Shirt of the Day! Jerry Hsu's How About Never
This very limited edition high-quality shirt was designed by Jerry Hsu just for his signing at Arcana. Scant numbers remain. Act fast via this link!
Events
Posted Sep 18, 2026
Events
Posted Sep 17, 2026
Upcoming Events
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
CHRIS WALLACE: ANOTHER WORLD, VOLUME 1
PUBLICATION LAUNCH
CHRIS WALLACE: ANOTHER WORLD, VOLUME 1
PUBLICATION LAUNCH
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
RICHARD POLSKY: I SOLD ALICE COOPER'S ANDY WARHOL
BOOK SIGNING
RICHARD POLSKY: I SOLD ALICE COOPER'S ANDY WARHOL
BOOK SIGNING
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21st, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
CATHERINE OPIE: ON IDENTITY AND COLLECTIVITY APERTURE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP SERIES
BOOK SIGNING + DISCUSSION
CATHERINE OPIE: ON IDENTITY AND COLLECTIVITY APERTURE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP SERIES
BOOK SIGNING + DISCUSSION
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
CHARLIE UNKELESS: THE LIGHTS ARE TOO LOUD, THE SOUND IS TOO BRIGHT - TALES FROM THE ROAD WITH OINGO BOINGO
BOOK SIGNING
CHARLIE UNKELESS: THE LIGHTS ARE TOO LOUD, THE SOUND IS TOO BRIGHT - TALES FROM THE ROAD WITH OINGO BOINGO
BOOK SIGNING
Book of the Day
Posted Sep 10, 2026
Book of the Day: Pattern - Studio Grand Fall
From the distributor: "Pattern: Studio Grand Fall centres on Studio Grand Fall and the work of photographer Amadou Fall, who documented Nouadhibou, Mauritania, from the 1960s onward. In the studio, families from the bush, the city, the region as well as Spanish migrants, workers, merchants, and passing officials sat before the same lens, bringing with them the city’s shifting mix of cultures and aspirations. The book focuses on the visual language of portraiture, patterned fabrics, clothing, and painted backdrops, where style becomes biography and community becomes archive. Produced locally, it is printed on textiles used in daily life. Each copy has an individual Vlisco fabric cover, making every book a unique object." Book of the day. (Fraglich Publishing, 2026)
Events
Posted Aug 29, 2026
BOOK SIGNING WITH JERRY HSU at Arcana: 9/12/26, 4 - 6 PM
Arcana-friend Jerry Hsu's excellent new MACK photo-book How About Never is coming, and Arcana manager Jesse Pearson will be interviewing Jerry about it live here at the shop on Saturday, September 12th followed by a signing. The event begins at 4 PM. All are welcome; refreshments provided. Order a signed copy here! See you there!
Book of the Day
Posted Aug 28, 2026
Book of the Day: Smoke by Kris Lüdi
From the publisher: "When the most beautiful cows of the Appenzell villages are crowned in autumn, smoke rises over the festival grounds. On this day, children—often still in their early single-digit years—puff unabashedly on Krumme cigars, or Stumpen as they are known locally, emblematic representatives of Swiss tobacco culture. They do so not in secret or as an act of rebellion, but in the midst of the village community, which not only tolerates the tradition but is also the very source of it. It is a gesture of acknowledgment for the children who take on agricultural work and responsibilities from an early age. With his work Smoke, artist Kris Lüdi approaches the custom from a place of personal memory. As a child, Lüdi spent his summers with his grandparents in Appenzell and encountered the local children with the intimidated gaze of an outsider of the same age. Their nonchalant, down-to-earth manner conveyed a sense of meaning that resonated with him, and Smoke is his delayed response to that. The result is a reflection on the progressive and conservative forces of the present, on local customs and cultural practices, and their positioning between tradition and modernity. Smoke ventures into the very heart of Switzerland. Folkloric tradition becomes the starting point for a photographic observation that documents reality—but does not claim to be a documentation. Instead, the portraits of smoking children create a space of resonance that extends far beyond the canton’s borders." Book of the day. (Editions Patrick Frey, 2026)
Book of the Day
Posted Aug 27, 2026
Book of the Day: Vintage Reggae Poster Scrap - All You Need is Dub
From the distributor: "From early Jamaican sounds to UK developments and contemporary innovations, Vintage Reggae Poster Scrap traces the visual language of reggae and dub and their many subgenres. Featuring hundreds of carefully reproduced images of rare vintage posters, flyers, advertisements and press photographs from the collection of music producer and DJ Yasushi Ide, the book highlights design approaches ranging from raw DIY aesthetics to highly stylized promotional graphics, reflecting the diversity and rebellious energy of the scene. While books focusing on reggae record sleeves are already rare, this poster-centered volume stands apart as a pioneering work, positioning printed ephemera as a vital historical record. This collection of posters is accompanied by a special contribution from Don Letts, DJ and videographer for The Clash, who provides an authoritative commentary on the cross-cultural exchange of reggae." Book of the day. (Grand Gallery, 2026)
Book of the Day
Posted Aug 23, 2026
Book of the Day: The Moment and the Distance - Helen Frankenthaler
