Book of the Day > Vija Celmins: To Fix the Image in Memory. Published by Yale University Press. “ Best known for her striking drawings of ocean surfaces, begun in 1968 and revisited over many years both in drawings and paintings, Vija Celmins (b. 1938) has been creating exquisitely detailed renderings of natural imagery for more than five decades. The oceans were followed by desert floors and night skies—all subjects in which vast, expansive distances are distilled into luminous, meticulous, and mesmerizing small-scale artworks. For Celmins, this obsessive “redescribing” of the world is a way to understand human consciousness in relation to lived experience. The first major publication on the artist in twenty years, this comprehensive and lavishly illustrated volume explores the full range of Celmins’s work produced since the 1960s—drawings and paintings as well as sculpture and prints. Scholarly essays, a narrative chronology, and a selection of excerpts from interviews with the artist illuminate her methods and techniques; survey her early years in Los Angeles, where she was part of a circle that included James Turrell and Ken Price; and trace the development of her work after she moved to New York City and befriended figures such as Robert Gober and Richard Serra.”

Book of the Day > Eric Fischl: If Art Could Talk. Published by Mousse Publishing. “Eric Fischl (New York, 1948) is one of only a handful of contemporary painters who regularly, though by no means exclusively, employs sourced images, culled from the internet, newspapers, and magazines, to inform his paintings. The artist then adds his own photographs and blends a final ensemble of information and storytelling. No kings or generals or momentous battles move across Fischl’s canvases, and most of his subjects are quotidian rather than grandiose—suburban bourgeois families, art world mongers and awkward social interactions. In his works, communication is nonexistent and boredom is pervasive. The book, published on the occasion of a solo show held at Dallas Contemporary museum, includes more than 120 painting reproductions and a conversation between Eric Fischl and Peter Doroshenko.”

PLEASE JOIN US THIS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1st, 4:00 - 6:00

TO CELEBRATE THE PUBLICATION OF BILL BERKSON'S

SINCE WHEN: A MEMOIR IN PIECES

WITH A PRESENTATION BY FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND COLLEAGUES HONORING HIS LIFE AND WORK

Bill Berkson was a poet, art critic, and joyful participant in the best of postwar and bohemian American culture. He collaborated with many artists and writers, including Alex Katz, Philip Guston, and Frank O’Hara. He was the author of several collections of poetry and criticism, and appeared in ARTnews, Art in America, and many more. Formerly a professor of liberal arts at the San Francisco Art Institute, he was born in New York in 1939, and died in June 2016. Since When: A Memoir in Pieces gathers the ephemera of a life well lived, a collage of bold-face names such as John Cage, Allen Ginsburg, and Marilyn Monroe, parties, exhibitions, and literary history from a man who could write “of [Truman Capote's Black and White] ball, which I attended as my mother’s escort, I have little recollection” and reminisce about imagining himself as a character from Tolstoy while tripping on acid at Woodstock. Gentle, witty, and eternally generous, this is Bill, and a particular moment in American history, at its best.

We are honored to celebrate its launch with a very special tribute to Bill Berkson featuring readings from his works by Moses Berkson, Constance Lewallen, DeeDee Gordon, Karen Moss, Joan Simon, Mitch Temple, Dorit Cypis, Aram Saroyan, Michael Smoler, and Lisa Johns.

If you are unable to attend but would like to purchase a copy of Bill Berkson's Since When: A Memoir in Pieces from Coffee House Press signed by some of the participants, please order from our website or by phone at 310-458-1499.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1st, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF BILL BERKSON
 

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2nd, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
ED TEMPLETON: TANGENTIALLY PARENTHETICAL

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
MONA KUHN: BUSHES & SUCCULENTS
MONA KUHN IN CONVERSATION WITH DEANNA TEMPLETON
PRESENTED WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS COUNCIL / LOS ANGELES

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
ANTHONY WILSON: SONGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
PERFORMANCE AND BOOK SIGNING
 

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15th, 4:00 - 6:00 pm
TODD HIDO: BRIGHT BLACK WORLD

AND we'll be participating in a special off-site book signing on Monday, December 3rd, 6:00 - 8:00 PM

THIS IS MEXICO CITY - BOOK SIGNING WITH AUTHOR ABBY CLAWSON LOW
at the KNEELAND CO. HOLIDAY POP-UP
at Show Gallery - 1515 N. Gardner Street Los Angeles, CA 90046

Thanks to Samantha Brooks, Stephanie Rafanelli, Andrea Richard, and Stephanie Theobald for including us in the Louis Vuitton Los Angeles city guide

again!

