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HEY BIG SPENDERS!!!
(12/09/2009) from Whitney:
MELVIN
SOKOLSKY: ARCHIVE
Wow...
This is glamorous: Melvin Sokolsky's self-published
retrospective monograph of his photographs from the 1960s to the
present. We have copies of the luxurious limited edition, (700
copies signed by Sokolsky) designed by Sara Siri and
featuring complete visuals from his iconic Bubble and Fly series
with essays by Sokolsky recounting the highlights of his prolific
career.
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MELVIN SOKOLSKY: ARCHIVE
Text by James Rosenquist, Ali MacGraw and
Raphaelle Stopin.
Melvin
Sokolsky, 2009
Hardcover,
472 pages
$ 500.00
sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499
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Staff pick
(12/09/2009)
from Steve:
BERENICE ABBOTT
A
fabulous, new(ish) collection of photographs by great American
modernist and Atget-booster, Berenice Abbott. Includes NYC
in the thirties, the scientific work, and more. Beautifully
printed, these images have never looked better. - Steve
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BERENICE ABBOTT
Text by Hank O'Neal
Steidl, 2008
2 hardcover volumes, slipcased. 548 pages
$ 145.00
sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499
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Staff pick
(12/07/2009)
from Roy:
PAUL FUSCO: RFK
A
tremendously powerful portrayal of the American spirit resulting
from the loss of an American hero. - Roy
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PAUL FUSCO: RFK
Paul Fusco, Edward Kennedy, Norman Mailer, Evan Thomas Vicki
Goldberg
Aperture, 2008 (First Edition Thus)
Hardcover, 224 pages
$ 50.00 or signed by the photographer for $
75.00
sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499
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Staff pick
(12/07/2009)
from B.B.:
JAPANESE PHOTOBOOKS OF THE 1960s and
'70s
What could be cooler than Japanese 60s
avant-garde??? - B.B.
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JAPANESE PHOTOBOOKS OF THE 1960s & '70s
Ryuichi Kaneko & Ivan Vartanian
Aperture, 2009
Hardcover with bellyband, 240
pages
$ 75.00
sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499
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Staff pick
(12/04/2009)
from S.S.:
THE L.A. EARTHQUAKE
SOURCEBOOK
Designed by Stefan Sagmeister and created by Art Center College of
Design students and faculty, the L.A. Earthquake Sourcebook
compiles the latest knowledge and data about earthquake
preparedness and recovery. Filled with illustrations and graphic
imagery by renowned artists, designers and literary excerpts from
acclaimed writers, such as Joan Didion, this remarkable book is
not only informative but is also a well-designed object to keep.
- S.S. |

THE L.A. EARTHQUAKE SOURCEBOOK
Edited by Judith Lewis, David
L. Ulin. Introduction by Mariana Amatullo. Foreword by Richard
Koshalek. Preface by Antonio R. Villaraigosa. Design by Stefan
Sagmeister.
Designmatters at Art Center College of Design, 2009
Hardcover, 344 pages
$ 35.00It's possibly the most useful
art book you'll ever have.
sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499
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KNOCK A FEW THINGS OFF OF YOUR GIFT LIST EARLY!
(or add a few things to your own wish list. )
(11/17/09) from Lee & Whitney:
Taschen editor and
graphic designer Jim Heimann has amassed one of the world's most
astonishing collections of reference material dealing with the
visual representation of Los Angeles. For "Los Angeles: Portrait
of a City" ($70.00)
he presents over five hundred images drawn from his and other
photographic archives alongside crack essays by Kevin Starr and
David Ulin to fashion a massive and sumptuous,
near-definitive volume that illuminate the forces that pushed and
pulled this crazy burg throughout the twentieth century.
