Book of the Day
Posted Mar 25, 2015
Book of the day > Poetry of the Metropolis: The Affichistes. Snoeck. “During the 1940s and 1950s, the Affichistes appear in Paris with a new and revolutionary artistic format: the tearing down of posters. Ever more present within the cityscape, they assimilate this expanding advertising medium and its particular aesthetics, and formulate from these looted, random images a radical contradiction to the dominant abstract painting of the postwar period. On the one hand, they are interested in the act of violent appropriation of imagery from the public sphere, on the other hand, they celebrate randomness and show a particular interest in language and typography. However, in their action, they see themselves no longer committed to an avant-garde agitprop self-concept, but aim at the visual complexity of contemporary modern means of expression that were eventually picked up on by pop art and, to this day, remain relevant despite all electronic mediality. Book and exhibition provide a comprehensive look at activities spanning two decades (1948-1968) by this important post-war avant-garde that occurred in particular in France, and extend the spectrum by looking at the photographic, cinematic and auditory works of the main protagonists, among them Raymond Hains, Jacques Villeglé, François Dufrêne, Mimmo Rotella, and Wolf Vostell. It also highlights their further specific background, for instance, in décollage, action or happening. Quite surprisingly, many of the works still today appear fresh and radiant.”
Book of the Day
Posted Mar 21, 2015
Book of the day > Karl Lagerfeld: Chanel Shopping Center. Steidl. “Chanel's fashion shows are always unexpected, but with the set of Karl Lagerfeld's most recent Fall-Winter 2014/15 Prêt-à-Porter collection for the house, the designer seems to have finally outdone himself. The concept of the catwalk was born anew as the "Chanel Shopping Center," where models jostled with one another as they browsed shelves and placed items in their shopping trolleys. This was, of course, no normal supermarket but a spectacular ironic reinterpretation of Chanel 's beloved codes, where supermarket produce and packaging were re-designed according to Lagerfeld's wit and whim. There were thousands of items to behold including Mont Cambon wine, Mademoiselle Privé doormats, tweed energy drinks, Coco Flakes (to be eaten with no more than Lait de Coco), Paris-Dallas ketchup, lion-shaped pasta, as well as bottled water labeled "Eau de CHANEL No 0." The visual vocabulary of the supermarket equally informed Lagerfeld's collection: from chain shopping baskets, vacuum-packed handbags, bottletop and padlock-shaped jewelry, to iridescent outfits with shoplifter-sized pockets. This book preserves the Chanel Shopping Center in print, and is playfully styled as a mail order catalogue displaying all items seemingly for purchase-but only while stocks last.”
Book of the Day
Posted Mar 19, 2015
Book of the day > Semina Culture: Wallace Berman & His Circle. D.A.P./Santa Monica Museum of Art. Edited with text by Michael Duncan, Kristine McKenna. Text by Stephen Fredman.
“This reprint of the now classic and much sought-after 2005 volume celebrates the circle of the quintessential visual artist of the Beat era, Wallace Berman (1926–76), who remains one of the best-kept secrets of the postwar era. A crucial figure in California's underground culture, Berman was a catalyst who traversed many different worlds, transferring ideas and dreams from one circle to the next. His larger community is the subject of Semina Culture, which includes previously unseen works by 52 artists. Anchoring this publication is Semina, a loose-leaf art and poetry journal that Berman published in nine issues between 1955 and 1964. Although printed in extremely short runs and distributed to only a handful of friends and sympathizers, Semina is a brilliant and beautifully made compendium of the most interesting artists and poets of its time, and is today a very rare collector's item. Showcasing the individuals that defined a still-potent strand of postwar counterculture, Semina Culture outlines the energies and values of this fascinating circle. Also reproduced here are works by those who appear in Berman's own photographs, approximately 100 of which were recently developed from vintage negatives, and which are seen here for the first time. These artists, actors, poets, curators, musicians and filmmakers include Robert Alexander, John Altoon, Toni Basil, Wallace Berman, Ray Bremser, Bonnie Bremser, Charles Britten, Joan Brown, Cameron, Bruce Conner, Jean Conner, Jay DeFeo, Diane DiPrima, Kirby Doyle, Bobby Driscoll, Robert Duncan, Joe Dunn, Llyn Foulkes, Ralph Gibson, Allen Ginsberg, George Herms, Jack Hirschman, Walter Hopps, Dennis Hopper, Billy Jahrmarkt, Jess, Lawrence Jordan, Patricia Jordan, Bob Kaufman, Philip Lamantia, William Margolis, Michael McClure, David Meltzer, Taylor Mead, Henry Miller, Stuart Perkoff, Jack Smith, Dean Stockwell, Ben Talbert, Russ Tamblyn, Aya (Tarlow), Alexander Trocchi, Edmund Teske, Zack Walsh, Lew Welch and John Wieners.”