Book of the Day > Oscar G. Rejlander: Artist Photographer. Published by Yale University Press in conjunction with the National Gallery of Canada. “A fascinating survey of the varied career of an inventive and influential 19th-century photographer, from allegorical montage to Darwin’s catalogue of emotions. Oscar G. Rejlander (1813–1875) was a Swedish-born photographer who pioneered the genre of art photography. He is best known for combining negatives to form elaborate allegorical compositions and for his ability to communicate expression through his photographic studies and portraits. His influence shines in the works of other important photographers of the day. This catalogue accompanies the first major retrospective on this vital yet understudied figure and considers the whole range of his activities, including his work as a painter and printmaker. Lori Pauli introduces Rejlander with a comprehensive survey of his life and career. Three essays follow, from leading scholars in the field of 19th-century photography, with topics ranging from Rejlander’s engagement with Victorian painting, to his studio and working methods, to his artistic circle and work with Charles Darwin. Engagingly written and beautifully illustrated, this publication fills a void in scholarship on Rejlander; it also sheds light more broadly on the intersection of art and science and the uses of photography in Victorian culture, as well as the history of photography and its impact on Victorian culture.”

Book of the Day > Supersonic: The Design and Lifestyle of Concorde. Published by Prestel. BOOK SIGNING SATURDAY, 11/17/18 4PM-6PM!

When the first commercial Concordes zoomed off the runways in Paris and London in the late 1960s, crossing the Atlantic in just under three hours, they established a new standard for luxury flight. Powered by 38,000 pounds of thrust and easily recognizable with its delta wing and drooping nose, the Concorde jet embodied the pinnacle of aviation technology and industrial design. It quickly became the preferred mode of transatlantic flight for superstars and business moguls alike. Opening with a lively history of the jet and how it changed travel, the book focuses on the look and feel of the Concorde. Photos of the jet’s evolving interiors show how the original, starkly designed cabin gave way to luxury seats and interiors designed by the likes of Sir Terence Conran and Andrée Putman. Filled with fascinating historical and technical background, and drawn from the author’s personal collection of more than one thousand Concorde-related objects, this elegant book offers rarely seen historical photography and firsthand contributions from the people who helped create the Concorde experience from take-off to landing and beyond.

Book of the Day > Ryan McGinley: Mirror Mirror. Published by Rizzoli Publications. “Ryan McGinley, since the earliest days of his unparalleled career, has chronicled his friends and cohorts. Whether on the now legendary annual road trips he has organized with a large coterie of twentysomethings documenting summertime exploits or documenting the early gritty years in downtown New York, McGinley is known as the consummate storyteller about freedom and abandon of youth. A few years ago, however, he wanted to challenge his creative habits and asked more than one hundred of his friends and colleagues--guided by detailed instructions and a camera given to them by the artist--to take nude self-portraits using mirrors and other props. Though related to the ubiquitous selfie, the participants didn't have the benefit of seeing the image before they clicked the shutter. Furthermore, McGinley would make the selection of the final image to represent the photo session. The experiment yielded scores of intimate and psychologically revealing photos that--even though not done by his own hand--bear some signature McGinley flourishes in their emotional depth and resonance.”

Book of the Day > R. Crumb’s Dream Diary. Published by Elara Press. “For more than 40 years, legendary American artist Robert Crumb has documented his nightly dreams in a meticulously kept private journal. This material has stood as a guarded secret in a career defined by an impish compulsion to publically self-disclose. All of the artist's well-documented preoccupations are present and accounted for—rampant egomania, insatiable lust, profound self-disgust, the sad beauty of old America, the moral bankruptcy of new America and the fool's errand quest for spiritual enlightenment—but here they are entirely untamed, springing forth from forces beyond even his control. Published for the first time, the complete Dream Diaries offer readers a deep, dark look under the hood of one of America's most aggressively dynamic comedic voices.”