: Artist tells fictional family’s history in Athenaeum exhibit

From Athenaeum reports

In his second exhibition at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, longtime San Diego artist Jim Machacek will turn the gallery into a walk-in novel. Visitors will step into the world of the Kincades, a fictional family that has lived in the Tidewater region of Virginia for three centuries. In a series of etchings, collages, artist’s books, installations, and created historical ephemera, Machacek marshaled all his creative talent to bring the Kincades to life.

Machacek’s “The Kincade Chronicles” will be featured in the Joseph Clayes III Gallery, Sept. 21- Nov. 2. The opening reception is set for 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20 and there will be a walk- through with the artist, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10.

A highlight of the exhibition will be “The Kincade Chronicles ... A Visual Novel,” an editioned letterpress and digital artist book (a kind of exhibition in a box), which contains all of the stories and selected artworks from the show.

Each gallery wall will become a chapter in the novel where visitors will “read” the art, as well as stories from Revolutionary War days to modern times, a blending of fact and fiction to illuminate and entertain. Actual historical events and cultural issues have been infused into the stories in order to heighten the Kincade reality. Guests can pick up a souvenir bookmark and follow a timeline around the gallery visiting each generation.

Machacek has been creating artworks in printmaking, artist’s books, collage, drawing and mixed media for more than three decades. He holds a M.F.A. from C.W. Post/Long Island University, a B.F.A. from Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, and a B.A. in journalism from Creighton University. He teaches in the Art Department at San Diego Mesa College, where he co-founded Mesa Arts Press to promote the art of letterpress printing in the production of artist’s books and prints.

His artwork has been included in 100 exhibitions in museums and galleries nationwide and in international exhibitions in Japan, Mexico, Canada and Hungary. His artist’s books are in special collec- tions at the Library of Congress, the Tate Museum Research Centre in London, the New York City Public Library, and 40 university libraries and 15 private collections in the United States.

If you go

■ What: ‘The Kincade Chronicles,’ a walk-in novel

■ Where: Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St.

■ When: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday; through Nov. 2. Closed Sunday, Monday

■ Admission: Free

■ Opening Reception: 6:30-8:30 p.m. Sept. 20

■ Contact: (858) 454-5872

■ Website:

ljathenaeum.org