Book of the Day
Posted Mar 18, 2015
Book of the day > Paul Kooiker: Nude Animal Cigar. Art Paper Editions. “Paul Kooiker is among the most interesting conceptual photographers currently working in the Netherlands. Although his work consists of photographic images, he is not so much a photographer as a sculptor and installation artist. His fascination with intriguing themes like voyeurism, innocence and clichés leads him to construct fictive collections of images that are of extremely uncertain origin, subject and significance. In his latest installation, 'Nude Animal Cigar', Kooiker looks back over his twenty-year career. The result is a bewildering array of photographic works, in which images of nudes and animals are interspersed with close-ups of the countless cigars he has smoked in his studio over the years.”
Book of the Day
Posted Mar 17, 2015
Book of the day > Homegrown: Austin Music Posters 1967 to 1982. University Of Texas Press. “Before Austin became the “live music capital of the world” and attracted tens of thousands of music fans, it had a vibrant local music scene that spanned late sixties psychedelic and avant-garde rock to early eighties punk. Venues such as the Vulcan Gas Company and the Armadillo World Headquarters hosted both innovative local musicians and big-name touring acts. Poster artists not only advertised the performances—they visually defined the music and culture of Austin during this pivotal period. Their posters promoted an alternative lifestyle that permeated the city and reflected Austin’s transformation from a sleepy university town into a veritable oasis of underground artistic and cultural activity in the state of Texas.
This book presents a definitive survey of music poster art produced in Austin between 1967 and 1982. It vividly illustrates four distinct generations of posters—psychedelic art of the Vulcan Gas Company, early works from the Armadillo World Headquarters, an emerging variety of styles from the mid-1970s, and the radical visual aesthetic of punk—produced by such renowned artists as Gilbert Shelton, Jim Franklin, Kerry Awn, Micael Priest, Guy Juke, Ken Featherston, Danny Garrett, and NOXX. Setting the posters in context, Texas music and pop-culture authority Joe Nick Patoski details the history of music posters in Austin, and artist and poster art scholar Nels Jacobson explores the lives and techniques of the artists.”
Book of the Day
Posted Mar 14, 2015
Book of the day > Mina Stone: Cooking for Artists. Kiito-San. “Chef Mina Stone has been cooking delicious lunches at Urs Fischer's Brooklyn-based art studio for the past five years and producing private gallery dinners in the New York art world since 2006. Cooking for Artists presents more than 70 of Stone's family-style recipes inspired by her Greek heritage and her love of simple, fresh, seasonal food. The book is designed by Fischer and includes drawings by Hope Atherton, Darren Bader, Matthew Barney, Alex Eagleton, Urs Fischer, Cassandra MacLeod, Elizabeth Peyton, Rob Pruitt, Peter Regli, Josh Smith, Spencer Sweeney and Philippos Theodorides-all members of the community of artists that delights in Stone's cooking.”
