Art & Photography Books

Book SynopsisSince TASCHEN released The Great American Pin-up, international interest in this distinctly American art form has increased exponentially. Paintings by leading artists such as Alberto Vargas, George Petty, and Gil Elvgren that sold for $ 2,000 in 1996 are going for $ 200,000 and more today. Pin-up—drawings, paintings, and pastels of an idealized female face and figure intended for public display—was produced between 1920 and 1970 for calendars, magazine covers, and centerfolds. The majority of original paintings were discarded by publishers and calendar companies after printing, making the surviving art that much more precious. Based on the formidably sized Art of Pin-up, this accessible edition gathers nearly 100 artists alongside in-depth showcases of the top 10 names in the game. Each chapter opens with a reproduction of an original calendar or magazine cover by that artist. The reproduction quality of the paintings, pastels, and preparatory sketches that follow—largely sourced from the original art—invites the viewer to trace the brushstrokes, while the exquisite period calendars, vintage prints, and original model photos document the artists’ creative process. Much of these ephemera were photographed on-site at the historic Brown & Bigelow Company, home to the world’s largest archive of vintage pin-up calendars. In addition to the chapters on the 10 featured artists, the book includes bios and art of 85 painters, the most complete compendium of pin-up artists ever compiled. All this adds up to a hard-to-beat book on this popular subject.Trade Review“A veritable feast for voyeurs, sociologists, bibliophiles… by far the most comprehensive and lavish compendium of the art form of the pin-up ever created.” * Profil *

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Book SynopsisFrom Azzedine Alaïa, Cristóbal Balenciaga, and Coco Chanel to Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, and Vivienne Westwood, more than a century’s worth of fashion greats from the permanent collection of The Museum at FIT in New York City are celebrated in this fresh edition of Fashion Designers A–Z. 15 new names join the ranks of the industry’s most admired—Phoebe Philo, Patrick Kelly, and Sonia Rykiel, to name a few—in this updated and expanded release showcasing some 500 garments in the Museum’s permanent collection. From an exquisitely embroidered velvet evening gown to Mondrian-influenced minimalist chic, each piece has been selected and photographed not only for its beauty, but for its representative value, distilling the unique philosophy and aesthetics of each of the featured designers. In her introductory essay, the Museum’s director and chief curator Valerie Steele writes about the rise of the fashion museum, and the emergence of the fashion exhibition as a popular and controversial phenomenon. International style authority Suzy Menkes contributes a foreword, texts by the museum’s curators shine historical light on each label and garment pictured, and 125 drawn portraits by artist Robert Nippoldt pay homage to the creators behind them.Trade Review“A wonderful consideration of both the Fashion Institute of Technology and its most precious and influential pieces.” * Another Magazine *“A who’s who of style royalty.” * Stylist *

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Book SynopsisThe Little Big Book of Breasts features over 150 celebrated big breast models from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, including Michelle Angelo, Virginia Bell, Roxanne Brewer, Joan Brinkman, Lorraine Burnett, Lisa DeLeeuw, Uschi Digard, Sylvia McFarland, Chesty Morgan, Roberta Pedon, Rosina Revelle, Janie Reynolds, Candy Samples, Tempest Storm, Mary Waters, June Wilkinson, and Julie Wills, plus Guinness Book of World Records bra-buster Norma Stitz in a compact and inexpensive format. Photos come not just from the original 398-page edition, but from subsequent Big Breast Calendars, meaning that 40% of the content is unique to this edition. Add reduced text to make more room for the stunning black-and-white and color photos and how could anyone—big, small, or in-between—ask for a better deal?Trade Review“It’s a refreshingly silicon–free display of natural beauty.” * Loaded *

