PLEASE JOIN US SATURDAY

FEBRUARY 6th, 4:00 to 6:00 PM

FOR A BOOK SIGNING FOR

STEVEN REA: HOLLYWOOD CAFÉ: COFFEE WITH THE STARS

featuring coffee from Cognoscenti

Put on a pot of your favorite coffee, perk up, and enjoy nostalgic black-and-white photos that celebrate screen icons from the Silent Era through the eighties making and drinking their own cups of joe, java, pour-overs, and percolated brews. Hollywood Café bridges the vibrant coffee culture of the present with the glamorous coffee culture of the star-studded past. A cast of nearly two hundred stars - including Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Jane Fonda, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Michael Caine, Robert Mitchum, Rita Hayworth, Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, Lucille Ball, William Holden, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Wayne, Bette Davis, Clara Bow, Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, and many more - is captured on the set, on the run, in costume and out, behind-the-scenes, and at the kitchen table refilling and refueling, sipping and savoring, drinking the good stuff, just like us.

Come meet our longtime pal Steven Rea and celebrate the publication of his charming new follow-up to the ever-popular Hollywood Rides a Bike here at Arcana Saturday, February 6th between 4:00 and 6:00 PM with divine, freshly-brewed coffee graciously provided by our neighbors Cognoscenti Coffee!

We're expecting a healthy turnout, and would appreciate your RSVP for our planning purposes by kindly emailing to let us know you'll be there. If you cannot attend but wish to purchase a signed copy of Hollywood Café: Coffee with the Stars, Hollywood Rides a Bike: Cycling With The Stars - or both! - please place your secure online order here, or call us at 310-458-1499.

Special thanks to:

The Soviet Photobook 1920-1941

A massive, full-illustrated history of photography book making and design from the USSR edited by Manfred Heiting and Mikhail Karasik, and published by Steidl

.

ARCANA Launch and Signing for 'The Soviet Photobook'

Sunday, December 13, 4:00 to 6:00 PM.

Arcana: Books on the Arts and PAC/LA present a launch and signing for The Soviet Photobook - the new 636-page compendium from Steidl. Join author Manfred Heiting for a discussion of the work followed by a book signing and reception.

The Soviet Union was unique in its dynamic use of the illustrated book as a means of propaganda. Through the form of the book, the USSR articulated its utopian (and eventually totalitarian) ideologies and expressed its absolute power through avant-garde writing and radical graphic design that was in full flower during the 1920s and 1930s.

No other country or political system advanced its cause by attracting and employing acclaimed members of the avant-garde. Among them were writers such as Semion Kirsanov, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Ilya Selvinsky, Sergei Tretyakov and Kornely Zelinsky; artist designers such as Gustav Klutsis, Valentina Kulagina, El Lissitzky, Sergei Senkin, Varvara Stepanova, Solomon Telingater and Nikolai Troshin; and photographers such as Dmitry Debabov, Vladimir Griuntal, Boris Ignatovich, Alexander Khlebnikov, Yeleazar Langman, Alexander Rodchenko and Georgy Petrusov, not to mention many of the best printing plants and bookbinders.

Gorgeously produced, edited and designed, The Soviet Photobook 1920-1941 presents 160 of the most stunning and elaborately produced photobooks from this period and includes more than 400 additional reference illustrations. The book also provides short biographies of the photobook contributors, some of whom are presented for the first time.

ANOTHER DOUBLE-HEADER AT ARCANA!

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5th FROM 4:00 TO 6:00 PM

ED TEMPLETON SIGNS TEENAGE SMOKERS 2, ADVENTURES IN THE NEARBY FAR AWAY, WAYWARD COGNITIONS AND MORE!

PLUS

ETHAN RAFAL BRINGS HIS SHOCK AND AWE TOUR 2015 TO ARCANA

(WITH HOMEMADE WALNUT PIE + BOURBON AND MILK!)

EVENT DETAILS AND ORDERING INFORMATION HERE

Book of the day and Book Signing Saturday, 4:00-6:00 – One of two exciting events on Saturday… Details here > Photography is Magic by Charlotte Cotton. Aperture. “Photography Is Magic is a critical publication that surveys the practices of over eighty artists, all of whom are engaged with experimental approaches to photographic ideas, set within the contemporary image environment, framed by Web 2.0. The book contains a substantial essay by Charlotte Cotton and statements from all the contributing artists. The over three hundred image sequence represents the scope of photographic possibilities at play within contemporary creative practices. From Michele Abeles and Walead Beshty to Daniel Gordon and Matt Lipps, Cotton has selected artists who are consciously reframing photographic practices in the post-Internet age. Photography Is Magic provides an engaging physical experience - designed by Harsh Patel - for younger photo aficionados, students, and anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of contemporary photography.”

With images and texts by Michele Abeles, Takaaki Akaishi, Lotta Antonsson, Walead Beshty, Lucas Blalock,Andrey Bogush, Brian Bress, Bianca Brunner, Stefan Burger, Antoine Catala, Phil Chang, Talia Chetrit, Joshua Citarella, Sara Cwynar, Bryan Dooley, Jessica Eaton, Shannon Ebner, Marten Elder, Jason Evans,Sam Falls, Brendan Fowler, Victoria Fu,Daniel Gordon, Darren Harvey-Regan, Leslie Hewitt, Nancy de Holl, John Houck, Go Itami, Rachel de Joode, Farrah Karapetian, Matt Keegan, Annette Kelm, Soo Kim, Yuki Kimura, Josh Kline, Lucas Knipscher,Owen Kydd, Josh Kolbo, Taisuke Koyama,Nico Krebs and Taiyo Onorato, EladLassry, Brandon Lattu, John Lehr, Anthony Lepore, Alexandra Leykauf, Matt Lipps, Florian Maier-Aichen, Phillip Maisel, Annie MacDonell, Emmeline de Mooij, Carter Mull, Nerhol - (Ryuta Iida and YoshihisaTanaka), Katja Novitskova, Arthur Ou, Matthew Porter, Timur Si-Qin, Eileen Quinlan, Jon Rafman, Sean Raspet, Clunie Reid, Abigail Reynolds, Will Rogan, Asha Schechter, Hugh Scott-Douglas, Shirana Shahbazi, Daniel Shea, Erin Shirreff, Elisa Sighicelli, Brea Souders, Kate Steciw, BatiaSuter, Yosuke Takeda, Miguel Ángel Tornero,Sara VanDerBeek, Artie Vierkant, Anne deVries, Hannah Whitaker, Charlie White, Lindsey White, Chris Wiley, Letha Wilson, and Amir Zaki.

