García’s first institutional solo show in the UK, this exhibition also coincided with the twentieth annual Leeds International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair that took place at The Tetley in March 2017.
García’s show provided a retrospective look at her career-long production of book editions, book sculptures and other printed matter, and the ongoing connection within her practice to the broader tropes of popular literature, theatre and film. For These books were alive; they spoke to me!, García staged a new iteration of several ongoing performance works stemming from her own texts, those by others following the protocols given by the artist, or utilising and responding to iconic literary texts such as James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake.
‘These books were alive; they spoke to me’ is a quote from François Truffaut’s 1966 dystopic cult film Fahrenheit 451 (based on Ray Bradbury’s novel of the same name). This literary reference opens up a framework for the exhibition and expanded programme, which features books about performance, and performances about books.