Book of the Day Posted Mar 09, 2021

Book of the Day > Rothko Chapel: An Oasis for Reflection

● Purchase ● A first look at the recently restored Rothko Chapel, a world-renowned destination for spiritual renewal, with all-new photography and scholarship of the renovated building and campus, published on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.
 
The Rothko Chapel--home to 14 monumental modernist paintings by the pioneer Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko--is an interfaith sacred space dedicated to global human rights, art, and spirituality, located in Houston. The Chapel was founded in 1971 by arts patrons and philanthropists Dominique and John de Menil, who placed their utmost faith in Rothko's vision to express the profound, the miraculous, and regard for the sanctity of the human spirit in this oasis for the intellect and the spirit. Through photographic testimony and the insights of scholars, this large-format volume gives an intimate look at this sacred space, where visitors seek solace and inspiration within this truly ecumenical sanctuary featuring Rothko's iconic paintings. Pamela Smart discusses the spiritual side and Stephen Fox puts the architecture in the context of Houston. The Chapel has been reworked within an expanded campus to enhance the experience for its many visitors. As viewers sit in stillness or move about the Chapel's serene octagonal enclosure, the reinstalled skylight better reveals the nuances of Rothko's powerful panels and allows for better connection to the outdoors as conditions shift, such as when clouds pass above.
Book of the Day Posted Mar 07, 2021

Book of the Day > François Halard: 56 Days at Arles

François Halard: 56 Days at Arles.  Published by Librarymanbooks.  “This book consists of polaroids taken during François Halard’s 56 days of confinement in his greatly unimitative hôtel particulier in Arles, France. Foreword written by art dealer and curator Oscar Humphries. Only a few copies left.
Book of the Day Posted Mar 05, 2021

Book of the Day > Radical Architecture of the Future

● Purchase ● An important and fascinating collection of original projects by unique thinkers in the world of architecture and spatial design
 
Architectural practice today goes far beyond the design and construction of buildings — the most exciting, forward-thinking architecture is also found in digital landscapes, art, apps, films, installations, and virtual reality. This remarkable book features projects — surprising, beautiful, outrageous, and sometimes even frightening — that break rules and shatter boundaries. In this timely book, the work of award-winning architects, designers, artists, photographers, writers, filmmakers, and researchers — all of whom synthesize and reflect our spatial environments — comes together for the first time.
Book of the Day Posted Mar 04, 2021

Book of the Day > Yayoi Kusama: Every Day I Pray for Love

● Purchase ● In her most personal book to date, Yayoi Kusama brings us into her private world through poetic recollections, giving insight into her creative process and the essential role language plays in her paintings, sculptures, and daily life.
 
With a new focus on Kusama’s use of language, this book features an impressive overview of her poetry, which the artist creates alongside her work in other mediums. Highlighting the importance of words to the artist, the book draws special attention to the captivating poetic titles of her paintings, such as in I WOULD LIKE TO SHOW YOU THE INFINITE SPLENDOR OF STARDUST IN THE UNIVERSE and FIGURE OF THE MIDNIGHT DARKNESS OF THE UNIVERSE THAT I DEDICATED ALL MY HEART. These visionary titles are a quintessential part of Kusama’s eye-catching artworks, but also hold their own as unique aphorisms and appealing statements of cosmic spirituality. The poetry collected here touches on Kusama’s personal trials, her human ideals, and her heroic pursuit of art above all else.
 
Centered around EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE, Kusama’s acclaimed exhibition at David Zwirner, New York, in 2019, this book features more than 300 pages of new paintings, sculptures, and Infinity Mirrored Rooms. It also includes photographs of Kusama over time, offering a unique visual timeline of this iconic artist.
Book of the Day Posted Mar 03, 2021

Book of the Day > Cooking As Though You Might Cook Again

● Purchase ● Cooking As Though You Might Cook Again invites us to cook with our senses and to work with the passage of time. Licht’s lyrical recipes turn our attention away from strict measurements and towards the sights and smells of our own pantries, our own fridges, and our own imaginations. A new book that feels oddly like a familiar classic. A reminder of the pleasure and the importance of living with what we have.
Book of the Day Posted Mar 02, 2021

Book of the Day > India One and India Two

● Purchase India One or India Two ● One of a pair of a zines by actor/director/writer/standup comic Aziz Ansari. India One features photos from India. India Two features street vendors in India.

