Book of the day > Ed Templeton: Hairdos of Defiance. Published by Dead Beat Club Press (@deadbeatclub).  " 'An explosion of spiked fluorescent pink hair precariously balanced atop a young girl’s head, eyes painted black in the shape of an Egyptian goddess, slender neck choked by a black leather dog collar ringed with metal thorns, a ripped-up t-shirt barely concealing the flesh of her breasts: it had the same shocking effect on a family walking along London’s King’s Road in 1977 as it did on the explorers encountering the Pawnee Indians in 1541, something exotic and strange to behold. Having a punk hairstyle was a way to spit in the eye of polite society, to rebel and depart from the prevailing fashion trends. It was an emblem of non-conformity and a hairdo of defiance - until it wasn’t.' —Excerpt from "On Mohawks" by Ed Templeton (@ed.templeton).

From Disneyland to Detroit, Spokane to Scotland, Hairdos of Defiance highlights Templeton’s encounters with iconic punk-rock plumage across two decades and two continents. Shot on film, the portraits in Hairdos of Defiance track this ubiquitous expression of individuality on friends and strangers. In the accompanying essay On Mohawks, Templeton reflects on the evolution of the mohawk, from its origins in indigenous culture to its emergence as a punk identifier, to its co-option by the mainstream, to its significance in his own life as an outsider kid growing up in suburbia."

Please join us Thursday, May 3rd between 6:00 and 8:00 PM to celebrate the West Coast launch of Creative Director Alexander McWhirter's brand new Fashion journal, Public. The beautifully designed, large-format first issue features five portfolios photographed by Glen Luchford, Nadine Fraczkowski, Vivien Solari, Benjamin Lennox, and Greta Ilieva along with images by McWhirter and Alice Neale.

Notes the publisher: "The obvious is all around us. It is a void in which everything has been fine-tuned to such an extent that indistinctiveness prevails. 'Cool' has become inoffensive and predictable, and taste is easy to place a pulse on. Issue 1 of Public breaks this pattern of democratized cool, bringing together a body of work that covers a unique perspective on subjects in life."

Originally from London, Alexander McWhirter began his career in New York as the Art Director at V Magazine before founding McWhirter Studio. His projects focus on working closely with distinctive collaborators to present a narrative that observes human interaction, be that with our environment or with each other. The story is woven together with elements from art and fashion, the resulting idea is unmistakable and inclusive to all. He has collaborated with Visionaire, Suzanne Geiss Gallery, Cultural Traffic, and most recently Calvin Klein, where he worked closely with Raf Simons and Pieter Mulier on 2017 campaigns for Calvin Klein Jeans, Underwear, and the 205W39NYC RTW Collection Book.

Come meet Alexander McWhirter and contributor Glen Luchford who will be in attendance for a rare weeknight event here at Arcana this coming Thursday between 6:00 and 8:00 PM. Issue 1 of Public is limited to a mere two-hundred and fifty copies, and will soon be gone for good. If you cannot attend but would like to purchase a copy signed by both, please place your order here, or call us at 310-458-1499.

Book of the day > Ruth Asawa. Published by David Zwirner Books. "Known for her intricate and dynamic wire sculptures, the American sculptor, educator and arts activist Ruth Asawa challenged conventional notions of material and form through her emphasis on lightness and transparency.

Asawa began her now iconic looped-wire works in the late 1940s while still a student at Black Mountain College. Their unique structure was inspired by a 1947 trip to Mexico, during which local craftsmen taught her how to create baskets out of wire. While seemingly unrelated to the lessons of color and composition taught in Josef Albers’ legendary Basic Design course, these works, as she explained, are firmly grounded in his teachings in their use of unexpected materials and their elision of figure and ground.

Presenting an important and timely overview of the artist’s work, this monograph brings together a broad selection of her sculptures, works on paper and more. Together they demonstrate the centrality of Asawa’s innovative practice to the art-historical legacy of the 20th century. In addition to an incredible group of photographs of the artist and her work by Imogen Cunningham, a selection of rare archival materials illustrates a chronology of the artist’s life and work. Also featured is an extensive text by Tiffany Bell that explores the artist’s influences, history, and, most importantly, the work itself, as well as a significant essay by Robert Storr discussing Asawa’s work in relation to mid-20th century art history, culture and scientific theory."

