Book of the Day Posted Feb 25, 2020

James H.D. Brown: Life and Work in Mexico.

Book of the Day, in memory of James H.D. Brown > James H.D. Brown: Life and Work in Mexico. Published by USC Fisher Museum of Art. “Born in 1951 in Glendale, CA, James H.D. Brown relocated with his family to Oaxaca, Mexico in 1995 where he founded Carpe Diem Press. Collaborating with Linotípográfica Quintas, Brown created limited edition art books featuring the work of influential artists from the US and Mexico. Brown often included original prints made by the artists to be inserted in the books themselves. USC Fisher Museum of Art highlights Brown’s unique artist press, featuring approximately twenty books and related ephemera. Some of the artists in the Carpe Diem series include Joan Jonas, Graciela Iturbide, Kiki Smith, and Francisco Toledo. The exhibition will also feature Brown’s "My Other House,” begun in 2009 and worked on continuously since then. The idea for this project came to Brown after his two sons discovered a staircase in their home, leading to an “almost secret” mezzanine. Nobody else was allowed in this place, a sanctuary that the boys called “my other house”. Brown began investigating the idea of having another physical or imaginary place that is fundamental to one's creative and imaginative life.”

Book of the Day Posted Feb 23, 2020

Book of the Day > HIlma af Klint: Visionary

Book of the Day > Hilma af Klint: Visionary. Published by Bokförlaget Stolpe. “The 2018 exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future, introduced the general public to the abstract mystical masterpieces of Swedish painter Hilma af Klint (1862–1944). Based on a seminar held at the Guggenheim Museum at the opening of this acclaimed exhibition, this volume compiles the insights of the seminar’s contributors alongside reproductions of works, archival photographs and images from af Klint’s journals. Hilma af Klint: Visionary explores the social and spiritual movements that appeared at the turn of the 20th century, inspiring the pioneers of modernism and abstract art: Kandinsky, Mondrian, Malevich and af Klint. What was the zeitgeist that inspired such an eruption in abstract art? What were the conditions that created Hilma af Klint? Academics and experts Julia Voss, Tracey Bashkoff, Isaac Lubelsky, Linda Dalrymple Henderson and Marco Pasi each take a different approach. Voss analyzes af Klint's biography, pinpointing five important events in her life; Bashkoff presents her connection to Hilla Rebay and her plans for the building of a temple; Lubelsky traces the origins of theosophy in New York; Henderson examines the occult and science; and Pasi considers esotericism’s changing role in culture.”

Book of the Day Posted Feb 22, 2020

Book of the Day > Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar 1919–1923

Book of the Day > Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar 1919–1923. Published by Lars Müller Publishers. “The book that introduced the Bauhaus to the world: the 1923 catalog for the landmark first Bauhaus exhibition, now available in a new facsimile edition. In 1919, the state art school in Weimar was reopened as the Bauhaus, under the direction of Walter Gropius and with a radical new teaching approach. Four years later, the first Bauhaus exhibition was held, presenting the school’s novel approach to art, design and education to an enthusiastic public locally and internationally. The catalog Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar 1919–1923 was published in 1923 to accompany this first public showcase. This survey of the school’s transdisciplinary oeuvre put the Bauhaus idea on paper for the first time and gave a sense of its potential. Featuring numerous student and faculty projects, it also describes the theoretical doctrines of Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Gertrud Grunow, and thus conveys the teaching methods applied in the various workshops. Gropius’ preface explains the structure of the state-run Bauhaus and introduces its unique reform program, which called for and taught the unity of technology and art. Illustrations from the various workshops show projects by students, work that is still largely unexplored today. With the original layout by László Moholy-Nagy and a cover designed by Herbert Bayer, this expanded facsimile edition of Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar 1919–1923—published in Lars Müller’s XX The Century of Print series—sheds light on the work and aspirations of the Bauhaus from its earliest days. New accompanying commentary places this momentous publication, long out of print, in its historical context, documenting the Bauhaus from initial idea to the standing it would attain as a preeminent school of art and design. In this edition, the German facsimile is accompanied by the first full English translation of the catalog, making it newly accessible to an international audience.”

Book of the Day Posted Feb 20, 2020

Book of the Day > Faith Ringgold

Book of the Day > Faith Ringgold. Published by Walther König Verlag. "Famed for her narrative quilts and her brightly colored paintings of African American life, New York artist Faith Ringgold (born 1930) has consistently challenged perceptions of identity and gender inequality through the lenses of the feminist and the civil rights movements. As cultural assumptions and prejudices persist, her work retains its contemporary resonance both for observers and for fellow artists inspired by her narrative mastery and her ability to give mythical power to scenes of everyday life. Focusing on different series that she has created over the past 50 years, this monograph portrays the breadth of her work, including paintings, story quilts and political posters made during the Black Power movement. The book also includes an interview with the artist conducted by Hans Ulrich Obrist, as well as an essay written by the artist’s daughter, Michelle Wallace."

Book of the Day Posted Feb 19, 2020

Book of the day > Joel Sternfeld: American Prospects – Revised Edition

Book of the Day > Joel Sternfeld: American Prospects – Revised Edition. Published by Steidl. “First published in 1987 to critical acclaim, the seminal American Prospects has been likened to Walker Evans’ American Photographs and Robert Frank’s The Americans in both its ability to visually summarize the zeitgeist of a decade and to influence the course of photography following its publication. This definitive edition of American Prospects contains sixteen new pictures, most of which have neither been published nor exhibited. Freed from the size constraints of previous editions, Sternfeld includes portraits and portraits in the landscape which elucidate the human condition in America. The result is a more complex and rounded view of American society that strongly anticipates Sternfeld’s “Stranger Passing” series (1985–2000) and links the two bodies of work.”

