Search results for ""Author Thames"

This delighful children’s book is a wonderful introduction to Picasso. It tells the true story of Antony Penrose – son of the photographer Lee Miller and the painter and writer Roland Penrose – and his childhood friendship with the great artist. Some sixty-five enchanting illustrations accompany the text, including Picasso’s most appealing artworks, plus evocative archive photography by Lee Miller. An inspiring look at the creative practices of an artist, this is an illustrated book to enthral and inspire young art fans of four and over.

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Hogarth was one of the great 18th-century painters, a marvellous colourist and innovator at all levels of artistic expression. Art historian David Bindman surveys the works of this artist whose wry humour and sharp wit were reflected in his prolific paintings and prints including The Rake’s Progress and Marriage-A-la-Mode. Hogarth was also a master of pictorial satire, highlighting the moral and political hypocrisies of the day with delightful detail and comedy – themes that resonate deeply with our times. The artist was a keen observer of class and society; this new edition has been specially updated to include a discussion of Hogarth’s many representations of Black people in 18th-century Britain, a subject that has long been overlooked. Now revised with additional material and illustrated in colour throughout, this is a vivid and incisive study of the man and his art. With 172 illustrations in colour

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Acting, direction, stagecraft, theatre architecture and design, the extraordinary evolution of dramatic literature – here is an all-embracing and richly illustrated history, global in scope and ranging from the ancient origins of the theatre in the choral hymns sung around the altar of Dionysus to the fascinating variety of forms that it has taken in our own age. For this fourth edition, Enoch Brater, Kenneth T. Rowe Professor of Dramatic Literature at the University of Michigan and a specialist on modern and contemporary drama, has revised and extended his final chapter to update the discussion. He surveys performance art, political theatre, new genres, live broadcasts and extravagant spectacles, showcasing the constant and dynamic evolution of stage performance, from classics reinvented to groundbreaking new work.

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The bold, distinctive style of Paula Rego’s paintings has acquired for her not only an ever-increasing critical reputation but also an unusually large and enthusiastic following. Her be-ribboned little-girl heroines and fairy-tale characters seem firmly rooted in childhood, yet the innocence of this art is darkened by the underlying themes of power, domination and rebellion, sexuality and gender, that run through her work. Here Rego has turned to the nursery rhyme as a source for her imagery. It is a genre that perfectly complements her art; full of double meanings, rhymes are written from a child’s perspective but are open to adult interpretation. Twenty-six well-known nursery rhymes are accompanied by a series of etchings which she has executed spontaneously as a child might, drawing directly on the plate without preparatory planning. Following the traditions of earlier artists such as Beatrix Potter, she treats the fantastic realistically, dressing animals in human costume and using dream-like dislocations of scale. These are wonderfully comic and rich illustrations with a hint of the sinister, that turn classic nursery rhymes into colourful stories about folly and delusion, cruelty, convention and sex.

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Noma Bar’s innovative, playful style has made him one of the most sought-after illustrators working today, with a broad range of commissions from magazines and newspapers – including Empire, the New York Times, Wired, the Guardian and Time Out – and numerous private and advertising clients. His use of negative space and minimalist forms creates images with multiple readings that can delight and shock in equal measure. Each of Bar’s illustrations tells a story that is hidden in the details, with the message revealing itself as you look more closely. Noma Bar has handpicked his most iconic illustrations and favourite works, each one displaying the distinctive style that has established his reputation. The works are organized into thematic chapters such as ‘Pretty Ugly’ (portraits), ‘In Out’ (sex), ‘Life Death’ (conflict), and ‘Less More’ (daily life). Alongside the images, Bar reveals his working methods and the stories behind his often idiosyncratic inspiration for different illustrations, and reflects on how his life experiences have shaped him as an artist. As a collection, the whole is much greater than the sum of these many, many-layered parts. It is destined to become a must-have reference source for all professionals in the worlds of graphic design and illustration, while also being an enthralling treasury for any follower of visual and popular culture. This limited, slipcased edition includes an exclusive screen print. One copy in this release of 1000 copies contains a one-of-a-kind gold-leaf print.

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Francis Bacon (1909–1992) was renowned for his dramatic depictions of the human form; he portrayed the ordeal of the vulnerable, defencelessly exposed body like no other artist of his generation. At the centre of this volume are about sixty of Bacon’s disturbing yet captivating studies of the human figure, encompassing works from the late 1940s until his death. Texts by a range of experts on the artist offer new insights into these radical and often discomfiting images, so brilliantly reproduced on the pages of this book.