Book of the day > Art & Vinyl. Edited by Jeffrey Fraenkel. Published by Fraenkel Gallery / Editions Antoine de Beaupré. "Art & Vinyl is an exhilarating new look into the history of the vinyl record as a medium for modern and contemporary visual art. This beautifully designed and printed publication is the first book to focus in-depth on works of art created specifically for an album, composer or musician.

With reproductions of more than 200 LPs from the mid-20th century to the present, Art & Vinyl traces the trajectory of how the record album has been considered by artists as material for a work of art. The book begins with Pablo Picasso’s 1949 depiction of the dove of peace, printed directly on an audio disc. Significantly, the recording was Paul Robeson’s Chante Pour La Paix (Singing for Peace). Art & Vinyl also includes works by artists as disparate and wide-ranging as Ed Ruscha, Marlene Dumas, Cy Twombly, Yoko Ono, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barbara Kruger, Robert Rauschenberg, Sol LeWitt, Sophie Calle and Andy Warhol.

Highlights include Gerhard Richter’s extraordinary oil painting made directly on a recording of Glenn Gould’s Bach: The Goldberg Variations (1984), as well as Allan Kaprow’s LP How to Make a Happening (1966). Also featured are albums of original recordings by Joseph Beuys, Yves Klein, Jean Dubuffet, Christian Marclay and Wolfgang Tillmans, among others. Some of the better-known artists' covers for rock, pop and jazz albums featured here are Jann Haworth and Peter Blake's Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; Jim Dine's cover for The Best of Cream; Lee Friedlander's portrait of Miles Davis for In a Silent Way; Warhol's cover for Sticky Fingers and Robert Frank's Exile on Main Street; Mapplethorpe's classic Patti Smith portrait for Horses; Robert Longo's cover for Glenn Branca's The Ascension; Fischli/Weiss's Liliput; and Alec Soth's cover for Dolorean's The Unfazed.

Art & Vinyl has been assembled over the course of nearly a decade by curator and collector Antoine de Beaupré, author of Total Records and founder of Librarie Galerie 213 in Paris."

Book of the day > Jessica Antola: Circadian Landscape. Published by Damiani. "Jessica Antola’s first monograph is a vibrant journey through Sub-Saharan Africa. Traveling mostly by car, she captures the distinctive style and beauty of everyday life in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia, Senegal and Togo. Her striking portraits, landscapes and vignettes offer an intimate view of life lived in rural villages, big cities and along the remote roadways between the two. Men dressed head to toe in elaborate African wax textiles share a motorcycle; ancestral spirits bridge earthly and supernatural worlds in masked dances; the rich red soil dusts the lush tropical jungle; a girl in an oversized straw hat steers her boat with a boldly patterned patchwork sail; and a gold jewelry-clad Kumasi King performs a warrior dance. Antola is captivated by how people around the world express themselves in relation to their environments, and her images reflect the astonishing variety of ways people create and define themselves daily through dress and ritual, work and play."

Book of the day > Dark City. The Real L.A. Noir by Jim Heimann. Published by @Taschen. "In the years following World War I, Los Angeles was a city awakening to its darker side, transforming itself from a backwater town to a gleaming metropolis and city of the future. But along the way a tarnished patina began to coat its ever-more glamorous façade. As thousands flocked to the city with their dreams and desires, so too came get-rich-quick schemes, phony religions, organized crime, and corruption.

A visual history like no other, Dark City brings together images from archives, museums, newspaper photo morgues, private collections, and the author’s extensive image library to reveal the true grit, grime, and sheer horror stories of Los Angeles from the 1920s to 1950s. In large format, we roam through the back alleys, gin joints, tattoo parlors, gambling dens, nightclubs, and the most brutal crime scenes, to uncover a city crawling with murder and mayhem.

From Sunset Boulevard to a jazz-saturated Central Avenue, tabloid headlines chronicle the most famous celebrities and infamous crimes in a hopped-up city that provided inspiration for journalists, pulp fiction scribes, and filmland script writers in their creation of the noir genre. With rare vintage magazine reprints from the crime tabloids of the time, this is a uniquely evocative visual history through which the crime, crooks, crazies, and mean streets of the City of Angels are transformed from myth to reality."