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Book SynopsisWhether it's diamond-encrusted grills, oversized “truck” style chains, bust-down Rolex and Patek Philippe watches or a Tiffany necklace, jewelry is a cornerstone of hip-hop culture. Glittering, blinged-out jewels are the shining statement of a collective identity: unapologetic, charismatic, and street savvy. Spanning the history of hip-hop jewelry, from the 1980s to today, Ice Cold: A Hip-Hop Jewelry History is a stunning compilation of storytelling and visuals. Hundreds of extraordinary images of every major hip-hop artist on record celebrate how “Ice” has become a proclamation of identity and self-expression. Starting with Run-DMC’s gold Adidas pendants and Eric B. & Rakim’s ostentatious dookie rope chains and Mercedes medallions, the jewelry then transforms from street style into a booming design culture. The hip-hop tradition of “show up and show out” reaches new heights with artists like Pharrell Williams, Jay-Z, Gucci Mane, and Cardi B, whose over-the-top pieces integrate unique pop culture references, unconventional materials, and enduring collaborations with artists like Takashi Murakami. Author Vikki Tobak reveals – in great detail – the work of pioneering jewelers such as Tito Caicedo of Manny’s, Eddie Plein, and Jacob the Jeweler as well as newer artisans such as Avianne & Co., Ben Baller/IF & Co., Greg Yuna, Johnny Dang, Eliantte, and many more. Ice Cold is a treasure trove of dazzling, inspirational style, featuring the work of leading photographers, including Wolfgang Tillmans, Janette Beckman, Jamel Shabazz, Timothy White, Gillian Laub, David LaChapelle, Danny Clinch, Chris Buck, Mike Miller, Phil Knott, Raven B. Varona, Al Pereira, Albert Watson and many more. A foreword by hip-hop superstar Slick Rick and essays by A$AP Ferg, LL COOL J, Kevin “Coach K’ Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas of Quality Control Music take us on personal journeys into their jewelry universe. Ice Cold goes beyond the ostentatious bling to reveal a transformative story that is loud and proud.Trade Review“It’s sort of like the ultimate visual encyclopedia for understanding how Hip-Hop has redefined the world of Jewelry over the past 40 years. That, at least, is what one might read on the band of a literally stunning photo album… In Ice Cold, Tobak sets the layman up against the truly museum-like work of pioneering jewelers.” * Papel, El Mundo *“Vikki Tobak’s Ice Cold. A Hip-Hop Jewelry History is a lavish catalog of ostentation, documenting a decades-long affair between rap stars and the diamond-encrusted ornamentation that elevates them to around-the-way superheroes.” * The New York Times *“Packed with photos and essays about four decades of bling culture, with looks from artists ranging from OGs like Run DMC and the Notorious B.I.G. to contemporary figures like Cardi B and the Migos, the book is a celebration of personal style and its role in hip hop.” * TIME *“Jewelry has always been part of hip-hop culture and, as a result, has made celebrities of the jewelers themselves. Ice Cold offers a history of jewelry in hip-hop — starting in the 1980s with Run DMC’s Adidas pendants and working its way to recent years, when artists like Cardi B and Gucci Mane turned their ice into an art form. It also spotlights jewelers, offering an inside look at the work of industry vets like Jacob the Jeweler along with newcomers like Avianne & Co. and Ben Baller.” * New York magazine *“Over-the-top is an understatement when it comes to the bling images captured by top photographers of the past 40 years in this coffee-table stunner that documents how hip-hop transformed the jewelry industry.” * The Globe and Mail *“A photographic review of how hip hop helped redefine luxury with its over-the-top culture of bling.” * Associated Press *“Ice Cold illustrates the hip-hop arms race to procure and produce increasingly elaborate, individualized showpieces.” * The Los Angeles Times *“While serving as a compendium of opulence and excess, Ice Cold emphatically ties bling’s symbolism to lived realities of social marginalization.” * The Los Angeles Times *“The biography of bling.” * CNN.com *“[Ice Cold] traces the arc of hip-hop jewelry from the 1980s to today. Since its inception, hip-hop has shown the world how jewelry could become a living document, a testament to individual identity and the social order.” * The New York Times *“Decades of hip-hop decadence.” * Rolling Stone *“…a homage to all things glittering and gold… Ice Cold. A Hip-Hop Jewelry History document[s] that rich, illustrious relationship between style and music.” * Vice.com *“Hip-hop, jewelry and identity… Ice Cold explores the enduring relationship between two creative fields.” * Wallpaper *“Perhaps even more than clothes or shoes, bling has been a defining feature of hip-hop’s look from its earliest days. [Ice Cold] is finally giving the relationship between rap and rocks the deep dive it deserves, with paeans from some of the industry’s biggest jewelry-loving artists.” * Robb Report *“My jewels are my superhero suit.” * Ricky Walters aka Slick Rick *“Ice Cold explores the storied connection between jewelry and rap. Through an archive of amazing imagery and incredible tales, [the book] traces decades of how rappers crafted their personal flair through the art of bling.” * BuzzFeed News *“Hip-hop has forever changed how we look at jewelry. Now, the genre’s diamond-studded history is the subject of a new book.” * VOGUE *“It’s taken decades for the mainstream to embrace the bold aesthetic of hip-hop jewelry and the shift it has caused within the wider industry – a subject fully explored in TASCHEN’s Ice Cold: A Hip-Hop Jewelry History.” * VOGUE *“A 40-year deep dive into one of the genre’s greatest subcultures.” * Hypebeast.com *

