THE SHORT VERSION
Nava Atlas has published some twenty trade books that span the culinary and visually driven nonfiction genres. She’s the creator and editor of LiteraryLadiesGuide.com, a platform that explores and archives women’s classic literature with a dedicated following and millions of views logged. She’s also well known for groundbreaking vegan cookbooks. Find out more about her work in the plant-based space at TheVeganAtlas.com.
Nava is also a text-based artistwhose limited edition artist’s books are represented in dozens of university special collections and the libraries of museums, including The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Art, among others. A permanent archive of her papers is housed at the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture at Duke University.
. . . . . . . . . . .
THE LONGER VERSION
Nava Atlas‘s work has followed parallel paths in the fine arts and publishing fields. With the idea of the book often central to her various practices, she had often explored multiple paths derived from each concept—sculptural artist’s books have been taken off the page to become mixed media constructions or installations; limited editions have be expanded into conventionally published books.
Incorporating elements of her original writing as well as historic texts with original or found images, her work explores a variety of social issues including women’s roles, cultural biases, animal advocacy, and the personal becoming political.
Nava’s work has been shown nationally in museums, galleries, and alternative art spaces, including: Wichita Art Museum, Suffolk Museum (VA), ARC Gallery (Chicago), Purdue University, Duke University, Everson Museum (Syracuse, NY) Pyramid Atlantic Art Center (Silver Spring, MD), and many others. Her work is represented in public collections, including the Nasher Museum, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art (SUNY New Paltz), Weatherspoon Art Museum (NC), Wichita Art Museum, and others.
In addition, her limited edition artist’s books are housed in dozens collections of artists books, including those at MOMA’s library (NY), National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, DC), Yale University, The Library of Congress Rare Book Collection, Duke University, Skidmore College, and many others. See a more complete listing of exhibits and collections in her CV.
A lifelong avid reader and aficionado of women’s history, Nava has created one of the most comprehensive web archives dedicated to women’s classic literature, Literary Ladies Guide, an outgrowth of her trade book, Literary Ladies’ Guide to the Writing Life.
She’s also known as the author of numerous vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, the most recent which are listed on TheVeganAtlas.com, her website dedicated to vegan food and living.
A permanent archive of papers preserving Nava’s career in the arts, book arts, and as the author of visual nonfiction and cookbooks is housed in the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, at Duke University. Nava lives and works in the Hudson Valley region of New York State.