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This authoritative, highly readable textbook offers a complete survey of the history of Rome from its origins, through the Republic and Empire, to the period of its decline and fall, ending with the emergence of Mohammed in the 6th century. Written by a historian with an international reputation, the book incorporates the most recent scholarship and archaeological evidence. It describes the key events in Roman history, and offers fascinating insights into Roman life and culture as they changed and developed over the centuries.

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The award-winning Magnum photographer turns his lens on his homeland, Belgium. Born in Belgium in 1941, Harry Gruyaert was one of the first European photographers to take advantage of colour, following in the footsteps of US pioneers like William Eggleston and Stephen Shore. Heavily influenced by Pop Art, his dense compositions are known for weaving together texture, light, colour and architecture to create filmic, jewel-hued tableaux. As a result, they often seem closer to painting than to photography. Although his wanderlust has taken him to many exotic locations, Gruyaert has frequently returned to his country of birth. Here, in the homeland that he had considered so desolate in his younger years, he found an unexpected beauty. Urban lighting, neon storefronts, glimpses behind suburban dwellings, passers-by wandering drunkenly home, ports that never sleep, countryside with seemingly infinite horizons: his lens captures the singularity of his nation, portraying everyday life

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Available again, a major monograph on the legendary US typographer and graphic designer Herb Lubalin. One of the original Mad Men, Herb Lubalin (19181981) was a giant of American design and typography whose passion for rebellion and innovation made him one of the most successful art directors of the 20th century and beyond. He is perhaps most recognized for his typeface Avant Garde, but his reach extended far and wide. A constant boundary breaker on both a visual and social level, he was a co-creator of the culture-shocking magazines Avant-Garde, Eros and Fact, and founder of the equally influential U&lc. Herb Lubalin: American Graphic Designer features hundreds of examples of Lubalin's work and previously unseen photographs of him at work and play. Divided into sections on his work in advertising, typography and editorial, it also features an extensive biographical text by Adrian Shaughnessy that includes interviews with George Lois, Seymour Chwast, Alan Peckolick, Carl Fische

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A new selection from Philip Hughes' unpublished notebooks going back over twenty-five years. In an astonishing collection of twenty-seven notebooks created over a quarter of a century, Philip Hughes has sought to capture the spirit of a place: its geological structure, its relationship with the surrounding landscape, and its occasional signs of human intervention. These painterly but topographically precise notebooks record moments when the artist has been moved to draw what he can see, whether from the shelter of a standing stone in Orkney, Scotland, from the air over the Simpson desert in Australia, or from a postal boat sailing through the Norwegian fjords. Pieced together by Hughes himself from over a thousand drawings, this is a logbook of momentary observations. Some are swift sketches of fields or horizons, others are slower studies of lichen and flowers in Antarctica, or lines of quartz in granite in Cornwall. The depth of feeling and knowledge Hughes has for differ

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A stylish and beautifully crafted celebration of LV’s Tambour watch, a masterpiece of modern design and technical innovation. Published to mark the twentieth anniversary of Louis Vuitton’s entrance into the field of luxury watchmaking, this landmark volume tells the audacious tale of the Maison’s renowned Tambour watches. With the goal of creating uniquely stylish timepieces, yet not succumbing to ephemeral fashion, the Maison brought together the most skilled craftspeople in the Swiss tradition of fine watchmaking to work at La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, the Geneva watchmakers behind the brand’s reputation for excellence. In a display of creative freedom matched only by the Maison’s own glamour and dynamic drive, Louis Vuitton launched the Tambour watch in 2002, which became the triumphant result of this distinctive approach. Essays by journalist and luxury watch expert Fabienne Reybaud explore the creative origins of the Tambour design and the history of Louis Vuitton watches, along with the precision work of La Fabrique du Temps. A catalogue of major models and exclusive insights from watch specialists make this a useful resource for collectors and connoisseurs. With more than 350 illustrations and a lavish design, this book is a beautiful object in its own right, for all lovers of luxury accessories and the Louis Vuitton lifestyle.

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The essential guide to the world of Aztec mythology, based on Nahuatl-language sources that challenge the colonial history passed down to us by the Spanish. How did the jaguar get his spots? What happened to the four suns that came before our own? Where was Aztlan, mythical homeland of the Aztecs? For decades, the popular image of the Mexica people better known today as the Aztecs has been defined by the Spaniards who conquered them. Their salacious stories of pet snakes, human sacrifice and towering skull racks have masked a complex world of religious belief. To reveal the rich mythic tapestry of the Aztecs, Camilla Townsend returns to the original tales, told at the fireside by generations of Indigenous Nahuatl-speakers. Through their voices we learn the contested histories of the Mexica and their neighbours in the Valley of Mexico the foundations of great cities, the making and breaking of political alliances, the meddling of sometimes bloodthirsty gods and understand mo

