Book of the Day Posted Dec 08, 2019

Book of the Day > French New Wave: A Revolution In Design

Book of the Day > French New Wave: A Revolution In Design. Published by Reel Art Press. “The French New Wave is one of the most important movements in the history of film. Its fresh energy and vision changed the cinematic landscape and it has had a seminal impact on pop culture. The poster artists tasked with selling these Nouvelle Vague films to the masses were at the forefront of a revolution in art, graphic design and photography. This volume is a visual celebration of their explosive and groundbreaking poster art. Featuring posters from several countries, the diverse imagery for films like Breathless, Fahrenheit 451 and Le Mepris is accompanied by biographies on over 100 artists, photographers and designers – the first time many of those responsible for promoting and portraying this movement have been properly recognized.”

Book of the Day Posted Dec 06, 2019

Book of the Day > Todd Hido: House Hunting

Book of the day & book signing tomorrow (Saturday! 4-6) – PLEASE JOIN US > Todd Hido: House Hunting. Published by Nazraeli Press. “’Todd Hido’s large color photographs of suburbia are lonely, forlorn, mysterious… and strangely comforting. Hido photographs the interior rooms of repossessed tract homes, and the outsides of similar houses at night whose habitation is suggested by the glow of a television set or unseen overhead bulb. Seldom does the similar evoke such melancholy. Yet rather than passing judgment on his anonymous subjects, Hido manages to turn the banal into something beautiful, imbuing his prints of interiors with soft pastels, and allowing the exteriors to glow in the cool evening air.’ — From Nazraeli’s description of the first printing of House Hunting, announced in 2000. We are excited to announce a newly remastered edition of Todd Hido’s iconic and highly sought-after first monograph, House Hunting. To celebrate the upcoming 20th anniversary of this important book – certainly one of the most influential and oft-cited photography monographs of our time – Nazraeli has collaborated closely with the artist to achieve a new impression of the highest possible fidelity. Printed on heavy weight matte art paper, using cutting-edge technologies in both the pre-press and production phases, this new edition of House Hunting stays true to the original design and format while delivering even more accurate color rendition and nuances in tone and saturation. It will be a welcome addition to collections lacking access to the very scarce original printings; and to those fortunate enough to own a copy of the original edition, it further illuminates the images themselves that first catapulted the artist and his first monograph to fame. Todd Hido’s photographs have been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, and most recently at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Le Locle, Switzerland. Other major institutions that have exhibited Hido’s work include the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Miami Art Museum, Florida; Netherland Architecture Institute, Rotterdam; Palazzo Ducale, Genova, Italy; Samsung Museum of Modern Art in Korea; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work was recently on view in the 49th edition of Les Recontres d’Arles, France. Work by Hido is held in public and private collections including the Guggenheim Museum, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Smithsonian; and Fotomuseum Winterthur.”
Book of the Day Posted Dec 05, 2019

Book of the Day > New York Club Kids

Book of the Day > New York Club Kids. Published by Damiani. "New York: Club Kids is a high-impact visual diary of New York City in the 1990s, seen through the eyes of Walt Cassidy, known as Waltpaper, a central figure within the Club Kids. The Club Kids—named thus by New York Magazine in 1988—were an artistic, fashion-conscious youth movement that crossed over into the public consciousness through appearances on daytime talk shows, magazine editorials, fashion campaigns and music videos, planting the seeds for popular cultural trends such as reality television, self-branding, “influencers” and the gender revolution. Known for their outrageous looks, legendary parties and sometimes illicit antics, the Club Kids were the embodiment of Generation X and would prove to be the last definitive subculture group of the analog world. The ’90s have come to be known as the last discernible and cohesive decade, cherished by those who experienced it and romanticized by those who missed it. The first comprehensive visual document of ’90s nightlife and street culture, New York: Club Kids grants special access to an underground world, providing exclusive insight into the lifestyle of this celebrated and notorious clique. Featuring rare and previously unseen photographs along with magazine editorials and ephemera, the book culls from the personal archives of various photographers and artists—some celebrated, and many others whose recognition is long overdue."
Book of the Day Posted Dec 04, 2019

Book of the day > Do You Compute? Selling Tech from the Atomic Age to the Y2K Bug, 1950-1999

Book of the day > Do You Compute? Selling Tech from the Atomic Age to the Y2K Bug, 1950-1999 by Ryan Mungia & Steven Heller. Edited by Ryan Mungia & J.C. Gabel , Designed by Ryan Mungia, Cover design by John Zabawa. Published by Hat & Beard Press with Boyo 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.
Save the date for LA Book Launch at Arcana: 2/15/2020!
Book of the Day Posted Dec 03, 2019

Book of the Day > Ben Hassett: Color

Book of the Day > Ben Hassett: Color. Published by Damiani. "Printed with ultraviolet ink in a hand-numbered, slipcased edition of 1,000 copies, Color is the first monograph by British photographer Ben Hassett. In keeping with his acute sense of the powerful language of color photography, Hassett invites us into his world of photographic experimentation to experience the possibilities of this chromatic medium. Color draws together Hassett’s iconic fashion and beauty images, studio still lifes, abstract in-camera works and landscape photographs to present his unique lexicon of color photography. Putting aside the conventions of chronological and project-by-project sequencing, the book instead pursues a dynamic reading that surveys the past ten years of Hassett’s standing as an influential image-maker. Color is designed by veteran art and creative director Fabien Baron (known for his innovative art direction of Harper's Bazaar, Interview and Madonna’s infamous 1992 book Sex) and includes an essay about Ben Hassett’s photographic approach and effect by renowned curator and writer Charlotte Cotton."
 
