EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO ALL.
For most people in the West, the realities of life behind the Iron Curtain have faded into caricatures of police state repression and bread lines. With the world seemingly again divided between democracies and authoritarian regimes, it is essential that we understand the reality of life in the Soviet Bloc. noted American photojournalist Arthur Grace was uniquely placed to provide that context.
During the 1970s and 1980s Grace traveled extensively behind the Iron Curtain, working primarily for news magazines. One of only a small corps of Western photographers with ongoing access, he was able to delve into the most ordinary corners of people’s daily lives, while also covering significant events. Many of the photographs in this remarkable book are effectively psychological portraits that leave the viewer with a sense of the gamut of emotions in that era.
Illustrated with over one hundred and twenty black-and-white images - nearly all previously unpublished, Communism(s) gives an unprecedented glimpse behind the veil of a not-so-distant time filled with harsh realities unseen by nearly all but those that lived through it. Shot in the USSR, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia and the German Democratic Republic, here are portraits of factory workers, farmers, churchgoers, vacationers and loitering teens juxtaposed with the GDR’s imposing Social Realist-designed apartment blocks, annual May Day Parades, Poland’s Solidarity movement (and the subsequent imposition of martial law) and the vastness of Moscow’s Red Square.
Beautifully printed in Italy by publisher Damiani Editore, Communism(s) was co-edited by Arthur Grace, Arcana's own Lee Kaplan, and Deadbeat Club Press' Clint Woodside, who also contributed the book's striking design. Read some of its impressive advance reviews from The New York Times, Washington Post, and The Sunday London Times, and join us Saturday, June 11th to acquire your own copy of this timely document signed by photographer Arthur Grace
If you cannot attend, place an order here for your very own copy of Communism(s) signed by Arthur Grace to be picked up at the store or shipped to you after the event.
● Purchase ●
PLEASE JOIN US SATURDAY, MARCH 19th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM FOR A BOOK SIGNING
RICHARD MISRACH: NOTATIONS
If you cannot attend, you may order signed copy of the book to be picked up at the store or shipped to you after the event: please place your order here. Since 2006, coinciding with his shift away from analog film to working exclusively with a digital camera, Richard Misrach has been exploring the aesthetic possibilities of the negative image. His latest body of work, debuted in this deluxe, oversize (16.75 by 13 inches), landscape-format volume, comprises dazzling, sublime photographs of landscapes and natural scenes—in negative, but using color with great dexterity and nuance.
Inspired by Ansel Adams’ comparison of the photographic negative to a musical score, and John Cage’s 1969 book, Notations, which compiles music scores as art, Misrach here envisages the photographic image as a score-like negative, teetering on abstraction, that invites a diversity of interpretations. The result is a series of immense beauty unlike any previous Misrach publication. Published by Radius Books; text by Darius Himes.
Richard Misrach is one of the most influential photographers working today. For the past five decades, he has used visually stunning, large-scale color vistas to address human intervention in the natural world. He lives and works in Berkeley, California.
EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO ALL.
FACE COVERING REQUIRED!
SATURDAY, JANUARY 15th, 3:00 - 5:00 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 29TH, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
SENON WILLIAMS: WORDS DON'T MEAN MUCH
BOOK SIGNING
Please join us on Saturday, December 11th, 4:00-6:00 PM for a double book signing:
TODD HIDO | OUTSKIRTS (REMASTERED, 2021)
MARINA LUZ: A LIBRARY OF MISREMEMBERED BOOKS
We are thrilled to have Todd Hido and Marina Luz join us on Saturday 12/11/21 to launch their new books. You can pre-order SIGNED COPIES of each here!
Still Lives: In the Homes of Artists, Great and Unsung, the latest and greatest from Leslie Williamson (Handcrafted Modern, Modern Originals, Interior Portraits) will have its Los Angeles launch on Saturday, December 4th at Arcana -- please join us to celebrate this fabulous new book!
If you can't make it but would like to have a book signed by Ms. Williamson, you can order one here or email or phone us (310-458-1499).