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The first major publication on the life and work of America’s celebrated mid-century modern graphic designer. Rudolph de Harak (1924–2002) is one of the most influential modern graphic designers of the mid-20th century. This beautifully produced, comprehensive monograph is the first and only major publication devoted to this fascinating and significant figure and provides an in-depth account of de Harak’s life and work. From his early years in Los Angeles to his success as a design consultant and educator in New York City, de Harak brought huge inventiveness to everything he designed, from record covers to book jackets, from furniture to exhibitions. De Harak’s work was influenced by early modernist masters, such as Will Burtin, György Kepes, Alvin Lustig, and Max Bill, as well as by the rigour, simplicity and rationalism of the International Style, Abstract Expressionism, Op Art and Pop Art. Graphic design guru Steven Heller says, ‘Rudy de Harak is a solid link between American and Swiss modernism. He was an exemplar of minimalist form with a conceptual content. A book on his life and work is sorely needed and long overdue.’ Organized chronologically into six chapters that cover de Harak’s life and career from 1924 through to 2002, each supported by sidebars on the designers, architects and art movements that have influenced his work, Rudolph de Harak Graphic Designer: Rational Simplicity documents de Harak’s pioneering and prolific fifty-year career in graphic design, environment and experiential design, industrial design, furniture design, posters, books and magazines for a wide range of clients, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cummins Engine Company, McGraw-Hill Publishers, and many others.

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A kaleidoscopic journey tracing the methods and means of visual communication from the cave paintings of the earliest humans to the ‘photograph’ of a black hole in deep space. Since the beginning of our time as humans, we have never stopped making images and inventing channels for visual communication. From the cave dweller creating paintings on a wall at the dawn of civilized time to Instagram influencers today, technology may keep changing, but our need to reach one another, to move one another, to persuade, inform and entertain, has never been so vital. Hello Human traverses the entire landscape of our diverse, expansive and yet familiar means of visual communication. From the use of the human hand as a symbol, the power and use of gestures and the genesis of the printed book, to the movement between dimensions of reality and the digital realm, pixilation, optics and the understanding of light, Horsham takes his readers on a journey full of unexpected twists and turns, laying out a temporal narrative in the form of an intricate map of objects, events and people tied together by a common purpose – to communicate.

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A wave of protest is in the air and on the walls! A new generation of politicized artists, designers and communicators the world over are using stencil art as an accessible yet powerful means of giving voice to their ideas. The Stencil Graffiti Handbook sees Tristan Manco back on the streets. Through an incomparable network of street-art contacts, gained through over two decades of immersion in the scene, Manco has scoured the globe to find the most interesting street artists working today – those operating outside of the mainstream market of ‘Urban Art’ and beneath the radar of everyone but the true cognoscenti. Exploring the medium’s applications within grassroots activism as well as the contemporary craft scene, Manco brings this thriving artform to light. Showing both process and results, The Stencil Graffiti Handbook dives into street art’s essential elements – place, space, technique and subject – before taking to the streets to see how, where and why stencil graffiti is king. Also featuring studio visits with artists and practical, step-by-step guidance via artist-led projects, with specially commissioned instructional illustrations by the renowned Colombian collective Instituto Bogotano de Corte, The Stencil Graffiti Handbook is an unmissable education and inspiration for anyone with an open mind and a rebellious spirit.

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This volume, the second catalogue of the Wyvern Collection, celebrates an outstanding group of medieval ivory carvings and small sculpture, the finest assemblage of its kind in private hands. The book has pieces from every period of the Middle Ages, including rare examples from the Early Christian era; spectacular panels from the workshops of tenth-century Constantinople; objects produced by the celebrated carvers active in south Italy in the eleventh and twelfth centuries; and several important pieces from the Romanesque period. At the heart of the collection is an outstanding group of Gothic ivories whose highlights include one of the most important secular medieval ivories discovered in recent years. The collection also features a number of small amber, hardstone, jet, wood and mother-of-pearl carvings. In addition to their virtuoso craftsmanship, many of these objects have illustrious histories as part of famous aristocratic or ecclesiastical collections. This is a precious opportunity to study these miniature masterpieces.

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Houses – not skyscrapers, museums or schools – remained Frank Lloyd Wright’s favourite building type from the beginning to the end of his seventy-year career as an architect.When he started his practice near the close of the 19th century, he saw a house as the embodiment of democracy and individual freedom.Your home had more capacity to spread well-being, he said, than any cathedral or palace.To him it was the centre of all family life. As 50 Favourite Houses by Frank Lloyd Wright shows, his ideal home took on an amazing variety of forms. From Wright’s 300 house designs that were eventually built, this book visits fifty that have become world-wide favourites. Here, from the young architect’s first period, is his own home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois, an architectural laboratory for him over two decades.Wright next ushered in the 20th century with his Prairie House, whose sheltering roofs and horizontal lines linked them to the earth; classics such as the Willits, Dana Thomas and Robie Houses. In the 1920s came revolutionary design in California built of textured concrete, followed in the 1930s by the internationally renowned Fallingwater and Taliesin West. Each of the examples featured grew from Wright’s never-changing principles that a house should be built with nature, use materials and colours, be designed from within, have the consistency of a finely woven fabric, achieve harmony through unity, and be a work of art – not just a house.

