Book of the day > Jean Prouvé Architecture. Edition Galerie Patrick Seguin. “This limited-edition boxed set compiles all five of Galerie Patrick Seguin's volumes on the "demontable" architecture of Jean Prouvé: the revised editions of 6x6 and 8x8, plus three new monographs on the BCC Demountable House, Ferembal Demountable House (adapted by Jean Nouvel), and the Filling Station. Each is illustrated with both archival and contemporary documentation. Though lacking any formal education in architecture, Jean Prouvé (1901-1984) became one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century, boldly experimenting with new building designs, materials and methods. Prouvé was raised in an environment of artistic, socially motivated innovation: his father belonged to "l'École de Nancy," a collective that sought to unite art, industry and social awareness. He continued this practice throughout his adulthood, opening the Ateliers Jean Prouvé to manufacture standardized, economical goods on a mass scale--which, during World War II, included creating portable and demountable barracks. After the war, the French government commissioned Prouvé to design inexpensive, effective housing for the newly homeless, prompting him to perfect his patented axial portal frame to build easily constructed demountable houses. Despite their advantages, though, few of these architectural triumphs were built, and even fewer survive. In order to preserve Prouvé's architectural and engineering legacy, the Galerie Patrick Seguin has worked tirelessly to promote Prouvé's "constructional philosophy," exhibiting his designs and showcasing his ecologically responsible methodologies. ”

Book of the day > Arcadia Britannica: A Modern British Folklore Portrait. Thames and Hudson.  “Drawing on pagan Celtic, Germanic, and early Christian rites and beliefs, British folklore is a vibrant aspect of Britain’s cultural heritage that continues to flourish today. Notable for their music, storytelling, and particularly for the terrific display of costumes revelers wear, Britain’s folk festivals are at once great entertainment and a link with the nation’s rich cultural history. Arcadia Britannica is the product of photographer Henry Bourne’s repeated trips to some of Britain’s greatest folk events: striking color portraits capture an eccentric collection of individuals in inventive outfits, including arboreal costumes, pagan-inspired creations, and historical garb. These were captured at events like the annual Jack in the Green festival held in Hastings in May, for which the town and its people are decked in green to welcome summer, and the Easter Sunday celebration in Bacup, Lancashire, where fiercely proud Britannia Coconut Dancers (or “Nutters”) perform their traditional seven dances. An accompanying text by Simon Costin provides the historical backstory and explains the folklore behind this wacky, inspiring collection of images.”

Book of the day > Raymond Cauchetier’s New Wave. ACC Editions. “In the late 1950s and early 1960s French New Wave cinema exploded onto international screens with films like Les quatre cents coups, A bout de souffle and Jules et Jim. They were radical, artistic, original and most importantly set up the director as a creative genius; at the forefront were Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. Today these films are credited with changing cinema forever. For many film goers they command strong and passionate respect and became the foundations on which a lifetime of cinema-going is built. In the photographs of Raymond Cauchetier we bear witness to the great artistic genius that was central to the process of making these films. Cauchetier's photographs are a culturally important documentary of the director at work, his methods and processes. His photographs capture some of the most memorable moments in film; Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg on the Champs Élysées in A bout de souffle, Jeanne Moreau in the race scene of Jules et Jim, Anna Karina in a Parisian Cafe in Une femme est une femme. But Cauchetier's genius lies also in the fact that his photographs are far above just a visual record of these films. They clearly show the same spirit, the same freedom and the same originality that made The New Wave so important. Cauchetier's photographs are as much a part of The New Wave as the films themselves. In the words of Richard Brody: In these images, Raymond Cauchetier, a witness to art, made art by bearing true witness.”

“Linder is best known for her pioneering photomontages that replace the sexualised imagery of soft-focus pornographic centrefolds with commodities of domestic middle-class life. Surprising, humorous, and at times shocking, these precise compositions bring to light the powerful fantasies and repressions that underlie our social expectations of identity.  Spanning almost four decades, this monograph interweaves numerous photomontage series throughout Linder’s career, demonstrating the artist’s manipulation of disparate source material – from brightly saturated male pornographic imagery to softly lit portraits of ballerinas. Accompanying over 250 illustrations, a conversation between the artist and Dawn Ades reconciles her work with the history of photomontage.”