"The Ferus Gallery: A Place to Begin" ($59.95
- signed by the author!) is
Kristine McKenna's extraordinary new history of Ed Kienholz,
Walter Hopps, and Irving Blum's visionary Ferus Gallery. Between
1956 and 1966, the
Ferus was home to such influential California artists
as John Altoon, Billy Al Bengston, Wallace Berman, Bruce Conner,
Jay De Feo, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman, Kienholz, Kenneth
Price, and Ed
Ruscha. It was also the site of the
first Los Angeles exhibitions by Andy Warhol, Roy
Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, and Ellsworth
Kelly. The book recounts
the gallery's history chronologically in transcribed interviews
with the Ferus artists, wives and girlfriends, collectors, and
other well-placed Los Angeles denizens,
and features hundreds of vintage images - including many
published here for the first time.
An excellent companion to the
"The Ferus Gallery: A Place to Begin" is the DVD of Morgan
Neville's 2007 film "The Cool School: The Story of the Ferus Art
Gallery"
($30.00) . " "The Cool School" is
an object lesson in how to build an art scene from scratch, and
what to avoid in the process. Narrated by actor Jeff Bridges, the
film focuses on the seminal Ferus Gallery, which groomed the Los
Angeles art scene from a loose band of idealistic beatniks into a
coterie of competitive, often brilliant artists, including Ed
Kienholz, Ed Ruscha, Craig Kauffman, Wallace Berman, Ed Moses and
Robert Irwin. The Ferus also served as launching point for New
York imports Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein, as
well as leading to the first Pop Art show and Marcel Duchamp's
first retrospective. What was lost and gained is tied up in a
complex web of egos, passions, money, and art. This is how L.A.
came of age". This documentary presciently tells its tale by
combining cool vintage footage with contemporary interviews with
the likes of Kienholz, Hopps, Irving Blum, Frank Gehry, Dennis
Hopper, Ruscha, Bengston, Bell, Moses, Price, John Baldessari, and
Dean Stockwell. Also included are short features on Walter Hopps,
Ed Kienholz, and a Ferus artists reunion.
Speaking of
Ferus and its artists, one of the season's most impressive and
important books is devoted to one of the gallery's most
influential supporters, iconic Hollywood maverick Dennis Hooper.
"During the 1960s, Hopper carried a camera
everywhere - on film sets and locations, at parties, in diners,
bars and galleries, driving on freeways and walking on political
marches. He photographed movie idols, pop stars, writers, artists,
girlfriends, and complete strangers. Along the way he captured
some of the most intriguing moments of his generation with a keen
and intuitive eye" . Limited to fifteen hundred signed and
numbered copies, "Dennis Hopper: Photographs 1961-1967" ($1,000.00)
is a giant chronicle of a period of upheaval and change
that even at its hefty yet
well-deserved price sure
to sell out from the publisher before the holidays actually
arrive.
Scott Schuman's daily internet
style-bible "The Sartorialist" ($25.00)
is now available for all eternity as an elegant brick-sized
paperback that shows that elegance
abounds at every street corner, and that one needn't recreate
David Hemming's studio hubris from "Blow Up" to capture the
perfect fashion moment. Schuman designed the book to be used
- thumbed through, referred to, and studied for the
fantastic blends of color, shape, proportion, and style it
portrays - not just to sit revered
on the coffee table. It's the perfect gift
for anyone at all interested in getting dressed, let alone
fashion. Throw it in
your bag and revel in it when the mood strikes.
We also have a few copies left
of the luxe limited signed and numbered,
hardbound slipcased "Bespoke edition" that sells for
$175.00.
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Call 310-458-1499 or write
sales@arcanabooks.com to secure copies of any (or all!)
of the above.
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Staff pick
(11/07/09)
from the awesome S.S.:
EXPANDING ARCHITECTURE: DESIGN AS ACTIVISM
This book contains more than thirty recent projects by architects,
environmental designers, urban planners, and professionals of
other fields from all over the world who design with the benefit
of the people/community in mind. Each project is accompanied with
a thought-provoking essay and is organized into one of the
following eight categories:
* social, economic, and environmental design
* participatory design
* public-interest architecture
* asset-based approaches
* housing for the 98%
* prefabricating affordability
* meshing with market forces
* the transformative power of architectural education
It's very inspiring read. - S.S.