From the publisher: "This book was published on the occasion of Helen Frankenthaler: The Moment and the Distance at Gagosian, West 21st Street, New York. Featuring more than twenty of Frankenthaler’s largest paintings dating from 1960 to 1992, the exhibition explored her use of expansive scale. Throughout her career, the artist pushed beyond the boundaries of easel painting to create extraordinary works, some of which occupied the entire expanse of her studio floor. Arranged chronologically, the monumental canvases presented in The Moment and the Distance offer new perspectives on Frankenthaler’s continual reinvention of her painting practice across four decades. The catalogue includes reproductions of the exhibited paintings as well as full-bleed details that reveal key aspects of Frankenthaler’s technique and studio photographs that document her materials and working methods. An illustrated essay by Ara H. Merjian discusses the artist’s sustained engagement with abstraction and Surrealism." Book of the day. (Gagosian, 2026)
Book of the Day
Posted Aug 21, 2026
Book of the Day: Why Don't You Dance? by Hannah Darabi
From the publisher: "Hannah Darabi’s project WHY DON’T YOU DANCE? is inspired by the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement, a recent nationwide protest against the restrictive laws imposed on women by the Iranian government. By combining photographs, video stills and archival pieces, the book is divided into three sections, each centering on a pivotal figure from the Iranian popular dance scene. The parts function independently while also connecting to the others across time and between Iran and its diaspora. Mahvash, a leading cabaret figure of the 1950s, forms the foundation of the project. Drawing on The Secrets of Sexual Fulfillment (1957), Mahvash’s fictional biography, Darabi examines how dance functioned as a tool of protest during the 1979 Revolution, and how women’s appearance and self-expression became subject to ever-tighter controls. She produces her own take on this landmark book through a series of collages in which she assembles magazine pages, fragments of text, ephemera and her own photographs. The second figure is Jamileh, a renowned exponent of belly dance and 'Jaheli dance,' a popular style rooted in Iranian urban culture. The third section of the exhibition revolves around Mohammad Khordadjan, a dancer and choreographer from the Iranian pop scene in Los Angeles. Here, Darabi turns to the diaspora and to practices developed in exile, documenting the nights at the legendary Cabaret Tehran, a central gathering place for Iranians in Southern California. Drawing on the stories of these three figures, Darabi reveals how dance has endured through a shift in Iranian society – away from traditional gender norms and toward a more modernist discourse. Here, entertainment becomes a political act, archives become tools of resistance, and performance becomes an expression of joyful resilience." Book of the day. (Kodoji Press, 2026)
Book of the Day
Posted Aug 20, 2026
Book of the Day: Mixedness is my Mythology by Farren van Wyk
From the publisher: "Mixedness is my Mythology, the first monograph by South African–Dutch photographer Farren van Wyk, explores themes of identity, representation and personal agency. Juxtaposing the artist’s lived experience in the Netherlands with her inherited history as a native of post-apartheid South Africa, van Wyk navigates the space where personal narratives intersect with broader histories of representation, colonialism and power, ultimately producing a body of work that is both deeply intimate and widely resonant." Book of the day. (Deadbeat Club, 2026)
Book of the Day
Posted Aug 15, 2026
Book of the day: Amores Perros
From the publisher / Del editor: "Bilingual edition (English and Spanish)... The release of Amores Perros in 2000 heralded the arrival of a master of modern cinema. Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s debut feature presented the fierce realities of Mexico City’s underworld through three interlocking narratives of hope and fear, desire and revenge, played out by Emilio Echevarría, Goya Toledo, Gael García Bernal, and Marco Pérez. The film’s luminous and gritty visual language is translated to the page in this new publication, which marks the film’s twenty-fifth anniversary with an unprecedented deep dive into its making. Here Iñárritu brings together stills, on-set photography, behind-the-scenes materials, and cuttings from its critical reception to weave a thrilling narrative of the film’s immense production and influence. The intricate construction of the film’s tripartite structure is tracked through stills alongside Iñárritu’s handwritten notes devising the subtexts, driving forces, and characterisation of each scene, interleaved with original storyboards by Fernando Llanos. Combining drama, brutality, suspense, and pathos, Iñárritu’s fragmentary but propulsive original tale is reflected in the collaged arrangement of the book’s design. Completed by a new text by Iñárritu himself, contributions by renowned directors Denis Villeneuve and Walter Salles, award-winning novelists Jorge Volpi and Wendy Guerra, film critic Elvis Mitchell, and the film’s storyboard artist Fernando Llanos, Amores Perros offers a rich insight into the practice and process of one of the world’s leading filmmakers.