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Book SynopsisPeter Lindbergh and Azzedine Alaïa, the photographer and the couturier, were united by their love of black, a love that they would cultivate alike in silver print and solid color garments. Lindbergh ceaselessly turned to black and white to signify his search for authenticity in the faces he brought to light. Alaïa drew on the monochrome of timeless clothes to create veritable sculptures for the body. In this book, the unique dialogue between the two artists is immortalized in print. Illustrating their community of spirit, its images are a celebration of their artistic partnership and testament to their history-making achievements in photography and fashion. Despite their geographically opposed origins, Lindbergh and Alaïa pursued similar horizons. At the same time as Lindbergh’s reputation in Germany was growing thanks to his work in Stern magazine, and he set up his studio in Paris in 1978, Alaïa was the couturier shrouded in discretion whose sophisticated techniques were a treasured secret amongst the most important clients of Haute Couture. Alaïa became the architect of bodies, revealing and unveiling them, while Lindbergh distinguished them by shining a light on their soul and personality. Step by step, they became the creators that dominated their respective disciplines. Both rejected any artifice that distracted from their true subject, and it is with great ease that they came together for a number of powerful collaborations. Shared inspirations and aesthetic values are visible throughout their work. A beach in Le Touquet and the streets of old Paris reference a mutual love of black and white cinema and vast panoramas. The backdrop of an engine room illustrates the memory of an industrial German landscape for one and references the inordinate passion for functional design and architecture held by the other. Alaïa’s clothes act as pedestals for the smiles and eyes of the women who wear them: Nadja Auermann, Mariacarla Boscono, Naomi Campbell, Anna Cleveland, Dilone, Lucy Dixon, Vanessa Duve, Helene Fischer, Pia Frithiof, Jade Jagger, Maria Johnson, Milla Jovovich, Lynne Koester, Ariane Koizumi, Yasmin Le Bon, Madonna, Kristen McMenamy, Tatjana Patitz, Linda Spierings, Tina Turner, Marie-Sophie Wilson, Lindsey Wixson. For Lindbergh, who built his notoriety on the images of these supermodels, the authenticity of their traits is all that matters. The result is a potent black and white catalogue that reverberates with truthfulness and beauty.The book accompanies the exhibition Azzedine Alaïa, Peter Lindbergh at the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, 18 rue de la verrerie, Paris, France. With contritutions by Fabrice Hergott, director of the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paolo Roversi, photographer, and Olivier Saillard, fashion historian and director of the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, Paris.Trade Review“…unforgettable images captured by the late, great Peter Lindbergh.” * interviewmagazine.com *“…a must for Alaïa or Lindbergh-obsessed bibliophiles.” * wallpaper.com *“Their collaborative vision was a rare kind of magic.” * AnOther *“…showcases the unique bond between Alaïa and Lindbergh, and how it played out in their work." * anothermag.com *“…brings some of the pair’s most striking imagery to light.” * dazeddigital.com *“…the story of two geniuses united by their love of monochrome.” * hero-magazine.com *“Your coffee table requires this beautiful book.” * Vogue *“We met in 1979, I believe. Ever since, Azzedine and I are hand in glove. I photographed his collections and I have countless portraits of him.” * Peter Lindbergh *

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Book SynopsisPart design history, part trip down musical memory lane, this anthology of jazz album artwork is above all a treasure trove of creative and cultural inspiration. Spanning half a century, it assembles the most daring and dynamic jazz cover designs that helped make and shape not only a musical genre but also a particular way of experiencing life. From the 1940s through to the decline of LP production in the early 1990s, each chosen cover design is distinct in the way it complements the energy of the album’s music with its own visual rhythms of frame, line, text, and form. To satisfy even the most demanding of music geeks, each record cover is accompanied by a fact sheet listing performer and album name, art director, photographer, illustrator, year, label, and more.Trade Review“The quintessential coffee table book and the perfect conversation piece for relaxing with a friend over cocktails and listening to Ella Fitzgerald or Lady Day.” * Boston Spirit *“Anyone with a love for jazz or design should have this publication.” * complex.com *"A visual feast of 12-inch-square draughtsmanship and photography at its finest." * Artists & Illustrators *