Book of the Day Posted Dec 01, 2019

Book of the Day > Lair: Radical Homes and Hideouts of Movie Villains

Book of the Day > Lair: Radical Homes and Hideouts of Movie Villains. Published by Tra Publishing. “Why do bad guys live in good houses? From Atlantis in The Spy Who Loved Me to Nathan Bateman's ultra-modern abode in Ex Machina, big-screen villains often live in architectural splendor. From a design standpoint, the villain’s lair, as popularized in many of our favorite movies, is a stunning, sophisticated, envy-inducing expression of the warped drives and desires of its occupant. Lair: Radical Homes and Hideouts of Movie Villains, celebrates and considers several iconic villains’ lairs from recent film history. From futuristic fantasies to deathtrap-laden hives, from dwellings in space to those under the sea, pop culture and architecture join forces in these outlandish, primarily modern homes and in Lair, which features buildings from fifteen films.”

Book of the Day Posted Nov 30, 2019

Book of the Day > Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924-Today

Book of the Day > Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924-Today. Published by Vitra Design Museum. "One of the most influential art movements of the 20th century, surrealism expanded our artistic and quotidian reality by drawing upon myths, dreams and the subconscious as sources of artistic inspiration. The movement began in literature and art, but by the 1930s it was beginning to have an impact on design—an influence that continues to this day. The fascination was often mutual: surrealism opened design up to the realm of dreams, and design could introduce surrealism to the wider world. “I try to create fantastic things, magical things, things like in a dream,” Salvador Dalí said of his work. “The world needs more fantasy.” Designers in fashion, furniture design, advertising, theater, film and architecture took up the call. Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design is the first book to document this fascinating conversation. The publication includes numerous essays and a comprehensive selection of images which trace the reciprocal exchanges between surrealism and design by juxtaposing exemplary artworks and design objects. Among the artists and designers featured in this volume are Gae Aulenti, Louise Bourgeois, Umberto and Fernando Campana, Achille Castiglioni, Giorgio de Chirico, Le Corbusier, Salvador Dalí, Marcel Duchamp, Frederick Kiesler, René Magritte, Carlo Mollino, Meret Oppenheim, Jerszy Seymour, and many others. Historical texts and short commentaries by contemporary designers round out the publication, putting the extravagant objects in context. In-depth yet appropriately fantastical, Objects of Desire makes one thing abundantly clear: form does not always follow function in design—it can also follow our obsessions, fantasies and hidden desires."
Book of the Day Posted Nov 29, 2019

Book of the Day > Vernacular Architecture; Atlas For Living Throughout the World

Book of the Day > Vernacular Architecture; Atlas For Living Throughout the World.  Published by Birkhauser.  "Traditional building methods – such as those used in pueblos, timbered houses, or the Japanese minka – exist in fascinating diversity and create the face of a region. However, as a result of globalization they have been marginalized in many places. In the fastest developing countries in particular, a wealth of experience that goes back hundreds of years is being irretrievably lost, even though valuable insights can be gained for modern building.
Using the examples of selected domestic buildings from all continents, 30 international experts demonstrate why we can still learn from vernacular architecture; they analyze the cultural context and the adaptation to topographic/climactic conditions, and focus on the local materials used as well as on the construction, the building process, and the necessary maintenance."
Book of the Day Posted Nov 24, 2019

Book of the Day > Supreme Volume 2

Book of the Day > Supreme: Volume 2. Published by Phaidon. “The 351-page hardcover book documents the brand’s visual history from 2010-2018, stemming from products, collaborations, and game-changing events the brand has been a part of. The likes of Nobuyoshi Araki, David Sims, Kate Moss, and Dash Snow will be featured amongst the number of past collabs highlighted. The book will lead with a poem by Harmony Korine and an essay by Carlo McCormick.”

Book of the Day Posted Nov 22, 2019

Book of the Day > Hugh Holland: Silver. Skate. Seventies.

Book of the day and must-come book signing with Hugh Holland tomorrow! (Sat. 11/23, 4-6) >  Silver. Skate. Seventies. By Hugh Holland. Published by Chronicle Chroma. Please join us tomorrow at Arcana to meet the fabulous Hugh Holland and toast to his documentation of a not-so-distant yet kinder and gentler Southern California. And as a bonus, we'll be debuting the release of two brand new images from WAX Poster featuring his iconic images of youthful four-wheeled abandon. If you cannot attend but wish to purchase any of the WAX posters, a signed copy of the book, or a signed copy of the super-deluxe edition of Silver.Skate.Seventies you can do it on our website or by phone.
"In the 1970s, photographer Hugh Holland masterfully captured the burgeoning culture of skateboarding against a sometimes harsh but always sunny Southern California landscape. This never-before-published collection showcases his black-and-white photographs that document young skateboarders sidewalk surfing off Mulholland Drive in concrete drainage ditches and empty swimming pools in a drought-ridden Southern California. From suburban backyard haunts to the asphalt streets that connected them, this was the place that inspired the legendary Dogtown and Z-Boys skateboarders. With their requisite bleached-blond hair, tanned bodies, tube socks and Vans, these young outsiders evoke the sometimes reckless but always exhilarating origins of skateboarding lifestyle and culture."
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