El estreno de Amores Perros en el año 2000 anunció la llegada de un maestro del cine moderno. La ópera prima de Alejandro G. Iñárritu presentó la dura realidad del mundo subterráneo de la Ciudad de México a través de tres narrativas entrelazadas de esperanza y miedo, deseo y venganza, interpretadas por Emilio Echevarría, Goya Toledo, Gael García Bernal y Marco Pérez. El lenguaje visual luminoso y crudo de la película se traslada a las páginas de esta nueva publicación, que conmemora el vigésimo quinto aniversario de la película con una inmersión sin precedentes en su realización. Aquí, Iñárritu reúne fotogramas, fotografías del rodaje, material detrás de las cámaras y recortes de la recepción de la crítica para tejer una emocionante narrativa sobre la inmensa producción y la influencia de la película. La intrincada construcción de la estructura tripartita de la película se sigue a través de fotogramas junto con las notas manuscritas de Iñárritu en las que se describen los subtextos, las fuerzas motrices y la caracterización de cada escena, intercaladas con los storyboards originales de Fernando Llanos. Combinando drama, brutalidad, suspense y patetismo, la historia original de Iñárritu, fragmentaria pero impulsora, se refleja en la disposición collage del diseño del libro. Completado con un nuevo texto del propio Iñárritu, una contribución de los renombrados directores Walter Salles, los galardonados novelistas Jorge Volpi y Wendy Guerra, el crítico de cine Elvis Mitchell y el guionista gráfico de la película Fernando Llanos, Amores Perros ofrece una rica visión de la práctica y el proceso de uno de los cineastas más importantes del mundo." Book of the Day / Libro del Dia (MACK, 2026)
El estreno de Amores Perros en el año 2000 anunció la llegada de un maestro del cine moderno. La ópera prima de Alejandro G. Iñárritu presentó la dura realidad del mundo subterráneo de la Ciudad de México a través de tres narrativas entrelazadas de esperanza y miedo, deseo y venganza, interpretadas por Emilio Echevarría, Goya Toledo, Gael García Bernal y Marco Pérez. El lenguaje visual luminoso y crudo de la película se traslada a las páginas de esta nueva publicación, que conmemora el vigésimo quinto aniversario de la película con una inmersión sin precedentes en su realización. Aquí, Iñárritu reúne fotogramas, fotografías del rodaje, material detrás de las cámaras y recortes de la recepción de la crítica para tejer una emocionante narrativa sobre la inmensa producción y la influencia de la película. La intrincada construcción de la estructura tripartita de la película se sigue a través de fotogramas junto con las notas manuscritas de Iñárritu en las que se describen los subtextos, las fuerzas motrices y la caracterización de cada escena, intercaladas con los storyboards originales de Fernando Llanos. Combinando drama, brutalidad, suspense y patetismo, la historia original de Iñárritu, fragmentaria pero impulsora, se refleja en la disposición collage del diseño del libro. Completado con un nuevo texto del propio Iñárritu, una contribución de los renombrados directores Walter Salles, los galardonados novelistas Jorge Volpi y Wendy Guerra, el crítico de cine Elvis Mitchell y el guionista gráfico de la película Fernando Llanos, Amores Perros ofrece una rica visión de la práctica y el proceso de uno de los cineastas más importantes del mundo." Book of the Day / Libro del Dia (MACK, 2026)