Book of the day > Revelations by Ben Burbridge. MACK Books.  “Published alongside a major exhibition, Revelations explores a radical expansion of the visual field brought about by early scientific photography, and the ways this informed and inspired photography's applications within modern and contemporary art.  Early scientific imagery such as X-Ray, photomicrography and experimental high-speed photography exposed and surpassed the limits of human vision. In doing so, it revealed important formal possibilities to artists, and spoke to them in clear and articulate terms about man’s changing relationship to science and technology. Drawing on the National Collections held in Bradford and London, and further international collections, a selection of photographs, book spreads and other documents demonstrate new modes of representation established by early scientific photography and their profound impact on the histories of photographic art.”

Book of the day > A Man Walks Into A Bar... Hatje Cantz. "This collection features jokes written on postcards by John Baldessari, André Butzer, Tacita Dean, Andy Hope 1930, Christian Jankowski, Ragnar Kjartansson, Jim Lambie, Erik van Lieshout, Jonathan Meese, Julie Mehretu, Jonathan Monk, Tal R, Tobias Rehberger, Daniel Richter, Ed Ruscha, Thomas Scheibitz, Thomas Schütte, David Shrigley, Lawrence Weiner and Erwin Wurm." Have a great weekend!

Book of the day > Dennis Hopper: Drugstore Camera. Damiani. “Drugstore Camera feels like a stumbled-upon treasure, a disposable camera you forgot about and only just remembered to develop. Yet in this case the photographer is Dennis Hopper and the photographs, remarkably, are never before published. Shot in Taos, New Mexico, where Hopper was based following the production of Easy Rider in the late 60s, the series was taken with disposable cameras and developed in drugstore photo labs. This clothbound collection documents Hopper's friends and family among the ruins and open vistas of the desert landscape, female nudes in shadowy interiors, road trips to and from his home state of Kansas and impromptu still lifes of discarded objects. These images, capturing iconic individuals and wide-open Western terrain, create a captivating view of the 60s and 70s that combines political idealism and optimism with California cool.”

Book of the day > Public Art (Now): Out of Time, Out of Place. Art/Books. “The face of public art is changing. In recent years, a new generation of artists has rejected the monumental scale and mass appeal of conventional public sculpture, instead favoring unconventional forms that disrupt rather than embellish a particular location. Public Art (Now) is the first survey of the most influential forms of the past decade that are redefining the practice of public art today. Some 40 key projects from around the world are highlighted, with detailed descriptions and installation and process shots. Interviews and quotes from practitioners, commissioners and commentators reveal the context for each project, while an introduction sets out the conceptual, practical and ethical issues raised by the work. This dynamic combination of projects, places and people is both a must-have reference book for art-world specialists and an accessible introduction to the subject. Among the featured artists are Mike Kelley, Francis Alÿs, Superflex, Paul Chan, Susan Philipsz and Theaster Gates.”

Book of the day > Peter Schlesinger Sculpture. Acne Studios. “Acne Studios is proud to announce the publication of a new monograph of the artist Peter Schlesinger. Schlesinger is a New York-based artist who, by way of numerous contributions to Acne Paper, has formed a friendship with Acne Studios creative director Jonny Johansson. The book celebrates nearly three decades of Schlesinger’s work, photographed by his partner of 40 years Eric Boman. Published by Acne Studios and printed in Sweden, the monograph uses materials painstakingly selected to reflect the exactitude of Schlesinger’s work. The copperplate paper, one of the three used inside, is imported from Japan, while the cover is bound in jute cloth made to order in Belgium. Inside, Schlesinger’s work is  presented in chronological order from the 1980s up to the present day, photographed by the artist’s partner Eric Boman. It also features a selection of Schlesinger’s works on paper connected to each of the periods presented. The book comes in a limited edition of 1000 copies, each one manually numbered with a stamp.”

Book of the day > Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. Insight Editions. “Kurt Cobain, legendary lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of Nirvana, “the flagship band of Generation X,” remains an object of reverence and fascination for music fans around the world. For the first time, his story will be told in Brett Morgen’s Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, a fully authorized feature documentary that in 2015 will be released theatrically around the world by Universal Pictures and shown exclusively by HBO in the United States. Visual artist Frances Bean Cobain, Cobain's daughter, is executive producer. This riveting book accompanies Morgen’s highly anticipated documentary and delves further into the material created for the film, presenting an illuminating and honest portrait of the Nirvana frontman that captures the contradictions that made up his character. The book is composed of the extended versions of the exclusive interviews featured in the film. The book also showcases the film's visuals with a mixture of animation stills, rare photography, and other treasures from Kurt Cobain's personal archive. Taking fans into and beyond Morgen’s movie with unparalleled insight into the world of the late Nirvana frontman, this book will be the perfect complement to a milestone documentary that will forever change the way fans view Kurt Cobain.”