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Book SynopsisWith the consumerist euphoria of the fifties still going strong and the race to the moon at its height, the mood of advertising in the sixties was cheerful, optimistic, and at times, revolutionary. The decade’s ads touted perceived progress—such as tang and instant omelets - "just add water"—while striving to reinforce good old American values. Stars like Sean Connery, Woody Allen, Salvador Dalí, and Sammy Davis Jr. endorsed everything from bourbon to handmade suits in an attempt by Madison Avenue to urge Americans to open their wallets and participate in one giant consumer binge. Social change at the end of the era brought psychedelic swirls and liberated women and minorities to a newly conscious public. Keep an eye out for some of the more surprising and controversial ads—such as Tupperware billing its storage container as a "wifesaver." From forgotten cars, to cigarettes to food and much more, this colorful collection of print ads explores the wide, wonderful world of 60s Americana.Trade Review“A rose-tinted trip back to the golden age of advertising.” * ShortList *“Anyone who approaches with questions about how people lived, ate, felt and consumed in earlier decades will find the TASCHEN ad books an excellent investment.” * The Toronto Star *“Closest thing to time travel.” * The Spokesman *

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Book SynopsisMan Ray (1890–1976) was a polymath modernist, working in painting, sculpture, film, printmaking, and poetry. But it was his work in photography, with nude studies, fashion work, and portraiture that saw him pioneering a new chapter in the history of camerawork and art. With a wide-ranging collection of both his famous and lesser-known works, this monograph gives a vivid overview of Man Ray’s multifaceted practice and photographic legacy. It traces Ray from his artistic beginnings in New York through to his central role in the Parisian avant-garde, where he featured in the first Surrealist exhibition with Jean Arp, Max Ernst, André Masson, Joan Miró, and Pablo Picasso and produced such now iconic works as Noire et blanche and Le Violon d’Ingres. Through numerous examples of still life, portraiture, and beyond, we see how Ray constantly experimented with new techniques, pushing photography out of its documentary domain into ethereal, poetic expressions through multiple exposure, solarization, and the particular brand of photograms he wittily termed “rayography.”

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Book SynopsisNestled in the south of France, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, is a land renowned for its lavender fields, fine cuisine, golden sun, and dreamy landscapes. The region of Provence has inspired such masters as Alphonse Daudet and Vincent van Gogh. So enthralled was Paul Cézanne by the Mont Sainte-Victoire that he immortalized it in a series of paintings. We enter his Provence studio, which still looks the same as it did over a century ago, as well as the house where Frédéric Mistral, 1904 Nobel Prize winner, lived and wrote. We also admire the wrought-iron staircase and embroidered curtains of the Hotel Nord-Pinus in Arles, which hosted the likes of Napoleon III, Jean Cocteau, and Picasso. Across picturesque villages perched atop rocky hillsides, quaint gardens filled with olive trees and the heady scent of lavender, tiled rooftop terraces and warm, ochre tones: this book gathers the region’s most remarkable homes and interiors and paints a gorgeous picture of Provençal living.Trade Review“For the romantic at heart and anyone who loves the idea of escaping to the French countryside, this wonderful book shows the decorating style the French have made their own.” * Australian Country *"Living in Provence features everything... painting a gorgeous picture of Provençal life through its dreamy images. Magnifique." * Easy Living *"If you day dream about the Gallic way of life, this book will fuel your imagination." * French Magazine *

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Book SynopsisThese extraordinary homes accentuate the cosmopolitan designs of such architectural talents as Gurjit Matharoo from India, Mohamed Amine Siana from Morrocco, and Mariko Mori from Japan. Building private houses, which can sometimes be quite small, they demonstrate creativity and technological inventiveness, shaping the architecture of tomorrow.

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Book SynopsisOn a winter’s night in 1949 in New York City, young marketing student and budding photographer Walter Chandoha spotted a stray kitten in the snow, bundled it into his coat, and brought it home. Little did he know he had just met the muse that would determine the course of his life. Chandoha turned his lens on his new feline friend—which he named Loco—and was so inspired by the results that he started photographing kittens from a local shelter. These images marked the start of an extraordinary career that would span seven decades. Long before the Internet and #catsofinstagram, Chandoha was enrapturing the public with his fuzzy subjects. From advertisements to greetings cards, jigsaw puzzles to pet-food packaging, his images combined a genuine affection for the creatures, a strong work ethic, and flawless technique. Chandoha’s trademark glamorous lighting, which made each cat’s fur stand out in sharp relief, would define the visual vocabulary of animal portraiture for generations and inspire such masters as Andy Warhol, who took cues from Chandoha’s charming portraits in his illustrated cat book. Cats leaps into the archives of this genre-defining artist, spanning color studio and environmental portraits, black-and-white street photography, images from vintage cat shows, tender pictures that combine his children with cats and more. This is a fitting tribute not just to these beguiling creatures but also to a remarkable photographer who passed away in 2019 at the age of 98; and whose compassion can be felt in each and every frame.Trade Review“His legacy is more than assured—Chandoha literally wrote the book on his field.” * CNN *

