Book of the Day Posted Aug 13, 2020

Book of the Day > Congo As Fiction: Art Worlds Between Past And Present

● Purchase ● There is no single voice of the Democratic Republic of Congo but a multitude of diverse cultures and voices, contributing to a vibrant art scene that attracts interest from around the world. Nowhere in Africa is there an art scene more varied in form, media, and material.
 
Published to accompany an exhibition at Museum Rietberg in Zurich, Congo as Fiction: Art Worlds between Past and Present juxtaposes objects collected and photographs by the German anthropologist Hans Himmelheber during his journey to the Congo from 1938 to 1939 with works by contemporary Congolese artists and essays that investigate the fictions of Congo in both African and Western imaginations. The colorful masks and richly decorated everyday objects collected by Himmelheber reflect the extraordinary creativity and innovativeness of Congolese artists of the period but also the collector’s own idea of Congo. The book links the past with contemporary artistic production, showing how for many years Congolese artists like Sammy Baloji and Sinzo Aanza have been exploring in their work the effects of colonialism and globalized trade.
Book of the Day Posted Aug 12, 2020

Book of the Day > Electronic: From Kraftwerk to the Chemical Brothers

● Purchase ● The visual culture of electronic music: how technology, design, art and fashion have contributed to its enduring power and appeal
 
With its roots in Detroit and Chicago in the early 1980s, electronic dance music was popularized across Europe through underground rave parties and clubs. Its impact on contemporary culture is still unfolding today. Containing interviews with early pioneers such as techno legend Jeff Mills, The Designers Republic’s Ian Anderson, and those pushing the political dimension of electronic music, such as ballroom dancer and DJ Kiddy Smile, Electronic bears witness to the shifting nature of the genre.
 
Illustrated with over 300 images, some published here for the first time, Electronic features Jean-Michel Jarre’s virtual studio; work by pioneer Daphne Oram of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop; audiovisual performances by musicians like Bicep and the Chemical Brothers; fashion collections by Raf Simons and Charles Jeffrey of Loverboy; iconic photography by Jacob Khrist and Tina Paul; artwork by Christian Marclay; club graphics from Peter Saville and Mark Farrow; tons of album cover designs; and iconic venues such as the Haçienda, Gatecrasher, Fabric, Berghain and the Warehouse Project.
Book of the Day Posted Aug 11, 2020

Book of the Day > Noah Davis

● Purchase ● Providing a crucial record of the painter Noah Davis’s extraordinary oeuvre, this monograph tells the story of a brilliant artist and cultural force through the eyes of his friends and collaborators.
 
Despite his exceedingly premature death at the age of 32, Noah Davis created emotionally charged work that places him firmly in the canon of great American painting. Stirring, elusive, and attuned to the history of painting, his compositions infuse scenes from everyday life with a magical realist atmosphere and contain traces of his abiding interest in artists such as Marlene Dumas, Kerry James Marshall, Fairfield Porter, Mark Rothko, and Luc Tuymans.
 
This catalogue is published on the occasion of the 2020 exhibition at David Zwirner, New York, which travels to the Underground Museum in Los Angeles, a space that Davis founded with his wife, artist Karon Davis. In her introduction, catalogue essay, and interviews with important figures in Davis’s life, curator Helen Molesworth shows how the artist’s generosity and sense of responsibility galvanized a uniquely supportive artistic community, culture, and vision. Through color illustrations and archival photographs, the book captures the intimate yet expansive spirit of a studio visit with the artist.
Book of the Day Posted Aug 09, 2020

Book of the Day > Senga Nengudi: Topologies

● Purchase ● Topologies. Published by Hirmer Verlag. “For almost fifty years, Senga Nengudi (b. 1943, USA) has shaped an œuvre that inhabits a specific and unique place between sculpture, dance and performance. Her iconic R.S.V.P sculptures – performative objects made from pantyhose and materials such as sand and stone – have been acquired by important American museums. The publication accompanies the first solo exhibition of Nengudi in Germany at the Lenbachhaus, Munich. Thanks to newly researched material that lay fallow until now, the publication will bring to light an astonishing early work by an artist who has consistently striven to expand the definition of what sculpture can be. Among the bodies of work presented in the book are the Water Compositions (1969–70), interactive vinyl and water sculptures that Nengudi understood as an organic rebuttal to the reign of Minimalism; early fabric works that Nengudi strung up in the back alleys of Harlem, New York; the suggestive R.S.V.P. sculptures (1976–today), some of which were activated in choreographed performances.”

Book of the Day Posted Aug 08, 2020

Book of the Day > Reginald Sylvester II: NEMESIS

● Purchase ● Published on the occasion of Reginald Sylvester II’s exhibition NEMESIS, the inaugural exhibition at Maximillian William, London. This fully illustrated exhibition catalogue is accompanied by a scholarly text, written by Michele Robecchi of Phaidon Press. This book is a limited edition of 300.
Book of the Day Posted Aug 07, 2020

Book of the Day > Ennio Morricone: Master of the Soundtrack

● Purchase ● The first major work dedicated entirely to the discography of the maestro Ennio Morricone.
 
