Art & Photography Books

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Book SynopsisMemoria: stories from another History is the idea of a collective memory made up of a myriad of stories, stories, questions and experiences scattered in our individual and personal memories. Revealed here, through the works of artists whose work refers to the (re) construction of a common whole, a universal whole, which renews our look at contemporary creation from Africa and its diasporas. Featuring fourteen artists who's work stand out for their desire to move the boundaries of art, to “bring together elsewhere” and to show the diversity of our common individual and ultimately collective histories. The selected works explore painting, textiles, sculpture, video and even performance. They make up a journey that echoes on the one hand a demystified reading of parts of history and commonly disclosed beliefs about the African continent, and on the other hand the way in which the devices of imaginary stories are still in the making. work, particularly in the economic and resource redistribution fields. Through this multiplicity of mediums, the works deliver their essence and show us artists with engaged practice, strong in their narrative power, anchored in their fluctuating geographies and in their time. By questioning our thought mechanisms, Memoria: stories from another History intends to open a discussion on our ability to renew our knowledge, to listen to different stories and to (re) question stereotypes and received ideas.

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Book SynopsisIn electrical and electronic systems, a ground noise is a sound interference, a stray noise considered as disturbance. Like a flying insect trapped in a lamp, it is a continuous rustle, a vibration that seeks to escape. Its presence is considered annoying, therefore one usually seeks to get rid of it. Insects and arthropods trigger atavistic reactions in us. Even dead and pinned under glass, a spider will be able to frighten, even for a moment, an adult human being. Admittedly, we have somehow tamed our fears towards them, through admiration (“the incredible work of ants”, “the beauty of butterflies”) or recognition (“the bees, our so useful nurturers”), but this teeming fauna remains nonetheless mysterious, obscure, even unsettling. This work is extended by a conversation between Céline Clanet and eco-acoustician Jérôme Sueur, a specialist of the “melody of insects”.

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Book SynopsisText in English & German. Everything about Nancy A is perfect. She's got perfect tits, long legs, a slammin' body and she is sexy as hell. Nancy is also a budding entrepreneur, having launched her own lingerie line for women that want to feel sexy and classy at the same time. Nancy is a lingerie connoisseur and she has worked at many high end lingerie shops over the years. As a matter of fact, that is what lead her to become a Diva. Men would ask her to model sexy intimates for their wives as they were shopping and Nancy got a huge charge out of parading around half naked in front of strangers. Now she is at the top of her game with fans around the world and we are proud to have her as one of our featured divas. How do you define beauty? MetArt has been pondering that question for the past twenty years. A world leader in artistic nude photography and film. MetArt has made it their mission to present the most enchanting girls to grace our planet, many of them undressing in front of the camera for the very first time. Visit www.MetArt.com today to get your access to the largest erotic photography portal in the world.

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Book SynopsisAlysha A is an Estonian nude model with an exceptionally sweet appearance. She has long blonde hair, lovely firm breasts with slightly puffy nipples and long well-toned legs. Coupled with her angelic features and warm personality, which shines through in her photo galleries, she really is a beautiful artistic nude model, and the dream girl of many admirers all around the globe.Discover the essence of beauty through the lens of Metart, an innovator in artistic nude photography and film for over two decades. With a passion for showcasing the world's most beautiful women, Metart presents a collection of enchanting erotic models who radiate natural allure. Witness the unveiling of their beauty as they bare their souls before the camera. Immerse yourself in the world's premier destination for erotic photography and film at www.MetArt.com.