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Book SynopsisThe Kama Sutra gives detailed instructions on how to spank it. Contemporary Italians touch it for luck before placing a bet. Americans are having it cosmetically enhanced at rates approaching breast enlargement surgery. The female butt, tush, culo, or derrière has always inspired awe, fantasy, and slavish devotion.Curiously, its primary purpose is functional rather than aesthetic: butts balance our bodies while running, according to biologists. But ask any pygophiliac—as fundament fans are clinically termed—and you’ll get the same answer: female hindquarters exist to please the eye, the hands, and parts south. A pert posterior causes instant arousal, as Zora Neale Hurston observed in Their Eyes Were Watching God: "The men noticed her firm buttocks like she had grape fruits in her hip pockets." Or, as rapper Sir Mix-a-lot proclaimed, "My anaconda don’t want none, unless you’ve got buns, hun."Having all but disappeared from western culture in the breast-obsessed second half of the 20th century, the fully formed fanny is currently enjoying a massive resurgence, attributed by some to American actress Jennifer Lopez, by others to the rise of booty-centric hip hop culture. Yet this rage for shapely butts is nothing new. The ancient Greeks worshipped at the temple of Aphrodite Kallipygos, Goddess of the Beautiful Buttocks, while a womanly rump has always been an object of worship in most of the southern hemisphere.The Big Butt Book explores this perennial fascination with female booty—from small and taut to large and sumptuous—in the fourth installment of Dian Hanson’s critically acclaimed body parts series. Over 400 photos from 1900 to the present day, including works by Elmer Batters, Ellen von Unwerth, Jean-Paul Goude, Ralph Gibson, Richard Kern, Jan Saudek, Ed Fox, Terry Richardson and Sante D’Orazio, of butts ranging from petite Pam Anderson’s to sumptuous Serena Williams’, are contextualized by interviews with porn icon John (Buttman) Stagliano, filmmaker Tinto Brass, artist Robert Crumb, bootylicious butt queens Buffie The Body, Coco and Brazil’s Watermelon Woman, plus Eve Howard and her life-long spanking obsession.Trade Review“It is what it is. Hilarious.” * The Today Show *

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Book SynopsisHere are the most influential architectural essays written since the Renaissance, copiously illustrated, in a great book for anyone interested in what architects say about their craft. Discover the theories behind the structures in which we live, work, and play, from Alberti and Palladio to Le Corbusier and Koolhaas.

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Book SynopsisTASCHEN presents Lost + Found and Good News, the latest and final publications from artist David LaChapelle. The books are the fourth and fifth installments of LaChapelle's five-book anthology, which began with LaChapelle Land (1996), continued with Hotel LaChapelle (1999), and followed by Heaven to Hell (2006).Good News follows David LaChapelle's creative renaissance as he surrenders to contemplations of mortality, moving beyond the material world in a quest for paradise. Featuring a monumental curation of images, it is a sublime and arresting new body of work that attempts to photograph that which can't be photographed. It represents the final chapter to LaChapelle's narrative in a collection of books that have captivated a generation of viewers a

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Book SynopsisThroughout history, the relationship between landscape and architecture has formed the basis of culture and the development of human settlements. The unfolding of a site, its transformation through the construction of buildings or of entire cities, translates into this basic idea: that history extends geography. In recent decades, generic architecture has increasingly homogenized the appearance of different territories, resulting in a profoundly different understanding of nature and landscape. Within his work, french architect and urban planner Jean-Pierre Pranlas-Descours continuously articulates the relationship between landscape and architecture. This book traces his line of thought by reflecting on 16 projects and their specific conditions.

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Book SynopsisZweisprachige Ausgabe (deutsch/englisch) / Bilingual edition (English/German) Die Geschichte des Grafikdesigns ist weitgehend ohne Frauen geschrieben worden. Blickt man jedoch unter die Oberfläche dieser Erzählung, wird der Einfluss sichtbar, den Grafikdesignerinnen auf das Geschehen hatten: Sie bildeten eigene Traditionen, stellten dialogische Bezüge her, wurden Vorbilder, knüpften Netzwerke, erprobten sich in Selbstermächtigung. Gerda Breuer beleuchtet diesen Kampf um Professionalisierung und zeigt, auf welche kollektiven Formate Designerinnen zurückgriffen, um sichtbar zu werden und sich für die Belange von Frauen einzusetzen. Bekannte Grafikdesignerinnen wie Ljubow Popowa, Änne Koken, Ethel Reed oder Sarah Wyman Whitman spielten hierbei ebenso eine Rolle wie völlig unbekannte Kollektive. Breuer zeigt, dass deren bedeutende Beiträge in der Rezeptionsgeschichte verschwunden, abgewertet, ignoriert oder in den Hintergrund gedrängt wurden. Aufgrund der aktuellen Infragestellung des traditionellen Kanons ist die Integration solcher Beiträge in die Designgeschichte längst überfällig. Design von Katja Lis, DBF Designbüro Frankfurt