Unique in its genre, Ennio Morricone: Master of the Soundtrack originates from the idea of the collector, author, and cinema expert Maurizio Baroni. Baroni draws on his own archive to give life to a rich selection highlighting over fifty years of a prestigious career, largely unseen before, which includes handwritten scores by the maestro himself, the original album and single cover sleeves from his soundtracks, and much more.
 
This book is a definite homage to this great Italian composer of film soundtracks, probably the most famous in the world. Texts by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci, Liliana Cavani, Lisa Gastoni, Franco Nero, Quentin Tarantino
Book of the Day Posted Aug 06, 2020

Book of the Day > Helen Levitt: A Way of Seeing

● Purchase ● The ultimate edition of Helen Levitt’s classic of New York City street photography, with new high-quality reproductions
 
Ever since it was first published in 1965, Helen Levitt’s collection of photographs taken on the streets of 1940s New York City has been revered as a classic of its genre. Made in collaboration with writer James Agee, who provided the book’s introduction, A Way of Seeing was published twice more with modifications during Levitt’s lifetime. This volume seeks to provide a definitive edition of the book with oversight from Levitt’s former assistant Marvin Hoshino, who has taken pains to include the best available prints and negatives of Levitt’s images.
 
Returned to its original compact size, this edition contains all 50 original photographs in addition to several other images meant to represent Levitt’s later understanding of herself as an artist and visual storyteller. Levitt’s photography has stood the test of time and now provides compelling insight into the daily lives of New York’s youngest denizens long after they have grown up.
Book of the Day Posted Aug 05, 2020

Book of the Day > Sean Scully: The Shape of Ideas

● Purchase ● An extraordinary retrospective of one of the leading abstract painters of our time, surveying the artist’s career from the early 1970s to the present
 
In a sustained exploration of the possibilities of abstraction, Sean Scully (b. 1945) has created a rich body of work throughout his 50-year career. Sean Scully: The Shape of Ideas sets his entire output within a detailed biographical framework, closely examining the relationship between the artist’s paintings and his lesser-known drawings, pastels, watercolors, and prints—areas of Scully’s production that are rarely considered together. At the heart of the book is an investigation of the development and reception of Scully’s work based on historical and contemporary reviews as well as extensive interviews with the artist. Featured contributions include a preface by Marla Price, author of Scully’s multivolume catalogue raisonné, and an essay by the poet and art critic Kelly Grovier on the unique contribution Scully has made to the history of abstraction. Published to coincide with the artist’s touring retrospective exhibition, this publication presents sumptuous illustrations and detailed accounts of his most significant bodies of work, offering new insight into his practice. It is an indispensable resource to understanding Scully’s wide-ranging oeuvre and his influential place in contemporary art history.
Book of the Day Posted Aug 01, 2020

Book of the Day > Fantastic Women: Surreal Worlds from Meret Oppenheim to Frida Kahlo

● Purchase ● Founded by French writer and poet André Breton in 1924, surrealism was an artistic and literary cultural movement known for its visual art and writings that challenged the power of imagination. But it has been an artistic movement most associated with the famous men who’ve become household names in art, such as Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. Yet, there were many more surrealist women artists than has been recognized—until now. Seeking to present the female perspective of the women artists of surrealism, Fantastic Women highlights this forgotten side of the avant-garde movement.
 
Even though most women of the movement were considered to be the partners or models of Breton’s circle, they actually played a larger role. While male surrealists chose to portray women as goddesses, she-devils, dolls, fetishes, nymphets, or imaginary figures, the female artists emphasized the unexpected influences of established gender roles and social behaviors. Their art questioned the female image and role in society while attempting to establish a new persona for generations to come. In true surrealist form, Fantastic Women highlights their creative engagement with the imagination and the unconscious through their fascination with political topics, literature, and foreign myths. Including 350 color plates, Fantastic Women showcases their paintings, drawings, photography, films, and other artworks that create a powerful case for the recognition and celebration of the surreal and fanciful work of the women artists of the avant-garde.
Book of the Day Posted Jul 31, 2020

Book of the Day > Samuel Fosso: Autoportrait

● Purchase ● Autoportrait is the first comprehensive survey of the multifaceted oeuvre of Nigerian photographer Samuel Fosso (born 1962). Since the mid-1970s, Fosso has focused on self-portraiture and performance, envisioning variations of identity in the postcolonial era. From Fosso’s early black-and-white self-portraits from the 1970s to his recent exercises in self-presentation, highlights include the vibrant series Tati (1997), in which he playfully inhabits African and African American characters and archetypes; and the magisterial portraits of African Spirits (2008), where he poses as icons of the pan-African liberation and Civil Rights movements, such as Angela Davis, Martin Luther King, Jr., Patrice Lumumba and Nelson Mandela.
 
This landmark monograph demonstrates Fosso’s unique departure from the traditions of West African studio photography, established in the 1950s and ’60s by modern masters Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé. By charting his conceptual practice of self-portraiture, and sustained engagement with notions of sexuality, gender and self-representation, this book reveals an unprecedented photographic project.
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