Book of the day > Give Me Shelter: Architecture Takes on the Homeless Crisis. Published by ORO Editions. "Give Me Shelter documents the work of the MADWORKSHOP Homeless Studio at the USC School of Architecture and their solutions for tackling the Los Angeles homeless crisis through design, compassion, and humanity. The book features exclusive content from leaders in the field including Michael Maltzan, Ted Hayes, Betty Chinn, Gregory Kloehn, Skid Row Housing Trust, and many more. Paired with a forward by Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, Give Me Shelter provides an in-depth look at how design can bridge the gap in services to get people off the streets and into housing sooner. In 2015, Los Angeles declared a state of emergency on homelessness. Since then, homelessness has increased by nearly 30 percent. Our homeless epidemic is more than a humanitarian crisis, it is a call for action. The book tells the story of eleven fourth year architecture students and their two instructors' journey through the world of homelessness as they tackle real world design solutions for emergency stabilization housing. From nomadic and temporary shelters to the city supported and award winning Homes for Hope, Give Me Shelter follows the MADWORKSHOP Homeless Studio and their designs from the encampment all the way to City Hall."

Jessica Antola’s first monograph entitled Circadian Landscape is a vibrant journey through Sub-Saharan Africa. Traveling mostly by car, she captures the distinctive style and beauty of everyday life in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia, Senegal, and Togo. Her striking portraits, landscapes, and vignettes offer an intimate view of life lived in rural villages, big cities and along the remote roadways between the two. Men dressed head to toe in elaborate African wax textiles share a motorcycle; ancestral spirits bridge earthly and supernatural worlds in masked dances; the rich red soil dusts the lush tropical jungle; a girl in an over-sized straw hat steers her boat with a boldly patterned patchwork sail; and a gold jewelry-clad Kumasi King performs a warrior dance. Antola is captivated by how people around the world express themselves in relation to their environments, and her images reflect the astonishing variety of ways people create and define themselves daily through dress and ritual, work and play.

Come to Arcana this Saturday between 4:00 and 6:00 PM to meet photographer Jessica Antola and celebrate the publication the drop-dead-gorgeous Circadian Landscape. If you cannot attend but would like to purchase a signed copy, please place your order here, or call us at 310-458-1499.

Book of the day > Andy Warhol's The Chelsea Girls. Published by D.A.P. and the Andy Warhol Foundation Museum. "Andy Warhol's 1966 movie The Chelsea Girls is the iconic document of the Factory scene and 1960s New York. Filmed in part at the Chelsea Hotel with Factory Superstars like Nico, Ondine, Brigid Berlin, Gerard Malanga and Mary Woronov, The Chelsea Girls was Warhol's first commercially successful film. 'In one film alone,' an early reviewer noted, '[Warhol] has sadism, masochism, whipping, transvestites, homos, prostitutes, a homosexual ‘Pope,' boredom, stunningly beautiful girls, depravity, humor, ‘psychedelics,' truth, honesty, liars, poseurs....' In honor of the 24th anniversary of The Andy Warhol Museum, the publication of Andy Warhol's The Chelsea Girls coincides with a major project undertaken by the museum to digitize hundreds of his well-known and never-before-seen films.

The book is an in-depth, deluxe treatment of the film, featuring stills from the newly digitized film, previously unpublished transcripts and archival materials, and expanded information about each of the individual films that comprise The Chelsea Girls. The film's alternation of sound between the left and right screens is recalled in the publication's design in which the transcripts are printed directly beneath the corresponding imagery to evoke an authentic experience of the film. Also included are previously unpublished transcriptions of unheard reels. Andy Warhol's The Chelsea Girls is a beautifully produced document of a legendary movie and a mythic moment."

Saturday, April 21st, 4:00 - 6:00 PM 

JESSICA ANTOLA: CIRCADIAN LANDSCAPE

Thursday, May 3rd, 6:00 - 8:00 PM

PUBLIC, Issue 1 launch celebration

Saturday, May 19th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM

INTERNATIONAL SIGNAL CODE ALPHABET BY CORITA KENT

Saturday, May 26th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM

JASON LEE: A PLAIN VIEW

Sunday, June 3rd, 4:00 - 6:00 PM

CURATORIAL HUB Exhibition

Watch this space for details or sign up for our emailing list here.