IT's an exciting overlapping double header at Arcana this Saturdsay, 11/21. 4:00-7:00.....

4:00-6:00 > Charlotte Cotton: Photography Is Magic

5:00-7:00 > Alec Soth Gathered Leaves

Click above for details! 

Book of the day, book signing tomorrow (4:00-6:00) -- please join us! > Jona Frank: The Modern Kids. Kehrer Verlag. "In the Fall of 2010, photographer Jona Frank began to make portraits at an amateur boxing club just outside of Liverpool in a suburb called Ellesmere Port. All the boys tried to act tough for the camera, and Frank was reminded of a line from the Arcade Fire song Rococo: "They seem wild, but they are so tame". In the song they are singing about going downtown and watching the modern kids. It made Frank think about how these boys, in this town, are in their life. For them, everything is present. This is their 21st Century, their right now, but their faces evoke the past. Many of them, shirtless and sweaty, their hands covered with big, puffy, colorful gloves, look timeless, but the truth is they are like any adolescent who is trying on a role and attempting to find their place. Like the suburb of Liverpool where these photos were made, boxing has a foot in the past while grasping its contemporary purpose. Frank’s photographs provide a record of a sport and a community whose presence is slowly fading.

Bruce Weber states in the books preface "Although some of the most gentlemanly people I have ever met are boxers, for Jona to go into a boxing gym as a woman is a very rare thing. I used to visit a gym out in Las Vegas called Johnny Tocco’s that had a sign which read 'No Women Allowed.' But Jona’s boxers let her have this experience. They wanted to share their moment of glory with her, and she in turn made heroes of them in her photographs. These pictures will be placed on the mantles and the walls in their homes. People will take notice. Their hard work will matter. Some people might confuse the realism of Jona’s work with a certain anti-romanticism. But she’s just bending the ideal by holding true to the photographer’s mantra keep your eyes open and be true to your heart".

If you cannot attend but would like to purchase a signed copy of Jona's new Kehrer Verlag title The Modern Kids, please place your order here, or call us at 310-458-1499.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to unforeseen circumstances we will not be hosting the previously announced Nick Waplington book signing this Saturday, and regret any disappointment and inconvenience this may cause. However, signed copies of Living Room Work Prints and A Good Man's Grave is his Sabbath are still available to order here, or call us at 310-458-1499.

Today!!! - Saturday, November 21st, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
CHARLOTTE COTTON: PHOTOGRAPHY IS MAGIC
+ overlapping second event
Saturday, November 21st, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
ALEC SOTH: GATHERED LEAVES

Saturday, December 5th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
ED TEMPLETON: TEENAGE SMOKERS 2 + MORE
+
ETHAN RAFAL: SHOCK AND AWE (WITH WHISKY AND PIE!)

Sunday, December 13th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
MANFRED HEITING: THE SOVIET PHOTOBOOK 1920-1941
in association with PAC / LA
 

Book of the day & Book Signing Tomorrow (4-6)! Please join us! > How We Live by Marcia Prentice. Te Neues. “How We Live is an intimate photographic journal of designers’ and artists’ homes from around the world, including Mumbai, Beirut, Marrakech, Reykjavik, Mexico City, and Amsterdam, amongst others. American photographer Marcia Prentice traveled to each of the international cities to experience and present ‘the soul’ of a diverse selection of domestic spaces, revealing the unique spirit of each creative environment. The book includes homes shown in the context of both the pristine, more-established design cities as well as urban locales where economic disadvantage and strife impacts daily life. Each of the 18 featured homeowners provide a glimpse into their private, interior world to show us how the design and atmosphere created in one’s own home can be the ultimate artistic canvas.”

Details for the book signing are here. To order a signed copy, click here.

PLEASE JOIN US SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7th
4:00 - 6:00 PM FOR A BOOK SIGNING

HOW WE LIVE
by MARCIA PRENTICE

How We Live is an intimate photographic journal of designers’ and artists’ homes from around the world including Mumbai, Beirut, Marrakech, Reykjavik, Mexico City, and Amsterdam. Los Angeles-based photographer Marcia Prentice traveled to each of these international cities to experience and present ‘the soul’ of a diverse selection of domestic spaces, revealing the unique spirit of each creative environment. The book includes homes shown in the context of both more-established design-cities as well as urban locales where economic disadvantage and strife impacts daily life. Each of the eighteen featured homeowners provides a glimpse into their private, interior world to show us how the design and atmosphere created in one’s own home can be the ultimate artistic canvas.

Marcia Prentice is an American photographer whose style captures the intersection of emotion and design in the home. Her work has been featured in such publications as Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair Italia, and Casa International (Beijing).

We're expecting a healthy turnout, and would appreciate your RSVP for our planning purposes by kindly emailing to let us know you'll be there. If you cannot attend but would like to purchase a signed copy of How We Live, please place your order here, or call us at 310-458-1499.