Book of the Day
Posted Mar 13, 2015
Book of the day > Stephen Shore: Survey. Aperture/Fundación MAPFRE. “Stephen Shore has had a significant influence on multiple generations of artists and photographers. Even for the youngest photographers working today, his work remains an ongoing and indisputable reference point. This book copublished with Fundación MAPFRE in conjunc¬tion with the first-ever retrospective exhibition, includes over 250 images that span Shore’s impressive and productive career. The images range from 1969 to 2013, with series such as Early Works, Amarillo, New York City, American Surfaces, and Uncommon Places, among others. Stephen Shore: Survey elucidates Shore’s contributions, as well as the historiographical interpretations of his work that have influenced photographic culture over the past four decades. Both the exhibition and the narrative of the catalogue are conceptualized around three particularly revealing aspects of Shore’s work, including his analysis of photographic and visual language, his topographical approach to the contemporary landscape, and his significant use of color within a photographic context.”
Book of the Day
Posted Mar 12, 2015
Book of the day > Architecture/Astrology: By Dan Graham and Jessica Russell. Koenig Books. “Artist Dan Graham and writer Jessica Russell's playful Architecture/Astrology considers some of the most important and innovative figures in the world of architecture from an angle few would expect: their star signs. Originally published as a column for Domus magazine, Graham and Russell's book integrates critical analysis with astrology and mythology to offer alternative perspectives on the work and personalities of artist/architects including Frank Gehry (a restless, dreamy Pisces), Frank Lloyd Wright (a romantic Gemini with one foot in the past and the other in the future), Eero Saarinen (a dynamic, dramatic Leo) and Le Corbusier (a logical, balanced Libra). With accompanying illustrations by Mieko Meguro, Architecture/Astrology itself resembles the best sort of architect, one who is at once rigorous and whimsical, with his feet on the ground and his head in the clouds.”
Book of the Day
Posted Mar 11, 2015
Book of the day > On Kawara — Silence. Guggenheim. “Because of his recourse to language, photography and systems of information, On Kawara is often described as a key figure in the history of Conceptual art. Yet his work stands apart in its devotion to painting and its existential reach. On Kawara — Silence is published in conjunction with a major exhibition of Kawara's post-1964 work at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Like the exhibition itself, the structure of the book was devised in close collaboration with the late artist. The exhibition catalogue contains essays on Kawara's work by leading scholars and critics in various fields, including art history, literary studies and cultural anthropology. It also includes substantial, authoritative descriptions of every category of his production—the first time such comprehensive information has appeared in print. Richly illustrated, On Kawara — Silence reproduces many examples of the Date Paintings (Today), calendars (One Hundred Years and One Million Years), postcards (I Got Up), telegrams (I Am Still Alive), news cuttings (I Read), maps (I Went) and lists (I Met) that comprised the artist's practice beginning in the mid-1960s. Among other groups of works, the book includes images of the 97 Date Paintings (accompanied by their newspaper-lined storage boxes) that Kawara produced during a three-month run of daily painting in 1970. The catalogue also contains reproductions of paintings and drawings produced in Paris and New York in the years that precede the works for which Kawara is best known, as well as rare images of materials related to his working process. “
Book of the Day
Posted Mar 06, 2015
Book of the day > Fullmoon: Darren Almond. Taschen. “Lunar lens: Darren Almond’s nocturnal nature series
In Fullmoon, the conceptual meets the poetic: in more than 260 photographs, British artist Darren Almond catches landscapes around the globe, under the particular light of a full moon.
With the shutter kept open for over a quarter of an hour, rivers, meadows, mountains, and seashores are illuminated almost like daybreak, but the atmosphere is different: a mild glow emanates even from the shadows, star-lines cross the sky, and water blankets the earth like a misty froth. The enhanced moonlight infuses the landscapes with a sense of the surreal or the sublime, and with haunting ideas of time, nature and beauty.
The series circles around the possibility of Romantic themes today: majestic American mountains, austere Arctic ice fields, picturesque rocks by the seashore in Japan, and, most intimately viewed, the nature of Britain, whose painterly subjects are closest to home.
This book covers all parts of Almond's fullmoon series from the turn of the century up until today. It features an introduction by Sheena Wagstaff, head of the Modern and Contemporary Art Department of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and an in-depth essay by writer and critic Brian Dillon.”