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking exploration of Francis Picabia's practice between 1945 and 1953a remarkable period of new creativity and experimentation for the legendary artist. The French avant-garde painter Francis Picabia (18791953) was one of the great innovators of twentieth-century modernism, with a career defined by his restless, visionary approach. Introduced by Beverley Calté, president of the Comité Picabia, this book delves into Picabia's practice between the years 1945 to 1953an incredibly rich period during which Picabia created paintings unlike anything he had produced before, working alongside the growing Art Informel movement in Paris. Essays by art historian Arnauld Pierre and scholar Candace Clement shed new light on the hidden signs and symbols buried in his abstractions, the new painting techniques he employed, and the mysterious and fantastical reappearance of the dot in his work. Éternel Recommencement / Eternal Beginning is an essential resource, marking the first focused exploration of a crucial chapter of Picabia's practice.

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Book SynopsisLiving and working together as part of the late 1960s Toronto counterculture, AA Bronson (b. Michael Tims, 1946, Vancouver), Felix Partz (b. Ronald Gabe, 1945, Winnipeg, d. 1994), and Jorge Zontal (b. Slobodan Saia-Levy, 1944, Parma, d. 1994) formalized their collaboration in 1969 as a single entity known as General Idea. From their earliest projects like staging of The 1970 Miss General Idea Pageant to their late activist initiatives around the AIDS crisis, General Idea explored multimedia, conceptual, and performance work as a tool for engaging with common culture and its repressions. A definitive retrospective of General Idea is currently travelling from the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Gropius Bau in Berlin. An extensive exhibition of these drawings has been shown at the Drawing Center in New York and MAMCO in Geneva.Less well-known are the group's drawings, the vast majority of which have never been seen. The drawings shown in A Rare Gift of the Tropics were all produced by Jorge Zontal, who made them as a habitual practice during the group's brainstorming meetings; however, given General Idea's mandate for co-authorship (and as demonstrated by the GI signature affixed by Zontal shortly before his death) as well as the circumstances under which they were executed, they are considered to be collaborative. The drawings assumed a greater regularity after 1985, the year the group left Toronto, which felt increasingly isolated from the global art world, for New York. As the 1980s wore on, their early joie de vivre was tempered by the pervasive presence of AIDS. In Bronson's words, it was a period during which we had to face and somehow incorporate the illness and death of most of our friends, as well as Jorge and Felix themselves.Although drawn by hand, the repetition of specific motifs follows a logic that is akin to General Idea's own penchant for mass reproduction and that echo the virality of their AIDS works. In their mutability and insistent flow, the drawings are a fascinating window into General Idea's distinct artistic vision and unique notions of authorship, exposing representation's inadequacy while acknowledging its urgency.

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Book SynopsisA fascinating examination of influential artist Arshile Gorky's relationship to New York City, exploring notions of exile, identity, and authorship This book unpacks the relationship between Arshile Gorky and New York, focusing on the artist's early years in the city following his arrival in 1924 after fleeing the Armenian genocide. What did it mean for an artist who named himself after a Russian writer and pledged allegiance to Picasso to find his own voice in New York? Embracing the metropolis as a locus of modernity and liberation, Gorky sought to reconcile it with his own cultural and historical inheritance. Bound together in a relationship of mutual influence, Gorky would come to shape the history of New York painting, just as the city had shaped his own work. Edited by Ben Eastham and introduced by Adam Gopnik, this richly illustrated book combines fascinating new insights into Gorky's work with broader reflections on his status as an immigrant artist, and includes essays by art historians Tamar Kharatishvili, Christa Noel Robbins, and Emily Warner, and painter Allison Katz.

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Book SynopsisA new, fully transcribed edition of the celebrated collection of Jack Whitten's wide-ranging, perceptive writingsWriting occupied a fundamental place in Jack Whitten's artistic practice and in his day-to-day life, weaving the two together. Notes from the Woodshed gathers the artist's daily logs, longer essayistic entries, and selected talks and published statements. Edited by Katy Siegel, these texts intertwine Whitten's experiments in the studio, thoughts about painting as a medium, and broad investigations of politics, matter, and metaphysics. Now in its second edition, this publication is the definitive resource on Whitten's writings, presenting a fully transcribed collection of the artist's handwritten logs. Selections from these writings are illustrated with facsimiles of the originals, giving us a feel for the studio and for Whitten's hand, animating his remarkable line of thought. This edition also features a new afterword in the form of a conversation on Whitten between curators Matilde Guidelli-Guidi and Zoé Whitley and artist Glenn Ligon that sketches out the different forms a deep engagement with his writings might take.

