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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.



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
 

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

 

BERENICE ABBOTT
Text by Hank O'Neal
Steidl, 2008
2 hardcover volumes, slipcased. 548 pages
$ 145.00

sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499

 

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
 


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
 
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.

 

 

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
 

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
$ 35.00

It's possibly the most useful art book you'll ever have. sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499
 


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 1966the 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 



 


 

 

Call 310-458-1499 or write sales@arcanabooks.com to secure copies of any (or all!) of the above.

 

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.


 

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).


 

 

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. 

 

 

 

 



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).

 



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)!
 


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.

 

 




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.

 

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

 

 


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)
 


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


 

MARK BORTHWICK: NOT IN FASHION
Mark Borthwick & Aaron Rose
Rizzoli, 2009
Hardcover, 272 pages
$ 50.00

buy it: 310-458-1499 or in writing

 


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.
 

 


Jenny Saville: Migrants
Jenny Saville & Linda Nochlin
Gagosian Gallery, 2003
Hardcover, 20 pages / 6 color illustrations
$ 1000.00

 buy it

 


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

 

 

 

 


  

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!

 


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.


 

 

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!
 

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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