Book of the Day Posted Feb 26, 2021

Book of the Day > Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Fly In League With The Night

● Purchase ● Dramatically reinventing the lineage of Goya, Sargent and Manet, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye imbues the Black subjects in her paintings with atmospheric grace and elegance
 
Taking inspiration from the techniques of historic European portraiture, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s oil paintings could almost be from a much older era if it were not for the contemporary details of the Black subjects that populate her work. Though her subjects are people conjured in her imagination, Yiadom-Boakye imbues her portraits with a near-tangible spirit through her deliberate brush strokes and rich dark tones.
 
The result is paintings that seem to exist outside of time while still remaining grounded in reality. This lavishly illustrated volume of nearly 80 paintings and drawings—some of which have never been exhibited before—accompanies the first major survey of Yiadom-Boakye’s work, shown at Tate Britain. In addition to new fiction writing by the artist, this publication includes in-depth thematic essays on Yiadom-Boakye’s artistic development, reflecting the dual aspects of the artist’s career as both a painter and a writer and offering an intimate insight into her creative process.
Book of the Day Posted Feb 24, 2021

Book of the Day > Joan Mitchell

● Purchase ● A sweeping retrospective exploring the oeuvre of an incandescent artist, revealing the ways that Mitchell expanded painting beyond Abstract Expressionism as well as the transatlantic contexts that shaped her
 
Joan Mitchell (1925–1992) was fearless in her experimentation, creating works of unparalleled beauty, strength, and emotional intensity. This gorgeous book unfolds the story of an artistic master of the highest order, revealing the ways she expanded abstract painting and illuminating the transatlantic contexts that shaped her. Lavish illustrations cover the full arc of her artistic practice, from her exceptional New York paintings of the early 1950s to the majestic multipanel compositions she made in France later in her career. Signature works are represented here along with rarely seen paintings, works on paper, artist’s sketchbooks, and photographs of Mitchell’s life, social circle, and surroundings.
 
Featuring scholarly texts, in-depth essays, and artistic and literary responses, this book is organized in ten chronological chapters. Each chapter centers on a closely related suite of paintings, illuminating a shifting inner landscape colored by experience, sensation, memory, and a deep sense of place. Presenting groundbreaking research and a variety of perspectives on her art, life, and connections to poetry and music, this unprecedented volume is an essential reference for Mitchell’s admirers and those just discovering her work.
Book of the Day Posted Feb 23, 2021

Book of the Day > Los Angeles Today: City of Dreams: Architecture and Design

● Purchase ● The time is right for a fresh look at this incomparable sunny city. Longtime Angeleno Tim Street-Porter chronicles today's vibrant buildings, coastline, and gardens of this glamorous global metropolis.
 
Visit Los Angeles with a photographer who knows how to get the lighting right to highlight the spectacular architecture of the city. Stylish museums, such as the Broad, and a flourishing Arts District illustrate the explosive art scene, while Hollywood's Chateau Marmont and the historic Beverly Hills neighborhood add a chic dynamism. Across town, Culver City, home to the tech industry, features blocks of futuristic architecture by Eric Owen Moss. The modernist homes by Richard Neutra and John Lautner, as well as Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, are shown against dramatic backdrops of sky and sea. The visual sweep of this oversize book also encompasses the Los Angeles of film and television.
 
Los Angeles is a city of dreams, and Los Angeles Today is a glorious portrait of the city in its infinite variety.
Book of the Day Posted Feb 20, 2021

Book of the Day > Deanna Templeton: What She Said

● Purchase ● 'All I look forward to is the weekends, and sometimes they suck just as bad as the week does. God it’s so god damn boring!! When I wake up in the morning I feel like I’m 99 years old!! I’m so tired and lazy and unhappy. I’m only 15 years old, what’s wrong with me, why am I so UNhappy? This world is so fucked! People are so fucked! I’m so fucked or as my brother would say "Your a freak!"'
 
What She Said takes its title from a song by The Smiths: “What she said was sad / But then, all the rejection she’s had / To pretend to be happy / Could only be idiocy.” The work originates in portraits Deanna Templeton made on the streets of the US, Europe, Australia and Russia, in which she captured women in their adolescence: punks and outcasts whose ripped jeans and tights, tattoos, and hairstyles stand as testament to this transitional moment in their lives as they navigate the intensity of teenage life. Templeton grew up in an ostensibly different environment in 1980s youth, but she recognised in them something of the universality of female adolescence, as they struggled with similar disappointments and challenges she encountered as a young woman. The book combines these modern portraits with gig flyers and Templeton’s own teenage journal entries from the mid to late 80s, in which the familiar experience of growing up is laid bare in all its antagonism, humour and pathos.
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