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An accessible introduction to a writer whose work is of timeless significance and whose unconventional life is a continuous source of fascination. In 1907, when she was twenty-five and not yet a published novelist, Virginia Stephen had everything still to prove. She felt herself to be at a crossroads: ‘I shall be miserable, or happy; a wordy sentimental creature, or a writer of such English as shall one day burn the pages.’ Today her prose is still blazing; perhaps it burns brighter than ever. This is the story of how a determined young woman with a notebook became one of the greatest writers of all time. It is a story that sparkles with wit and friendship, language and love, wicked jokes and passionate appreciation of ordinary things. Hers was a life lived with intensity from moment to moment, courageous and defiant of convention, and shaped into the lasting patterns of art. Considering each of Woolf’s novels in context, this gripping account shows why, eighty years after her death, Virginia Woolf continues to haunt and inspire us.

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Ronnie Wood is one of the foremost rock guitarists in the world, but his artistic talents extend beyond music. Throughout his stellar musical career from The Birds to the Faces and the Rolling Stones, Ronnie has never lost his passion for painting, drawing and sculpture. Exuding the same irrepressible energy as Ronnie himself, Ronnie Wood: Artist is the first ever comprehensive collection of his paintings and other artworks, created to mark the occasion of his seventieth birthday. The bright, bold volume brings together the fruits of a lifetime in the arts, brimming with six decades of memorable and diverse work, from his art college portfolio (he studied alongside Pete Townshend) to the intimate work of his personal life today. Inside, a generous selection of his Stones work, including rare watercolours of Mick, Keith and Charlie backstage, meets acrylics of contemporaries Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck and Keith Moon. Portraits of formative jazz innovators Count Basie, Miles Davis and Billie Holiday sit alongside blues heroes Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and Big Bill Broonzy. Paintings of Hollywood’s elite – Paul Newman, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe – juxtapose real-time fashion sketches of Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell and deft pastel compositions from his residency at the Royal Ballet. The artist himself provides the captions and insights into the thought and motivation behind each piece. With an introduction by Emmanuel Guigon (director of the Museu Picasso, Barcelona, where Ronnie will be beginning a residency in 2018) and an afterword by none other than Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood: Artist exists where fine art and rock ’n’ roll collide. This extensive and eclectic collection offers unique insights into the entire world of Ronnie Wood, and, with close to 400 works, is a fitting testament to the artistic range and ambition of rock ’n’ roll’s most successful artist

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Handkerchief, pochette, fazelleto, pañuelo, mouchoir de poche, tenugui, hankachi or hank. They all mean one thing. A small innocent square of fabric. Place one in a jacket pocket however, and it transforms into a pocket square. A gentleman’s boldest accessory, it adds the final flourish and character to any wardrobe and is a stylish alternative to the tie when a gentleman needs to look sharp. When, where and how should a gentleman wear the perfect pocket square? The guide features 22 pocket square folds, for linen, cotton and silk, from the simple and elegant ‘Presidential’ to the complex and flamboyant ‘Bouquet’ fold. As well as brief written descriptions and advice on when to wear each style, each fold is also accompanied by easy-to-follow diagrams and bold colour illustrations of how to wear one’s pocket square with style. Names synonymous with elegant and distinctive style from every decade – Cary Grant, Oscar Wilde, the Duke of Windsor, Fred Astaire, JFK and Yves Saint Laurent – provide style inspiration. The Pocket Square is the essential gift for the fashion-conscious gentleman wishing to experiment with the endless possibilties of this precious piece of fabric and turn it into the ultimate signature of their style.

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A new edition of this classic survey on the life and work of Spanish surrealist, Joan Miró, by his close friend, historian and fellow artist Roland Penrose. Among the great 20th-century masters, the surrealist painter Joan Miró stands out for the atmosphere of wit and spontaneity that pervades his work. Miró’s art went through many phases, and its major features – his signs and symbols, his series of anguished peintures sauvages in the 1930s, his lyrical, poetic gouaches, his monumental sculptures and ceramics, his unprecedented use of poetic titles, and his attachment to nature and to the night – are discussed here by Roland Penrose, a friend of the artist for almost five decades. A brief epilogue by Eduardo de Benito, London correspondent of the Spanish art periodical Lápiz, illustrates the developments of Miró’s last years. This new revised edition, now illustrated in colour throughout, includes a foreword by Antony Penrose, outlining the relationship between his father and the artist, as well as updates to the Bibliography.

