AUTOMATA WINDOWS
Sara Roberts
November 15 - 30, 2025

Los Angeles artist Sara Roberts loves books, particularly lithographed picture books from the Mid-20th Century, and she has amassed a large collection of them from many countries. When we learned about  her collection, Automata  invited Sara to make use of our storefront windows for a special Picture Book Display. These  books are made with traditional lithography that uses saturated inks on thick, matte, porous paper that holds intense color.  In the course of the 20th C.  children’s book illustration went from sentimental representation to modernist abstraction or wild cartoon-like styles. But regardless of style, books made with color lithography are a very strong graphic experience. 
 
In Automata’s Windows this week only, Sara’s selection and arrangement of picture books highlights the special qualities of this disappearing species, as they are dropped out of library circulation, given to goodwill, and sold at estate sales, flea markets, and garage sales.
 
And, not to leave out the pleasure of the word… In addition to displaying these wondrous books, Sara is displaying recommended novels to read, accompanied by  ceramic portrait busts of their authors that she has sculpted.

 After the reception, there will be a concert by Carolyn chen and Ian Power that accompanies the exhibition on
(Saturday November 22 at 7:30 PM)