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Book SynopsisIn recent decades, Carlo Scarpa's relevance has been steadily on the rise. At a time when architects have to use existing city and building structures as a point of departure for their work, his oeuvre remains a source of inspiration. Buildings such as the Castelvecchio in Verona show us that architecture is capable of communicating its own history, has meaning, and develops a contemporary dynamic of its own. Scarpa's layered architecture makes visible the process of becoming and the time-related sedimentation of material and meanings. It is especially at points of transition and interface that layering becomes a narrative element that elucidates the tectonic qualities of the building. Overlaying includes leaving a record of how an object came into being -- either by means of the sediments of its history or through the intervention of the architect. In this book Anne-Catrin Schultz presents her research about the phenomenon of layering in Carlo Scarpa's architecture. Layering describes the physical composition of layers defining space as well as the parallel presence of cultural referrals and formal associations imbedded in the physical layers. Scarpa's work is an embodiment of multidimensional layering and, at the same time, a focal point for architectural movements of his time that have stratification as their theme. In most buildings, the principle of layering may be regarded as something that is part of the nature of building. Functional conditions call for planes, elements, or "layers" to provide the supporting structure, and others to protect from rain, cold or the heat of the sun. However, architectonic layering goes beyond merely fulfilling technical requirements -- the principle of layering may be used as a formative method that allows elements of different origins to be combined into a non-hierarchical whole. Layering exists in a realm of complexity and implies a capacity of being interpreted that goes beyond itself and creates references to the world at large. The first part of the book examines Scarpa's fields of influence and intellectual roots and puts them in perspective with former theories and their interpretation of architecture as layered, for example Gottfried Semper's theory of clothing. The second part displays an analysis of three major projects, Castelvecchio and Banca Popolare in Verona and the Querini Foundation in Venice.Table of ContentsPreface; The principle of layering: precedents -- Layering and stratification in architecture; Carlo Scarpa -- stratified architecture; Theoretical fundamentals of the principle of stratification in the architectural discussion; at the turn of the 20th century; Stratification in Scarpas work: influences; A detailed analysis of layering in three examples; Conclusion; Index.

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Book SynopsisAn accessible, clothbound compendium of leading artists in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia Filling a noticeable void in art publishing, SEA: Contemporary Art Practices in Southeast Asia presents the work of 60 artists and collectives practicing in the region. Organized alphabetically, SEA highlights points of connection between the artists: community engagement and organization, social and political commentary, gender and identity, environment and ecology, and material traditions and processes. Artists include: Agus Suwage, Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Amanda Heng, Anida Yoeu Ali, Anne Samat, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, Arahmaiani, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Arin Rungjang, Cemeti—Institute for Art and Society, Charles Lim, Chiang Mai Social Installation, Chris Chong, Dinh Q Le, Eisa Jocson, Erika Tan, F.X. Harsono, Green Papaya Art Projects, Ho Tzu Nyen, Htein Lin, I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih, Khvay Samnang, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Lee Wen, Lostgens’, Martha Atienza, Melati Suryodarmo, Ming Wong, Moe Satt, Montien Boonma, Nguyen Trinh Thi and ruangrupa.

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Book SynopsisA critique of the discourse on the Anthropocene and the creative alternatives to it to be found through the arts, sciences, and humanities.Addressing the current upswing of attention in the sciences, arts, and humanities to the new proposal that we are in a human-driven epoch called the Anthropocene, this book critically surveys that thesis and points to its limitations. It analyzes contemporary visual culture—popular science websites, remote sensing and SatNav imagery, eco-activist mobilizations, and experimental artistic projects—to consider how the term proposes more than merely a description of objective geological periodization. This book argues that the Anthropocene terminology works ideologically in support of a neoliberal financialization of nature, anthropocentric political economy, and endorsement of geoengineering as the preferred—but likely disastrous—method of approaching climate change. To democratize decisions about the world's near future, we urgently need to subject the Anthropocene thesis to critical scrutiny and develop creative alternatives in the present.

