Constructivist Typography in the Met’s Watson Library with Jared Ash

art and visual culture is one of the most comprehensive in the world. Join Watson’s Slavic and Special Collections Librarian, Jared Ash, for an introduction to the library, and a presentation of works in Watson’s collection featuring Constructivist typography. Through original editions and facsimiles, participants will be able to study the spread of Constructivist letterforms from their roots among the Russian avant-garde, to a worldwide phenomenon.
Jared Ash is Slavic and Special Collections Librarian at the Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where his primary responsibilities are developing and cataloging Watson’s collections of Russian, Slavic, and rare materials.From 2006 to 2012, Jared was Curator and Librarian of Special Collections at the Newark Public Library (Newark, NJ), where he curated a number of exhibitions drawn from Newark’s rich collections of artists’ books, illustrated books, fine prints, photographs, and fine printing.As Curator of the Judith Rothschild Foundation from 1997 to 2002, Jared developed and cataloged a collection of more than 1,200 Russian avant-garde books, periodicals, and works on paper that was donated to the Museum of Modern Art in 2001; he collaborated with MoMA’s Department of Prints and Illustrated Books on the 2002 exhibition, The Russian Avant-Garde Book 1910-1934, and contributed an essay, chapter introductions and more to the accompanying catalog. In addition to the MoMA catalog, Jared also has contributed essays on the Russian avant-garde and book design to publications for the Art Institute of Chicago and the library of the Van Abbemuseum, The Education of a Typographer (edited by Steven Heller), and the journals, Central Booking and Art Documentation.Jared holds degrees in Russian Studies from Brown University and New York University, and a Master’s in Library and Information Science from Rutgers University.