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EXPANDING ARCHITECTURE: DESIGN AS ACTIVISM
Bryan Bell, Katie Wakeford, Steve Badanes, Roberta Feldman, Sergio
Palleroni, Katie Swenson, Thomas Fisher. Foreword by John Peterson
Metropolis Books, 2008
Paperback, 288 pages
$ 34.95
Get it by calling (310-458-1499) or
emailing (sales@arcanabooks.com).
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Staff pick
(10/25/09)
from Whitney:
MIKE
SLACK: PYRAMIDS
I'm a huge fan of Mike Slack's work and have been
waiting for this for a long time now: the third volume
(after
OK OK OK &
Scorpio) in his sublime trilogy.
Each of the 41 Polaroids in PYRAMIDS is splendid, and the
collection
as a whole reads with the energetic frisson and redolent mystery
of your best dream. It's hard to choose favorites, but it
might be his best book yet. - Whitney
(12/09/2009 update...)
For those of you that don't already have Mike's books, we
recommend buying the newly produced set of all three
packaged in a special foil-stamped
sleeve.
More than the sum of its parts, it's a bargain at $ 90.00.
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MIKE SLACK: PYRAMIDS
MIKE SLACK:
Mike Slack
OK OK OK + SCORPIO +
The Ice Plant, 2009
PYRAMIDS
Hardcover, 80 pages The Ice Plant, 2009
$30.00
3 hardcover volumes
$ 125.00
Get it by calling (310-458-1499) or
emailing (sales@arcanabooks.com).
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Staff pick
(10/04/09)
from S.S.:
LUC TUYMANS
Published in conjunction with the first
U.S. retrospective of the work of Belgian artist Luc Tuymans, this
exhibition catalogue offers an unprecedented overview of Tuymans'
career. The show of this crucial figure in contemporary art is
currently on view at the Wexner Center and will open at the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art on February 6, 2010. Mark your
calendar! - S.S. |

LUC TUYMANS
Helen Molesworth,
Madeleine Grynsztejn,
Luc Tuymans
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art/ Wexner
Center for the Arts/D.A.P., 2009
Hardcover, 224 pages
$ 60.00
Do you want it?
send us
a message or call us(310-458-1499)!
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Staff pick
(09/07/09)
from S.S.:
FOOD FOR
THOUGHT. THOUGHT FOR FOOD.
"Food for Thought. Thought for Food"
explores the relationship between the cuisine of Ferran Adriŕ's
elBulli—ranked as No. 1 on Restaurant Magazine's S. Pellegrino
World's 50 Best Restaurant list in 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, and
2009—and the art world, from the starting point of Adriŕ's
participation in documenta 12 and the discussions this ignited on
artistic and gastronomic creativity. The book contains many
debates, texts and round tables between artists, chefs, critics,
curators, and gallerists.
Edited by the intellectual father of Pop Art, Richard Hamilton,
and Director of Tate Modern, Vicente Todolí, it is a must-have for
any gourmand/cook/creative type who lives to eat and cares about
art. - S.S.
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT. THOUGHT FOR FOOD
Vincente Todolí. Richard Hamilton, editor
Actar, 2009
Hardcover, 400 pages
$ 44.95
click here or call us (310-458-1499) to order.
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BOSS' PICK
(09/01/09) from Lee:
Bibliographic: 100 Classic
Graphic Design Books
The increasingly common phenomenon of the lavishly appointed,
subjective genre bibliography has become a great source of both
new information and fodder for debate. Consider the furor and
subsequent market forces unleashed in the photographic
book world following the publication of
"The Book of 101 Books",
"The Open Book",
"The Photobook", and
"From Fair to Fine".
While I don't think Jason Godfrey's new "Bibliographic:
100 Classic Graphic Design Books" will cause speculators to leap
from the woodwork in quite the same way, it does bring to light
some lesser-known gems within its well-designed and illustrated
selection from Aicher to Yokoo (but no Zwart, alas...) of
classic examples of modernist graphic design in book form that
also makes a fine reference for a select purchase or two. While
a bit light in my estimation in the pre-WWII classics, the
content here is thoughtfully chosen, and mostly hard to argue
with if one must keep such a list to a mere hundred titles. A
classic and important contribution to the existing literature,
that's for sure. Alternate titles, anyone? - Lee
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Bibliographic:
100 Classic Graphic Design Books
Jason Godfrey. Foreword by Steven Heller.