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Book SynopsisThe changing climate is no longer debatable here, it is this land's unfeigned, monstrous reality, says Dhaka-based architect Kashef Chowdhury. His firm URBANA, established in 1995, has produced an astonishingly diverse collection of works of divergent scales, typologies, and contexts and located in one of the meteorologically most complex and challenging regions in the world. A hospital introduced into an economy decimated by rising oceans, a shelter against cyclones in Bangladesh's southern coastal region, projects for locations in the country's north near the Himalaya mountains facing devouring waves of floods, and architectural interventions in one of the world's densest metropolitan areas: URBANA's designs are incisive critical responses to dissimilar issues and urgencies. They are all rooted in the belief that architecture can no longer be optical or sensational, but be built of philosophy and empathy for our increasingly fragile and shared ecological and human condition.Meditations in Entropy is the first-ever comprehensive monograph on the work of Kashef Chowdhury / URBANA. It features 16 of the firm's designs in detail through photographs by acclaimed architectural photographer Hélène Binet and numerous plans, drawings, sketches, and further images. Perceptive essays are contributed by eminent critics and historians Kenneth Frampton, Robert McCarter, and William J R Curtis. The book is rounded-off with conversations between Chowdhury, Swiss architect Niklaus Graber, and the distinguished architectural historian Philip Ursprung that further explicate URBANA's unique approach.

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Book SynopsisThe term performance, as used in 1955 by the British philosopher of language John L. Austin, refers to processual, performative aspects that take centre-stage instead of rigid states and fixed norms. It has found its way into the most diverse areas of science and technology and has recently also appeared in the architectural context. Performance has long been a recurring topic also in the design and research work of Zurich-based architecture firm Edelaar Mosayebi Inderbitzin (EMI). This is particularly visible in the award-winning design for a tourist infrastructure on the eastern ridge of the Jungfrau in the Swiss Alps (2012), in the temporary installation Amorphous Form for the Swiss Art Awards (2019), and in the residential building on Stampfenbachstrasse in Zurich (2022).Their own work is a catalyst for EMI's deeper engagement with performance, now set forth in this book. Texts by the firm's founding partner Elli Mosayebi and by Joseph Schwartz, Laurent Stalder, and Nina Zschocke, all of whom also teach at ETH Zürich's Department of Architecture, as well as artistic and documentary photographs, plans, and drawings, illuminate the phenomenon from the different perspectives of architectural practice, theory of architecture, and structural engineering.

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Book SynopsisHardly any other epoch in art history has been marked by as many profound changes as the Late Gothic was in the fifteenth century. Inspired by Netherlandish role models, depictions of light and shadow, body and space, became increasingly more realistic. Everyday life found entry into the arts. With the invention of printing, images and texts were distributed to an extent previously unheard of. Artists such as Nicolaus Gerhaert and Martin Schongauer became widely known and influenced the development of the visual arts throughout Europe and across all genres. Featuring a wide selection of works, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin present the first extensive exhibition of Late Gothic art in the German-speaking regions. Its comparison and contrast of the various genres turns the catalogue into a handbook for the arts at the threshold of the modern era.

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Book SynopsisFollowing key terms from AZ, these books illuminate little-known aspects and shed new light on familiar motifs and themes. This time about the artist Edvard MunchEdvard Munch is one of the most famous painters of the early 20th century and a role model for many artists to this day. His legendary painting Scream even inspired a popular emoji, something that no other artist has ever achieved. Munch had a unique way of placing himself as an individual in the foreground of his art, making his psychological state the subject of his work. In doing so, he created a personal and at the same time universal diary of the soul that still captivates us today, as international exhibitions of the Norwegian artist show. In twenty-six short chapters, from A for anxiety to G for ghosts, R for revolvers and Z for zoo, familiar but also surprising aspects of his art and life are presented in a compelling way.

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Book SynopsisRaoul Hausmann (18861971) was an exceptionally innovative avant-garde artist. He co-invented collage, explored body, words, and space in early happenings, merged the visual with the haptic, and translated sound into images. In and beyond art, the provocative Dadasoph called out the establishment. Includes texts by Hanne Bergius, Peter Bexte, Ralf Burmeister, Amélie Castellanet, Annina Guntli, Nadine Hartmann, Karoline Hille, Thomas Köhler, Annelie Lütgens, Agatha Mareuge, Nils Philipages, Bernd Stiegler, Adrian Sudhalter, Hélène Thiérard, Timm Ulrichs, Michael White.

