Salvatore Vitale: How to Secure a Country From Border Policing via Weather Forecast to Social Engineering: A Visual Study of 21st-Century Statehood. Edited with text by Lars Willumeit. Text by Roland Bleiker, Philip Di Salvo, Jonas Hagmann.An artist's diagrammatic dissection of the national security culture that has swept the West. In this hybrid artist's book, Switzerland-based artist Salvatore Vitale (born 1986) explores Switzerland's national security measures by focusing instructions, protocols and bureaucracies pertaining to security, which he visualizes in photographs, diagrams and graphic illustrations. Switzerland, well known as one of the safest countries on earth and a prime example of efficiency and efficacy, has developed a culture based on protection supported by the presence and production of national security. When in 2014 the Swiss voted in favor of an initiative "against massive immigration," Vitale, a immigrant living in Switzerland, decided to research this phenomenon in order to comprehend the origin for this constant need for security and how it became part of Swiss culture. The result is a case study that can be used to explain the global context for notions of security and the functioning of contemporary societies. Published by Lars Müller Publishers. $ 40.00
Margaret Kilgallen: that’s where the beauty is. Foreword by Heidi Zuckerman. Text by Courtenay Finn, Jenelle Porter. Impure Americana, a slightly acidic nostalgia that evoked sideshows, tramp art and old travel posters with infusions of feminist wit. –Roberta Smith, New York Times. Margaret Kilgallen: that’s where the beauty is. is published on the occasion of Kilgallen’s first posthumous museum exhibition, and the largest presentation of her work in more than a decade. Using the artist’s exhibition history as a chronological tool, that’s where the beauty is. examines Kilgallen’s roots in histories of printmaking, American and non-Western folk history and folklore, and feminist strategies of representation, expanding the narrative around her work beyond her association with the Bay Area Mission School and the "Beautiful Losers" artists. Kilgallen’s graphic, schematic style came from a deep engagement with the handmade in wildly divergent forms—from folk art to letterpress printing to freight train graffiti, among many other sources. “I like things that are handmade and I like to see people's hand in the world anywhere in the world,” she said, embracing the idiosyncrasies and imperfections that come from hand craft. “I think that’s where the beauty is.” Kilgallen’s work, in form and content, celebrates the handmade, making heroes and heroines of those who live and work in the margins and challenging traditional gender roles, hierarchies and mainstream culture. This publication offers a comprehensive look at Kilgallen’s work, revisiting the ongoing legacy and idiosyncratic spirit of one of California’s most innovative artists. Published by Aspen Museum of Art. $ 49.95
Africamericanos. Edited with introduction by Claudi Carreras. Text by Sheila Walker, Abraham Nahón, Germán Rey. "A visual exploration of Afro-Latino identity and the African diaspora in Latin America as seen in the work of 34 contemporary photographers. Surveying photography from all over Latin America, and based on extensive research, The Africamericanos gives special consideration to those from countries with the highest populations of Afro-Latino citizens and whose people have suffered the most systematic erasure of Afrolatino identity. Photographers include: Luján Agustí, Claudia Gordillo y Maria José Alvarez, Liliana Angulo, Hugo Arellanes, Josúe Azor, Christian Belpaire, Maureen Bisilliat, Nicola lo Calzo, Koral Carballo, Pablo Chaco, Angélica Dass, Jonathas de Andrade, Manuel González de la Parra, Jose de Medeiros, Luisa Dorr, Sandra Elet, Nelson Garrido, Maya Goded, Nicolas Janowski, Yael Martínez, Yomer Montejo, Cristina de Middel y Bruno Morais, Carolina Navas, Eustáquio Neves, Jorge Panchoaga, Rosana Paulino, Mara Sánchez Rener, Marton Robinson, Isadora Romero, Lorry Salcedo, Leslie Searles and Karina Skvirsky." Published by RM. $ 50.00
Neo Rauch (Contemporary Painters Series). This comprehensive monograph offers a detailed examination of the paintings of the acclaimed German painter Neo Rauch (b. 1960). Rauch’s paintings deftly blend the iconography of Socialist Realism from his upbringing and art-school training in GDR-era Leipzig with the stylistic mannerisms of the Baroque and Romantic past, conjuring heavily populated sites of great commotion and complexity, remarkably without recourse to preliminary drawing. His compositions and their enigmatic figures are rich with reference and allusion, but the stories they tell are indistinct and somehow out of time. They have an ancient modernity—or the freshness of renewed antiquity. Michael Glover discloses Rauch’s working methods, revealing how the artist approaches the making of his work, how his images come into being, and the importance of words and their etymology to the creation or disruption of an artwork. These are works that interrogate the very meaning of the artistic impulse; ruminations in the guise of history painting that in fact question what a painter could and should be creating at this particular historical moment. Published by Lund Humphries. $ 49.95
Bauhaus Ballet. Watch the dancers as they leap, spin and kick their way through this beautiful pop–up book. Inspired by the eccentric and innovative Bauhaus Triadic Ballet, this gorgeous book explores colours, shapes, patterns and movements in a visually stunning and enthralling way. With interactive elements let the reader meet the characters, make them move, and bring their performance to life. With bold artwork rendered in Lesley Barnes' striking style and playful text by Gabby Dawnay, this special pop–up book is a beautiful, unique gift book that will delight children and adults alike. For fans of Bauhaus Ballet by German Modernist painter Oskar Schlemmer and perfect for children! Published by Laurence King. $ 24.99