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A striking and thought-provoking collaboration between IDLES frontman Joe Talbot and artist Magda Archer, containing all the lyrics from IDLES' first album Brutalism alongside provocative artwork by Archer. Toxic masculinity. Class divisions. Mental health. Bristol-formed band IDLES started recording their first album, Brutalism, in 2015. In the two years that followed, frontman Joe Talbot's mother passed away, resulting in a turbulent state of grief that would come to shape the verbally blazon and emotionally raw album that then appeared in 2017. In the seven years since the release of Brutalism, Talbot's words, in the context of the band's music, have grown to represent a liberated show of vulnerability and an aggressive response to the societal masculine' ideal of silencing and withholding emotion. IDLES' first ever book marks a new and exciting form of creative collaboration for the band. Breathing a different kind of life into Talbot's fiery lyricism with expressive typog

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'When times are hard, fantasy and escapism are crucial' Alexander McQueen Having grown up in London’s East End, Alexander McQueen left school at 15 to become a tailor’s apprentice on Mayfair’s Savile Row. At 22, he joined the prestigious MA course at Central Saint Martins and, after presenting his 1992 graduate collection (bought on the spot by influential fashion stylist Isabella Blow), went on to change the course of fashion. McQueen was defiant in his opinions on creativity (‘Give me time and I’ll give you a revolution’), women (‘I design clothes because I don’t want women to look all innocent and naïve … I want people to be afraid of the women I dress’) and craft (‘You’ve got to know the rules to break them. That’s what I’m here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition’). He drew much of his inspiration from the natural world (‘I have always loved the mechanics of nature and to a greater or lesser extent my work is always informed by that’) and consistently challenged perceptions of beauty (‘People find my things sometimes aggressive. But I don’t see it as aggressive. I see it as romantic, dealing with a dark side of personality’). This attractive book in an accessible format is the perfect gift for fans of fashion and Alexander McQueen, capturing the wit and spirit of a true visionary.

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A charming and imaginative story in the bestselling 'If I had a...' series, which imagines life with a crocodile as a pet. There's more to a crocodile than its scaly skin and scary teeth they stay cool under pressure (in part because they can't sweat) and on a rainy day, they love nothing more than a fast game of Snap! This latest addition to the 'If I Had a...' series is packed with humour and rollicking rhymes that young children readily catch on to. Its bold, graphic illustrations are stylish and packed with quirky details for children to spot. The book winds down to a satisfying end where the little girl drifts off to sleep, making it perfect for bedtime routines.

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LA NY is a dazzling visual tale of two cities, Los Angeles and New York, photographed from the air, shooting straight down at a 90 degree angle to emphasize the particular patterns of place and how the urban grid adapts to local topography – and, indeed, how the topography is itself adapted to human purposes. These two most distinct and distinguished cities are revealed in astonishing detail, as Milstein explores residential and commercial neighbourhoods, parks and recreation spots, as well as industrial districts and the infrastructure of transportation. Iconic buildings and landmarks appear, but also the compelling geometries of suburban housing developments, apartment complexes, commercial hubs, entertainment and financial centres, as well as airports and shipping terminals. His work combines architecture, science and art. Using high resolution cameras mounted to a stabilizing gyro, Milstein leans out of helicopters over Los Angeles where he grew up and over New York where he now lives, looking for shapes and patterns of culture from above, continually awed by the difference between the aerial view and the view on the ground. His topologist’s interest emphasizes the abstraction of pattern and reveals aspects of urban design and planning of both cities. In addition to the urban topography, certain events and activities have also been captured, such as the Macy’s Day Parade and outings at the beach.

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A surreal story by Estonia's leading children's book creator about the importance of bedtime stories.

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Since the sensuous Modernism pioneered by Oscar Niemeyer in Brazil, Latin America has become one of the most exciting locations for contemporary architecture in the world. Alejandro Aravena and Paulo Mendes da Rocha, both recent Pritzker Prize winners, are just two very different examples of the wide architectural range, set amid varied climates, social conditions and environments, that has brought international attention to a continent making a name for itself as a centre for innovation and experimentation. From the dramatic plateaux of the Andes to the lush tropics of the Amazon to the world’s driest desert, the Atacama, the rich range of climates, terrains and cultural influences across Latin America offers significant opportunities to create new residential architecture. This overview showcases the most accomplished and rarely seen contemporary houses, by established names – Isay Weinfeld, Mathias Klotz and Marcio Kogan – as well as the rising talents now receiving recognition on the world stage, including Pezo von Ellrichshausen and Giancarlo Mazzanti. Following an introduction that sets out the development of Latin American architecture since Niemeyer, the book reveals how each house has gone beyond its brief in stunning and unexpected ways, resulting in buildings that transcend their time and place.