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Book SynopsisIn the midst of the realist-leaning artistic climate of the Late Gothic and Early Renaissance, Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516) was more than an anomaly. Bosch’s paintings are populated with grotesque scenes of fantastical creatures succumbing to all manner of human desire, fantasy, and angst. One of his greatest inventions was to take the figural and scenic representations known as drolleries, which use the monstrous and the grotesque to illustrate sin and evil, and to transfer them from the marginalia of illuminated manuscripts into large-format panel paintings. Alongside traditional hybrids of man and beast, such as centaurs, and mythological creatures such as unicorns, devils, dragons, and griffins, we also encounter countless mixed creatures freely invented by the artist. Many subsidiary scenes illustrate proverbs and figures of speech in common use in Bosch’s day. In his Temptation of St Anthony triptych, for example, the artist shows a messenger devil wearing ice skates, evoking the popular expression that the world was “skating on ice”—meaning it had gone astray. In his pictorial translation of proverbs, in particular, Bosch was very much an innovator. Bosch—whose real name was Jheronimus van Aken—was widely copied and imitated: the number of surviving works by Bosch’s followers exceeds the master’s own production by more than tenfold. Today only 20 paintings and eight drawings are confidently assigned to Bosch’s oeuvre. He continues to be seen as a visionary, a portrayer of dreams and nightmares, and the painter par excellence of hell and its demons.Featuring brand new photography of recently restored paintings, this exhaustive book, published in view of the upcoming 500th anniversary of Bosch’s death, covers the artist’s complete works. Discover Bosch’s pictorial inventions in splendid reproductions with copious details and a huge fold-out spread, over 110 cm (43 in.) long, of The Garden of Earthly Delights. Art historian and acknowledged Bosch expert Stefan Fischer examines just what it was about Bosch and his painting that proved so immensely influential.Trade Review“Superb color reproductions and numerous details allow us to examine Bosch’s fantastic imagery with a clarity seldom possible, even in a museum gallery.” * The Burlington Magazine *“…a magnificently illustrated monograph. Instead of pushing to the front of a close-packed crowd and briefly peering, you can study the mind-bending visions of this medieval master at your leisure.” * The Times *“...surely the most lavishly produced monograph ever published on the artist.” * The Burlington Magazine *“This may be the first time for many of us to actually see Bosch… Bosch’s paintings require close-up textual study. With these pages, there’s no guard to shoo you back or announce closing time.” * Bookforum *“This big impressive book showcases in vivid colors the drolleries he devised, which were traditionally shown only at the margins of the medieval manuscripts.” * WWD *“TASCHEN have produced an epic volume that exhaustively details Bosch’s surviving works.” * It’s Nice That *“Bosch in breathtakingly unearthly depth of field.” * Die Welt *“An earthly delight not to be missed.” * fastcompany.com *

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Book SynopsisFor seven years, photographer and artist Lena Herzog followed the evolution of a new kinetic species. Intricate as insects but with bursts of equine energy, the “Strandbeests,” or “beach creatures,” are the creation of Dutch artist Theo Jansen, who has been working for nearly two decades to generate these new life-forms that move, and even survive, on their own. Set to roam the beaches of Holland, the Strandbeests pick up the wind in their gossamer wings and spring, as if by metamorphosis, into action. As if it were blood, not the breeze, running through their delicate forms, they quiver, cavort, and trot against the sun and sea, pausing to change direction if they sense loose sand or water that might destabilize their movement. Coinciding with a traveling exhibition, Herzog’s photographic tribute captures Jansen’s menagerie in a meditative black and white, showcasing Jansen’s imaginative vision, as well as the compelling intersection of animate and inanimate in his creatures. The result is a work of art in its own right and a mesmerizing encounter not only with a very surrealist brand of marvelous, but also with whole new ideas of existence.Trade Review“They really do appear to be alive. Purposeful, resolute. They don’t fall into the uncanny valley that afflicts so many other robotic assaults on the absolutely lifelike… they almost seem to evince a soul.” * The New York Times Magazine *“Spectacular, mechanical, philosophical beauty all rolled up in the talents of a man who is both artist and artisan in the broader sense of both words.” * Forbes *