Book of the Day Posted Feb 18, 2020

Book of the day > A True Likeness: The Black South of Richard Samuel Roberts, 1920–1936

Book of the Day > A True Likeness: The Black South of Richard Samuel Roberts, 1920–1936. Published by University of South Carolina Press. “A True Likeness showcases the extraordinary photography of Richard Samuel Roberts (1880–1935), who operated a studio in Columbia, South Carolina, from 1920 to 1935. He was one of the few major African American commercial photographers working in the region during the first half of the twentieth century, and his images reveal the social, economic, and cultural realities of the black South and document the rise of a small but significant southern black middle class. The nearly two hundred photographs in A True Likeness were selected from three thousand glass plates that had been stored for decades in a crawl space under the Roberts home. The collection includes “true likenesses” of teachers, preachers, undertakers, carpenters, brick masons, dressmakers, chauffeurs, entertainers, and athletes, as well as the poor, with dignity and respect and an eye for character and beauty. Thomas L. Johnson and Phillip C. Dunn received a 1987 Lillian Smith Book Award for their work on this book. This new edition of A True Likeness features a new foreword by Elaine Nichols, the supervisory curator of culture at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. A new afterword is provided by Thomas L. Johnson.”

Book of the Day Posted Feb 16, 2020

Book of the Day > Alison Roman: Nothing Fancy

Book of the Day > Alison Roman: Nothing Fancy. Published by Potter. “An unexpected weeknight meal with a neighbor or a weekend dinner party with fifteen of your closest friends—either way and everywhere in between, having people over is supposed to be fun, not stressful. This abundant collection of all-new recipes—heavy on the easy-to-execute vegetables and versatile grains, paying lots of close attention to crunchy, salty snacks, and with love for all the meats—is for gatherings big and small, any day of the week. Alison Roman will give you the food your people want (think DIY martini bar, platters of tomatoes, pots of coconut-braised chicken and chickpeas, pans of lemony turmeric tea cake) plus the tips, sass, and confidence to pull it all off. With Nothing Fancy, any night of the week is worth celebrating.”

Book of the Day Posted Feb 13, 2020

Book of the Day > Larry Niehues: Nothing has Changed

Book of the Day > Larry Niehues: Nothing has Changed. Published by Lannoo. "Nothing Has Changed is a powerful portrait of present-day America as seen through the lens of photographer Larry Niehues. During a six-year road trip, Niehues visited every state in the union, documenting the everyday life of ordinary people in much the same way Robert Frank did. His pictures, shot today but with the nostalgic imperfection of yesteryear's 35mm film, seemingly transport us back in time. They convey the essence and nostalgia of the mythical 'American way of life' (motels, diners, gas stations ...) in a rough, powerful, authentic way. Through his vision of America as it is, Larry Niehues brings to life the grandeur of America as it was."

Book of the Day Posted Feb 11, 2020

Book Signing Saturday, 2/15, 4-6 pm: Do You Compute? Selling Tech from the Atomic Age to the Y2K Bug 1950-1999 edited by Ryan Mungia and J.C. Gabel

Book Signing this Saturday, Feb 15, from 4-6 pm for: Do You Compute? Selling Tech from the Atomic Age to the Y2K Bug 1950-1999 edited by Ryan Mungia and J.C. Gabel. Published by Hat & Beard Press. "Before Alexa and the iPhone, there was the large and unwieldy mainframe computer. In the postwar 1950s, computers were mostly used for aerospace and accounting purposes. To the public at large, they were on a rung that existed somewhere between engineering and science fiction. Magazine ads and marketing brochures were designed to create a fantasy surrounding these machines for prospective clients: Higher profit margins! Creativity unleashed! Total automation! With the invention of the microchip in the 1970s came the PC and video games, which shifted the target of computer advertising from corporations to the individual. By the end of the millennium, the notion of selling tech burst wide open to include robots, cell phones, blogs, online dating services, and much, much more. Do You Compute? is a broad survey featuring the very best of computer advertising in the 20th century. From the Atomic Age to the Y2K bug, this volume presents a connoisseur’s selection of graphic gems culled from museums, university archives, and private collections to illustrate the evolution of the computer from its early days as a hulking piece of machinery to its current state as a handheld device. Accompanied by two essays—one by cultural anthropologist Ryan Mungia and the other by graphic design historian Steven Heller—and including five different decade-long timelines that highlight some of the most influential moments in computer history, this fun yet meaningful volume is a unique look at the computer and how it has shaped our world."

Book of the Day Posted Feb 09, 2020

Book of the Day > Peter Funch: The Imperfect Atlas

Book of the Day > Peter Funch: The Imperfect Atlas. Published by TBW Books. “Peter Funch’s latest project addresses the passage of time and man’s continued and evolving effects on the environment. Appropriately, Funch explores the Anthropocene by employing a photographic technique invented at the height of the Industrial Revolution, that of RGB tri-color separations. Featuring images captured during Funch’s various trips through the Northern Cascade Mountain Range, the book is an imperfect recreation of landscapes and wilderness as depicted in the archive of vintage postcards and ephemera of the region the artist amassed throughout his travels. Using maps and satellite imagery to locate the position where the postcard images were created, Funch recaptures the landscapes across three distinct exposures via red, green, and blue filters, transposed one on top of the other. As time collapses across the recreated landscapes, features and events are revealed or obscured by each successive filter, speaking to what Funch calls “our blindness to the consequences we are creating.” The Imperfect Atlas brings to light a dialogue on man’s severe and accelerated impact on nature, a solemn and mystifying visual archive of a wilderness the future may not behold.”