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The magnificent wonders of China, ancient and modern, revealed by an international team of leading scholars from Asia and the West. China is the oldest continuous civilization on earth and holds a unique global place in the 21st century, this book's uniquely wide focus shows what makes it such a special country, with topics stretching from the natural wonders including mountains and rivers to the Silk Road, the technological innovations of printing and the compass and the modern vibrant cities of today as well as famous monuments such as the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Great Wall. In this new and updated edition, a team of leading scholars from Asia and the West provide an unmatched account of this vast country. Beyond the quality of the individual entries, The Seventy Wonders of China provides an unmatched account of Chinese history and culture as well as an essential contribution to understanding and appreciating this vast country.

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A mesmerizing, continent-spanning survey of the most dynamic scenes in contemporary African photography, and an introduction to the creative figures who are making it happen. Africa State of Mind gathers together the work of an emergent generation of photographers from across Africa, including both the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa. It is both a summation of new photographic practice from the last decade and an exploration of how contemporary photographers from the continent are exploring ideas of ‘Africanness’ to reveal Africa to be a psychological space as much as a physical territory – a state of mind as much as a geographical place. Dispensing with the western colonial view of Africa in purely geographic or topographic terms, Ekow Eshun presents Africa State of Mind in four thematic parts: Hybrid Cities; Inner Landscapes; Zones of Freedom; and Myth and Memory. Each theme, introduced by a text by Eshun, presents selections of work by a new wave of African photographers who are looking both outward and inward: capturing life among the sprawling cities and multitudinous conurbations of the continent, turning the legacy of the continent’s history into the source of resonant new myths and dreamscapes and exploring questions of gender, sexuality and identity. Each of the photographers seeks to capture the experience of what it means, and how it feels, to live in Africa today.

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Why did the Romans never try to conquer Ireland? Why did the King of Spain give his name to an Irish county? And how did brandy change the course of Irish history? Turtle Bunbury explores unexpected corners of the past to offer an informative and entertaining glimpse into 36 lesser-known tales from Irish history, from the eruption of a massive volcano in County Armagh sixty million years ago to more recent events that have made Ireland the vibrant place it is today. In his inimitable sparkly style, Bunbury explores the people and events from high to low that played major roles in Ireland’s fascinating past but have since been overlooked. These alternative annals include tales of spymasters and scientists, battlefields and brothels, tailors and traitors. Ireland’s Forgotten Past paints a surprising, witty and engaging new portrait of an Ireland you thought you knew.With 37 illustrations

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The music of ‘Motown’ needs no introduction. Berry Gordy’s record label became a style unto itself, producing hit after suave, sassy and sophisticated hit, and shaped the careers of so many of the greatest musicians of all time. The label produced more US number-one hits than the Beatles, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys combined. Now, and with fresh new insights and an incredible visual narrative, the official, visual history of this momentous contribution to music and American culture is told in full. This book delves deep into the success stories of Motown’s powerhouse creative team, including the Holland-Dozier-Holland triumvirate, and unpicks backstories of the Motown musicians envied by many, and covered by the rest. The roster includes Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, the Jackson 5, The Temptations and Martha Reeves & The Vandellas. Motown: The Sound of Young America is dense with information and materials gathered from the personal accounts and archives of many of the key players. It is a spectacular labour of love befitting an incredible story.

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All Roads Lead to Rome, as the famous saying goes. The sites and events throughout the ancient world provided Romans with a rich tapestry to weave the stories of their past. Rome itself was a melting pot of peoples from across the Mediterranean and beyond, each bringing their myths and legends of heroes and heroines, gods and goddesses. Whether for aristocrats dressing up for banquet, or bloodthirsty audiences in the amphitheatres thrilled to watch condemned criminals forced to enact the roles of mythological creatures, Roman myths formed the backdrop to the rituals and customs of everyday life. Offering a fresh approach to Roman mythology, each site begins with a brief, evocative description of the location and landscape, followed by its associated myths and stories, as well as any rituals performed there in antiquity. Drawing on the great works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Plutarch, Ovid, Horace and Virgil, and with maps, illustrations and a gazetteer giving practical information about the sites today, this is a fresh look at a subject of great fascination.

