Buffalo & Erie County Public Library presents 'AP Gorny: Different From the Rest'

First comprehensive exhibition at Central Library’s Rare Book Room showcasing Buffalo-born, Yale Fellow, whose work resides in Vatican Library, Guggenheim, Library of Congress – told through oral & local histories

√ Many of Gorny’s most notable artist books acquired for rare book collection at Buffalo & Erie County Public Library

Press Release

AP Gorny defies category. Across five decades, he has worked as printmaker, photographer, sculptor, bookmaker, and performer – his artist books reaching the Vatican Library and the Guggenheim. The story of how this artist built his international career from Buffalo roots is less examined.

Opening Thursday, Jan. 29, “AP Gorny: Different From the Rest” demonstrates what becomes possible when a library turns its archival methodology toward art historical recovery. Curator Heather Gring deploys a library's distinctive tools: oral history collection, institutional archive excavation, and the rigorous practices that document an enigmatic figure through the kaleidoscope of his life experience.

What emerges is a portrait of mid-century artistic formation – a Polish-American artist from Buffalo's East Side who found his way to Yale's School of Art, then built an international career while the mechanisms that typically document such trajectories failed to capture him. His work traveled to major collections; the narrative of how and why remained unwritten.

Here, the library's archival practice becomes artistic methodology. Using oral histories, digitized materials from Buffalo's cultural institutions, and the artist's own work, the library constructs what traditional art history overlooked: An artist formed in a specific place and moment, working outside established channels; an artist navigating his identity as a gay man in the cultural landscape of the 1980s and 1990s – decades marked by the AIDS crisis, a profound loss in artists, and shifts in visibility. Gorny's trajectory, likewise, bears the marks of artistic resistance, survival, and fierce community.

The exhibition features 11 artist books by Gorny, newly acquired for the library's rare book collection, as well as prints and artworks loaned for the show. In partnership with Western New York Book Arts Center – a community-based arts organization dedicated to preserving and advancing printmaking and the book arts through education, collaboration and public access – the exhibit expands in late February with works unable to be displayed at Central Library. This joint exhibition will open with a special evening celebration connecting both spaces Friday, Feb. 27. It runs through Tuesday, March 31.

“AP Gorny: Different From the Rest” demonstrates how libraries can function as sites of art historical recovery, using archival tools to highlight careers that exist at the margins of traditional documentation.

The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is one of only 25 major U.S. public library systems – alongside New York Public, Boston Public, and the Free Library of Philadelphia – with a dedicated rare book collection. The library serves as steward to Mark Twain's handwritten “Huckleberry Finn” manuscript, gifted by Twain himself, and a complete Shakespeare first folio.

The acquisition of Gorny’s works extends and enriches that mandate: Positioning artist books not as peripheral objects, but as essential creative records deserving the same archival rigor and public interest as rare manuscripts and first editions.

This exhibition was generously made possible by the support of Rigidized Metals, which fabricated and donated in-kind custom display systems for Gorny's work, and future exhibitions at the Central Library.

•Rare book room exhibition – opening celebration

Opening: Thursday, Jan. 29, 5:30–8 p.m.; then on view through fall

Rare Book Room, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, 1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo

•WNY Book Arts Center x Buffalo & Erie County Public Library – joint celebration

Friday, Feb. 27, 6-9 p.m.

Western New York Book Arts Center, 468 Washington St., Buffalo (after-hours library tour registration; space is limited and walking required)

•Joint Exhibition – Western New York Book Arts Center

Opening Friday, Feb. 27, and on view through Tuesday, March 31

Western New York Book Arts Center, 468 Washington St., Buffalo

Established in 1836, the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is Buffalo’s oldest cultural institution. “Profoundly Public” in all we do, the library serves more than 2.35 million visitors annually through 37 branches and mobile services. It also houses over 3.2 million resources, extensive digital collections, and innovative programming. With a collection of international and national note, the library continues to significantly impact community education, equity and cultural enrichment. In 2024, every dollar invested returned $4.32 in community benefits, totaling over $128 million in annual value. To explore resources and services, visit www.BuffaloLib.org.