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Book SynopsisProposing a history of exhibitions sourced from a wide corpus reaching beyond the framework of art institutions.This volume gathers and expands upon the results of the research project “Theater, Garden, Bestiary: A Materialist History of Exhibitions,” held at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, and proposes a history of exhibitions sourced from a wide corpus reaching beyond the framework of art institutions. It undertakes a transdisciplinary history at the nexus of art history, science studies, and philosophy, exploring the role the exhibition played in the construction of the conceptual categories of modernity, and outlines a historiographical model that conceptualizes the exhibition as both an aesthetic and an epistemic site. ContributorsEtienne Chambaud, Elitza Dulguerova, Anselm Franke, Tristan Garcia, Fabien Giraud & Raphaël Siboni, Dorothea von Hantelmann, Yuk Hui, Pierre Huyghe, Sami Khatib, Jeremy Lecomte, Stéphane Lojkine, Rafael Mandressi, Vincent Normand, Peter Osborne, Filipa Ramos, Juliane Rebentisch, João Ribas, Pamela Rosenkranz, Anna-Sophie Springer, Lucy Steeds, Olivier Surel, Etienne Turpin, Kim West, Charles Wolfe

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Book SynopsisA conversation with filmmaker and artist John Akomfrah, exploring how his work with montage can be understood to articulate contemporaneity in sensuous ways.Taking the form of a conversation with filmmaker and artist John Akomfrah, this book sets out to explore how Akomfrah's work with montage can be understood to articulate contemporaneity in sensuous ways. In multilayered video installations, sequences of images are forced into the same time and space, allowing the viewer to experience connections in her/his/their present. With examples from many of his key works, topics discussed include untold histories and the diaspora, migration, and the enigma of arrival. Akomfrah defines his way of working with montage not only as a technique but as an ethic, an ontology in which differences are brought together.

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Book SynopsisThe revisioning of our infrastructural futures, local and global relationalities, and historical and political legacies.Forming a comprehensive picture of the multiple processes, regulations, institutions, technologies, networks, and operations that we have come to understand as the distributed infrastructural arena in which we act, yield, and plot is a perennial challenge. Over the past decade, a growing number of artists, theorists, curators, and researchers have moved from “institutional critique” to “infrastructural critique,” or toward “infrastructural speculation,” in which they explore the potential of creative infrastructure-related visions and scenarios. In attempts to counter the impasse of “the cancelled future,” art has immersed itself in systemic critiques and propositional thinking, addressing major challenges, such as the rampant financialization of the economy and runaway climate change. From questions around space settlements to the possibility of repurposing blockchain infrastructures and financial instruments for redistributive purposes, and from the diagrammatic potential of infrastructural thinking in artistic practices to scenario planning and economic strategizing, this collection of new essays brings together critical analysis from a broad group of contributors engaged in the revisioning of our infrastructural futures. Their interrogations span local and global relationalities, historical and political legacies, as well as future-oriented infrastructural hypotheses.

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Book SynopsisBorn in Waiblingen in 1970, Christoph Niemann is an artist, graphic designer and author of various books. His work has appeared on more than 25 New Yorker covers since 2001, with illustrations in Wired, Weltkunst Magazine and the New York Times Magazine. He was inducted into the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 2010. Niemann lives and works in Berlin.

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Book SynopsisIndonesia is one of the largest countries on Earth. The beauty and untouched nature of this unique island archipelago can now be marvelled at by tropical enthusiasts in the elaborate photo book Tropics & Traditions Tales of Indonesia by Manolo Ty.The photographic artist takes us on a journey to the most remote indigenous peoples, who live far from the civilisation we know, leading a life rooted in tradition and harmony with nature. In impressive shots, some taken from unusual perspectives like from the air with drones or underwater, we see unexplored jungles, solitary islands, mighty volcanoes, and dreamlike coral reefs.Ty also bridges the gap to the bustling metropolises of the country, which could hardly contrast more vividly with the breathtaking beauty of nature. He shows us Bali and Jakarta, which gleam with imposing buildings that snugly intermingle with traditional structures and the temples of Buddhism and Hinduism.In the impre

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Book SynopsisFinally, a flower book that doesn''t just focus on ornamental plants, but also makes room for the wildflowers we encounter along the way. In her new photo book Floramour: Wild Flowers, dedicated garden enthusiast Anja Klaffenbach turns her attention to all those wildflowers we come across during walks on grassy strips, meadow sections, parking areas, or hiking trails. Often rather inconspicuous, with small flower cups, these meadow flowers add splashes of colour that define spring and summer.However, the names of these beauties are generally unknown to the observer, but Klaffenbach now puts an end to this. In her familiar affectionate style, this Floramour edition deals with each flower theme. The coffee table book aims to be engaging, convey botanical knowledge, and present the plants from all angles, with photos, graphics, and drawings.Klaffenbach has succeeded brilliantly in this endeavour, resulting in a photo book that is unparal

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