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Book SynopsisVienna combines drama and elegance like no other. For centuries the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the stately city on the Danube, has been defined by vast palaces and imperial grandeur—but behind the Baroque opulence, Vienna is also a place of genteel coffee house culture, epicurean tradition, and a heritage of both delicate and daring music, art, and design, from Johann Strauss to Egon Schiele, from Gustav Mahler to Josef Hoffmann. This volume is a treasure trove of photography from the last 175 years, following the evolution of Vienna from imperial capital to modern metropolis. Like a visual walk through time and cityscape, hundreds of carefully curated pictures trace the developments in Vienna’s built environment and the cultural and historical trends they reflect, whether the urban Gesamtkunstwerk of the 19th-century Ringstrasse or the experiments of “Red Vienna” in the 1920s, when the city had a social democrat government for the first time. Through these remarkable photographs, we discover not only the great landmarks and lesser-known corners of Vienna, but also the ubiquity and the tumult of its history. We see the cultural blossoming of the fin de siècle, when radical innovators such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Adolf Loos, and Sigmund Freud turned Vienna into a “laboratory of modernity”; the clashes of 1934; the ascent of Nazi dictatorship; and the horrors writ by the Holocaust in what was once one of the most populous and multi-ethnic cities on earth. More recently, fascinating postwar photographs explore the Vienna of the Third Man, at once a city in ruins and a hub for spies. The book closes with the most recent pictures, celebrating the emergence of today’s Vienna—one of the most attractive cities in Europe, in which rich history once again coexists with international flair and vibrant contemporary culture.Trade Review“This colourful book celebrates the emergence of today’s metropolis – one of the most attractive cities in Europe, in which rich history once again coexists with international flair and vibrant contemporary culture.” * independent.co.uk *

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Book SynopsisAfter Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, and Fumihiko Maki, Kengo Kuma has breathed renewed vigor and lightness into Japanese architecture. Departing from the modernist skyscraper of the 20th century, Kuma traveled through his native Japan to develop a truly sustainable approach, translating local craftsmanship and resources into site-specific, timely buildings. Informed by tradition, and with both feet firmly planted in the present, this “materialist” heralds a new tactile architecture marked by its engaging surfaces, innovative structures, and fluid forms, reconnecting people with the physicality of a house. Kuma’s objective, above all else, is “just to respect the culture and environment of the place where I am working.” To this end, Kuma shaped the China Academy of Art’s Folk Art Museum partially from discarded roof tiles; created a Chapel out of birch and moss in Nagano; and worked with local craftsmen to sculpt the V&A Dundee into a twisted, layered reflection of the Scottish coastal cliffs. With an extraordinary sensitivity for space, light, and texture, Kuma reveals unexpected qualities in materials, finding the weightlessness of stone in Chokkura Plaza and the softness of aluminum in the thatched roof of the Yangcheng Lake Tourist Transportation Center. More recently, the architect brought his philosophy to the Japan National Stadium built for the Olympic Games, originally planned for 2020. Kuma has said the stadium could be “the catalyst that will transform Tokyo back from a concrete city. I want it to set an example that will help alter the direction of Japanese architectural design.” In this XXL-sized monograph with some 500 illustrations spanning photographs, sketches, and plans, Kuma guides us through his entire career to date, detailing milestone projects as well as ongoing works. Also available as an Art Edition with a custom-built wooden slipcase and accompanied by a photogravure of a sketch by Kengo Kuma, signed by the artist and limited to 200 copies.Trade Review“This tome establishes once and for all that sustainability and style need not be set at odds.” * The New York Times *“… a celebration of Kuma’s approach to sustainable architecture.” * fastcompany.com *“Through descriptions, elevation drawings, sketches, and photographs, the architect’s signature texture seems to jump off the page.” * architecturaldigest.com *“For the past 30 years, I have been driven to create architecture by the desire to recover materials, and to reconnect people and physical things. It turned out to be the most enjoyable experience imaginable. This is because the world itself is material.” * Kengo Kuma *“Explores all aspects of Kuma’s career – from 1988 all the way until today.” * designweek.co.uk *“Details the architect’s humanistic approach to architecture.” * fastcompany.com *“A richly illustrated overview of Kuma’s oeuvre that delves into his complete archive of built landmarks across the globe.” * thespaces.com *“…unfolds the mastery of Kengo Kuma’s architecture in its full glory.” * wallpaper.com *“Kuma’s unique and sustainable approach to contemporary architecture is celebrated.” * hypebeast.com *