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A thrilling deep dive into the creation of the revered PlayStation RPG. Comprising over thirty interwoven voices, this beautifully produced book offers unprecedented insight into the craft and ambition behind the revered PlayStation RPG. An extended adaptation of Matt Leone’s celebrated 27,000 word history, published online by Polygon in January 2017, this physical version has been designed by Rachel Dalton and features sixteen specially commissioned illustrations by sparrows, eight new standalone interviews, and a foreword by series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi.

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Pascaline (a bat) DOES NOT WANT to go to school. It doesn't matter who else is going! She knows exactly what she doesn't want. 'Never, Not Ever!', she shrieks loudly on the first day. So loudly, in fact, that something amazing happens - and it changes everything. Charming and laugh-out-loud funny, this irresistible first-day of school saga is sure to be a repeat read.

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Out to Sea follows the journey of a young girl named Lara who is so sad after the death of her grandmother that she is carried out to sea on a flood of her own tears. When it seems like sadness has overwhelmed her entirely, she discovers a pearl at the bottom of the ocean that triggers memories of the many happy times Lara shared with her grandmother. With the pearl safely at her side, Lara realises that she is not alone and finds the strength to pick up her oars and row herself back home. Illustrated in Helen Kellock’s inimitable style of pencil, gouache and watercolour artworks, Out to Sea expresses the experience of anxiety and grief with unprecedented sensitivity. Unlike other books for children about loss or grief that usher their readers towards a conclusion, Out to Sea shows readers how they might ride the wave of emotions without losing perspective.

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Following on from the hugely successful The Big Book of the Blue comes this nonfiction sticker activity book that brings the marine world alive in a creative way. Taking fascinating facts as its starting point, the activities in the book invite children to draw, colour and play games with all manner of ocean wildlife, inspiring children’s interest in nature as they play. Sid the Sardine accompanies readers throughout the book, explaining the 20+ activities and games as he swims along. Yuval Zommer’s rich illustrations characterize some of the quirkiest sea-creatures and make fantastic stickers for children to use in their drawings and to complete games and puzzles with.

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For more than three millennia the cultures of Mesoamerica flourished, building the first cities of the Western Hemisphere and developing writing systems that could rival those of the Eastern Hemisphere in their creativity and efficiency. The Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs reigned over one of the greatest imperial civilizations the Americas had ever seen, and up until now their intricate and visually stunning hieroglyphs have been overlooked in the story of writing. In this innovative volume Gordon Whittaker provides the reader with everything they need to know to appreciate and understand Aztec hieroglyphs: a step-by-step, illustrated guide of how to read Aztec glyphs; an explanation of the special features of this writing system in comparison to others from around the globe; the story of how this enigmatic language has been deciphered; a tour through Aztec history as recorded in hieroglyphic codices; and demonstrations of how the writing system was adapted to transliterate Spanish words during the Conquest.With 300 illustrations

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This comprehensive and ambitious workshop reference book for jewelers brings together a vast range of skills, techniques and technical data in one volume, providing an essential one-stop look-it-up resource for both students and professionals. The focus is on detailed explanation – with clear step-bystep photography used extensively – which means that while this book contains the expert techniques aimed squarely at professional jewelers, it is also accessible to students of any level seeking an authoritative and comprehensive bible of their craft.

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How far can we expand the concept of ‘urban nature’? How would it make us feel? And how is it going to transform our cities – and, eventually, ourselves? Garden City captures the growing global movement among contemporary architects for biodesigning buildings less as skin and bodies – structure and façade – and more as living entities, capable of being ecologically autonomous, horticulturally productive and ultimately pleasing to our day-to-day lifestyles. It presents more than 100 (mostly completed) projects, a life-affirming range of buildings and design ideas that can be applied to new buildings and those needing rehabilitation. From office buildings that incorporate urban farms and exchange the CO2 produced by humans for food and oxygen produced by plants, to lightweight systems for growing gardens on vertical surfaces; from ‘tree houses’ the size of city blocks to civic buildings that are ‘plugged into’ existing water-management systems – there are rich and often unexpected ideas for every inquiring designer. The future of our urban architecture is biologically alert, naturally self-sustaining and alive. Garden City is this future’s first manifesto.

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We find ourselves square in the middle of one of the greatest periods in music packaging. Events such as Record Store Day have pushed collectible packaging back to the cultural forefront; millennials have started buying physical records; and hip clothing outlets devote massive amounts of space to record players and racks of LPs. The designers collected here are at the forefront of this movement. Some have been working in the music industry for decades, while others are fresh on the scene. They all share a desire to elevate the simple record cover and the wrapping that surrounds these products into something more, something special, something unique, something memorable. Lifelong music fans, they pour every ounce of creative energy into coming up with solutions worthy of the music inside. They also need to be inventive in how they accomplish this. Coming up with a great concept in a sketch during a meeting and actually seeing it to fruition and sitting on a shelf in a record store are two different things. As Paula Scher details in her interview, today’s designers are faced with a very different task than the record sleeve designers of the past. Outside of the mega stars, budgets are more or less non-existent, yet the pressure to deliver something jaw-dropping and mind-blowing remains. Packed with innovative artworks by one-of-a-kind designers, this is the definitive guide to album cover design in the 21st century.