Lawrence King Publishing, Ltd. 2009
Hardcover, 224 pages
$ 50.00
you need this: buy
it (or 310-458-1499)
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STAFF PICK
(08/28/09)
from Veronica:
MARK BORTHWICK: NOT IN FASHION
Often imitated,
Mark Borthwick also shot
the album art for Sonic Youth's "A Thousand Leaves"! - Veronica
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MARK BORTHWICK: NOT IN FASHION
Mark Borthwick & Aaron Rose
Rizzoli, 2009
Hardcover, 272 pages
$ 50.00
buy it: 310-458-1499 or
in writing
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Staff pick
(08/20/09)
from S.S.:
Jenny Saville: Migrants
The 'Paint Made Flesh' show currently on view at the Phillips
Collection reminded me of
Jenny
Saville's solo exhibition titled
'Migrants' at Gagosian New York in 2003 and its sensational
catalogue, which includes six lavishly worked, large-scale
figurative oil paintings. From the gallery's press release: 'Saville
has been recognized as one of the most thought-provoking and
technically accomplished talents of her generation. She has become
known for her monumental paintings of fleshy nudes. In this
exhibition, worked on over the last two years, Saville further
explores the workings of the flesh.' " - S.S.
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Jenny Saville: Migrants
Jenny Saville & Linda Nochlin
Gagosian Gallery, 2003
Hardcover, 20 pages / 6 color illustrations
$ 1000.00
buy
it
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Staff pick
(08/19/09)
from KIRK :
2 BOOKS! One for each budget. Both of
them store favorites:
HANS SILVESTER -
ETHIOPIA: PEOPLES OF THE OMO VALLEY
and
HANS SILVESTER - NATURAL FASHION: TRIBAL DECORATION FROM AFRICA
Because we should all be so beautiful.
- Kirk
Anyone remotely interested in
fashion/beauty/anthropology/
travel/Africa/creativity/nature/art... (should I go on?) ought to
have this book (Natural Fashion). - Whitney
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HANS SILVESTER -
ETHIOPIA: PEOPLES OF THE OMO VALLEY
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2007
2 Hardbound Volumes, Slipcased / 464 pages
$ 125.00
HANS SILVESTER - NATURAL FASHION: TRIBAL
DECORATION FROM AFRICA
Thames & Hudson,
2009
Paperback, 168 pages
$ 29.95
Wanna buy
one? Both?
Call the store: 310-458-1499 or
send us a message!
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Staff pick
(08/07/09)
from S.S.:
Elmgreen & Dragset:
This Is the First Day of My Life
Since the beginning of their
collaboration in 1995, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset have
created a wide range of installations, performances and
environmental projects, such as the witty permanent installation
"Prada Marfa" in the middle of the Texas desert; the life-size
sculpture titled "Disgrace (Rolls Royce Corniche)" — a blackened
Rolls Royce Corniche covered in feathers; and their socio-critical
traveling exhibition "The Welfare Show." Recently, Elmgreen &
Dragset were selected to curate both the Danish Pavilion and the
Nordic Pavilion for the 2009 Venice Biennale. "This Is The First
Day Of My Life" is the first extensive survey of their most
important works, as well as previously unpublished creations. -
S.S.
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Elmgreen & Dragset:
This Is the First Day of My Life
Text by Tony Benn, Massimiliano Gioni, Amelia
Saul
Hatje Cantz, 2008
Hardcover, 320 pages / 440 color illustrations
$ 85.00
Wanna buy it?
Call the store: 310-458-1499 or
send us a message!
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w o w !!!
Did you know we
have a sale section in the store? We do! It's
filled with an ever-changing selection
of great titles at big discounts. Come over and
check it out!
1229 Third
Street Promenade -
between Wilshire & Arizona -
Santa Monica
(Monday - Saturday 10
to 6, Sunday 12 to 6) |
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