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Book SynopsisThe task of designing a large aquarium pre­­sents architects with a multiplicity of challenges: the fundamental elements of interior design – light, colour, and surfaces – must be meshed with special requirements concerning building technology. This book takes a comprehensive look at the development of architecture and display methods for artificial underwater worlds. Based on analysis of more than 50 historical and contemporary buildings, the editors formulate ten parameters to serve as guidelines in the design of future buildings. The aim of this publication is to provide architects and their clients, zoologists and operators of large aquariums, with planning parameters and quality criteria to help them in designing a sustainable aquarium. This book is the sixth volume in a series of publications by the Institute for Zoo Architecture at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Dessau.

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Book SynopsisTibetan Buddhist art is not only rich in figural icons but also extremely diverse in its symbols and ritual objects. This first systematic review is an abundantly illustrated reference book on Tibetan ritual art that aids our understanding of its different types and forms, its sacred meanings and ceremonial functions. Eighteen chapters, several hundred different implements are documented in detail, in many cases for the first time and often in their various styles and iconographic forms: altar utensils and amulets, masks and mirrors, magic daggers and mandalas, torma sculptures and prayer objects, vajras and votive tablets, sacrificial vessels and oracle crowns, stupas and spirit traps, ritual vases, textiles, furniture, and symbolic emblems. These are accompanied by many historical and modern text sources, as well as rare recorded oral material from high-ranking Tibetan masters. This long-awaited handbook is a must-have for all those with an interest in Buddhist art and religion.

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Book SynopsisThe publication Feast: Contemporary Jewelry from the Susan Beech Collection showcases her extensive jewellery collection, highlighting its interplay with craft and fine art in her Tiburon home.

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Book SynopsisWilliam Kentridge reimagines his film series Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot through text and image in this striking artist's book. A new film series by internationally acclaimed South-African artist William Kentridge, Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot premiered at the Arsenale Insitute for Politics of Representation during the 2024 Venice Biennale. An experiment in embodiment and phenomenological experience in the digital age that was initially created for online viewing, Kentridge has now reimagined the series as a publication. He reworks its nine episodes through a selection of film stills and script extracts, this new form reinvigorating the series' investigations into the relationship between mark-making and self-fashioning, painting and musical scores, dance and drawing, and its reflection on what might happen in the brain and in the studio of an artist today.

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Book SynopsisText in English, French & German. Fountains of fun! Whether in the bathroom, in the wild or on the street, whether naked or half naked: Denman''s courageous models unashamedly relieve themselves in high arcs or well-aimed streams. In the end, all that remains is a moist spot as the silent witness of indescribable lust under the golden shower.

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Book SynopsisText in English, French & German. It is no surprise to see what you call princesses in Muratas pictures, sprawled on an old sofa or on the floor right in the middle of wilted leaves -- heiresses of age-old fairy tales. Just like abandoned princesses in the 12th century, they are waiting for the man who is to come to their rescue. While waiting, they are daydreaming, playing, and caressing themselves in the candlelight. What counts is nothing but love and sexuality, Murata tells us with his photographs. His images are impressing by their perfection of a glimpse of juvenile, fugitive beauty.

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