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The definitive history of the Young British Artists movement, featuring extensive interviews with its key players.

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The political leaders, writers, artists and philosophers of ancient Greece turned a small group of city states into a pan-Mediterranean civilization, whose legacy can be found everywhere today. But who were these people, what do we know of their lives and how did they interact with one another? In this original new approach to telling the Greek story, David Stuttard weaves together the lives of fifty movers and shakers of the Greek world into a continuous, chronologically organized narrative, from the early tyrant rulers Peisistratus and Polycrates, through the stirrings of democracy under Cleisthenes to the rise of Macedon under Philip II and Alexander the Great and the eventual decline of the Greek world as Rome rose.With 29 illustrations, 25 in colour

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This entertaining and fact-packed guide provides all the information you’ll need to travel back in time to Elizabethan London – a booming city of courtiers, cutthroats, merchants, beggars, lawyers, dramatists, apprentices and adventurers. Find out the best way to the capital and where to stay. Saunter over London Bridge, with its hundreds of shops and houses. Glimpse Her Majesty at Whitehall, Europe’s largest palace. Watch the finest plays and players at the Rose Theatre, and marvel at the bustle of business in the Royal Exchange. Go down to Greenwich to stand on the deck of the Golden Hind, the ship that Sir Francis Drake sailed around the world. This intriguingly addictive guide provides all you need to know to sightsee, shop and meet the famous in the capital of a nation stirring to greatness.

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Designed to equip the cultural tourist and art student with the means to interpret each painting, building, or artifact in terms of the iconography and symbolism of Islam, this book will deepen understanding not only of Islamic art and architecture but also of Islam itself.

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Body art, practised across all world cultures and throughout history, is the most intimate art form, linking the self, the senses, and the social and political. In recent years, it has proliferated in an unprecedented way, borrowing motifs and practices from many different traditions. What is it that these new and borrowed body arts do, and what do they tell us about the global culture that we now inhabit? Nicholas Thomas explores these questions and many more in this wide- ranging survey of body arts from prehistoric origins to the present. He illuminates their role in expressing cultural identity; their associations with ritual, theatricality, criminality and beauty; and their recent resurgence via the Modern Primitive movement and in the work of contemporary artists. More than 180 illustrations chronicle the diversity of body arts, from painting and scarification to footbinding, Russian prison tattoos, Harlem drag balls and the inked designs worn by celebrities such as Tupac Shakur and David Beckham. For everyone with any interest in the subject, Body Art offers an intelligent celebration of this quintessentially human art form.

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Sir Christopher Wren overcame a complete lack of formal training and firsthand knowledge of European architecture to become a master of his art. He built nothing before he was thirty; but by the time he was seventy and still very active, his achievements rivaled those of any European architect. Wren was gifted with a fertile imagination, and his artistic gifts were complemented by his brilliant technical ingenuity. This combination is apparent in Wren's greatest work, St. Paul's Cathedral in London, which required rebuilding after the Great Fire of 1666. The famous dome of St. Paul's is a masterpiece of engineering, but it is also considered among the most beautiful in the world; it occupies a striking place in the London skyline as a legacy to England's greatest architect.

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A compelling and lively history that examines the lives of British artists from the late-19th century to today. In This is Tomorrow Michael Bird takes a fresh look at the ‘long twentieth century’, from the closing years of Queen Victoria’s reign to the turn of the millennium, through the lens of the artists who lived and worked in this ever-changing Britain. Bird examines how the rhythms of change and adaptation in art became embedded in the collective consciousness of the nation and vividly evokes the personalities who populate and drive this story, looking beyond individual careers and historical moments to weave together interconnecting currents of change that flowed through London, Glasgow, Leeds, Cornwall, the Caribbean, New York, Moscow and Berlin. From the American James McNeill Whistler’s defence of his new kind of modern art against the British art establishment in the latter half of the 19th century to the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s melting icebergs in London, he traverses the lives of the artists that have recorded, questioned and defined our times. At the heart of this original book are the successive waves of displacement caused by global wars and persecution that conversely brought fresh ideas and new points of view to the British Isles; educational reforms opened new routes for young people from working-class backgrounds; movements of social change enabled the emergence of female artists and artists of colour; and the emergence of the mass media shaped modern modes of communication and culture. These are the ebbs and flows that Michael Bird teases out in this panoramic account of Britain and its artists in across the twentieth century.

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