Events Posted Oct 11, 2016

Book Signing, 10/13 > Lloyd Ziff: New York / Los Angeles

PLEASE JOIN ARCANA AND KMWSTUDIO FOR
A CONVERSATION AND BOOK SIGNING WITH
LLOYD ZIFF + PAUL RUSCHA
TO CELEBRATE THE PUBLICATION OF
LLOYD ZIFF: NEW YORK / LOS ANGELES 
PHOTOGRAPHS 1967-2015
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13th, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
 

 

New York / Los Angeles, Photographs: 1967-2015 is a remarkable collection of compelling images of life in two of America’s most exciting cities, as seen through the eye of photographer Lloyd Ziff. This lovely two volume set - newly published by KMWstudio - encompasses more than forty years of black and white and color photography. As both cities change before Ziff’s inquiring lens, his unique vision emerges, amused and ironic, finding beauty and surprise in daily urban life.

Since 2000, Ziff has made photography the focus of his career. He has had one man shows at New York's Danziger Gallery and Earl McGrath Gallery in Los Angeles. His photographs have been included in Patti Smith’s autobiography, Just Kids, and The Spirit of Family by Al and Tipper Gore as well as in Blind Spot, Interview, Kid’s Wear (Germany), New York, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times Magazine. Ziff’s work is included in the permanent collections of The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Palm Springs Art Museum, and The International Center of Photography. In 1999, he was elected to the Board of Trustees of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, his alma mater.

Paul Ruscha is a photographer, calligrapher, and sometimes a writer. His book, Full Moon, published by Steidl, is an eclectic overview of his personal art collection and of the artists he collects. In 1973, after thirty years as a native of Oklahoma City, he moved to Los Angeles to work for his brother, Edward, where he presently documents all of his studio's artistic production. He met Lloyd Ziff in L.A. in 1973 and they have been close friends ever since.

Please join us for an L.A.-centric conversation between Paul Ruscha and photographer Lloyd Ziff to celebrate the publication of the lovely New York / Los Angeles, Photographs: 1967-2015. The discussion will be followed by a book signing.

If you are unable to attend and wish to purchase a signed copy of New York / Los Angelesplace your order here - or call us at 310-458-1499.

 

In the News Posted Oct 08, 2016

Financial Times, 10/8/16 > Christina Kim's Los Angeles

We're so happy that Christina  Kim's Los Angeles includes Arcana!  And we're honored to be the site of her forthcoming installation and to celebrate the "dosa glossary a-z" with a printed matter launch and sale, December 16th and 17th. The installation will remain on view for a month.  Read the whole piece in the Financial Times' Hot To Spend It section here, and visit dosa.com to learn all about the beautiful and admirable things that Christina Kim does when she's not visiting bookstores!

"On Sundays I also like to visit my favourite bookstores. Caravan has been dealing in secondhand books for 60 years and has a fantastic range of old travel titles. The owner, Leonard Bernstein, will call me if an interesting book comes in. And then there’s Arcana, which is in Culver City and specialises in art books. I have quite a big library at home with a lot of reference, style, architecture and art books. "

 

 

Events Posted Oct 07, 2016

Book Signing, 10/8 > Anthony Hernandez. Discussion with Thomas Demand


Book of the day (AGAIN! – see September 9th) > Anthony Hernandez. DAP and SFMOMA. Join us tomorrow from 4-6 for a discussion between Mr. Hernandez and Thomas Demand. The discussion will be followed by a book signing with refreshments courtesy of our event partner, Photographic Arts Council LA! 8675 Washington Boulevard, Culver City 90232. It’s the Culver City Art Walk tomorrow! There’s a ton of stuff going on all over our neighborhood. Join us! #culvercityartsdistrict

PLEASE JOIN ARCANA AND

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS COUNCIL / LA
TOMORROW! SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
FOR A BOOK SIGNING + DISCUSSION:

ANTHONY HERNANDEZ

IN CONVERSATION WITH THOMAS DEMAND

 

Since the early 1970s, when he began photographing on the streets of his native Los Angeles, Anthony Hernandez has consistently pushed his practice into uncharted territory. Challenging himself by adopting new formats and subject matter, moving from black and white to color, from 35mm to large-format cameras, and from the human figure to landscapes to abstracted detail, he has produced an unusually varied body of work united by its arresting beauty and subtle engagement with social issues. At first largely unaware of the formal traditions of the medium, Hernandez developed his own style of street photography, one uniquely attuned to the desolate allure and sprawling expanses of LA.

Published in conjunction with the photographer’s major career-spanning retrospective at SFMoMA, Anthony Hernandez is a beautifully designed and printed hardbound catalogue featuring an introduction by Robert Adams, texts by Erin O'Toole, Ralph Rugoff, Lewis Baltz, and Anthony Hernandez, and an extensive selection of images - including many that have until now never been exhibited or published. It represents the full range and breadth of Hernandez’ work tracing his evolution as well as highlighting continuities across his practice.

Mr. Hernandez will be signing copies of his new book as well as engaging in a discussion with artist Thomas Demand that will address his work, career, and publications of the past five decades. The event is co-sponsored with PAC/LA, who will also be providing snacks and refreshments.

The afternoon of October 8th is also the 2016 Culver City Art Walk, so we're expecting an enthusiastic turnout! With space for the discussion limited, we would appreciate your RSVP if you're planning to attend. If you are unable to attend and wish to purchase a signed copy of ANTHONY HERNANDEZplace your order here - or call us at 310-458-1499.

 

 

 


 

 

Book of the Day Posted Oct 06, 2016

Book of the day > The Definitive Maria Callas

Book of the day > The Definitive Maria Callas. Published by Roads Publishing. “Maria Callas is the definition of an icon.  Perhaps the most renowned and influential opera singer of all time, she is revered not just for her otherworldly voice and dramatic flair but for her passion, beauty and innate sense of style. The fire and intensity of her personal life paralleled the dramatic roles she interpreted so passionately. Working closely with the Fondaziono Proge Marzotto, the Italian arts trust who acquired the archive of Maria Callas in 2013; and Karl van Zoggel, head of the International Maria Callas Club, ROADS is delighted to present The Definitive Maria Callas: The Life of a Diva in Unseen Pictures. A lavish visual biography, the books showcases never-before-seen intimate letters, personal photographs and Callas’s private collection of recipes.  A comprehensive and joyous exploration of the life and work of Maria Callas, it is the perfect book for opera aficionados and casual admirers alike.”

Book of the Day Posted Oct 05, 2016

Book of the day > Jessica Backhaus: six degrees of freedom

Book of the day > Jessica Backhaus: six degrees of freedom. Published by Kehrer (@kehrerverlag ). “Jessica Backhaus examines universal questions of human existence. Based on her own life story she inquires after the significance of knowing the roots of one’s own existence and to what extent it is possible to re-elaborate these – usually prescribed – roots. Initially unconsciously, then ever more purposefully the photographer, who grew up in a family of artists, at some point in her life set off in search of her own background. On this journey she visits places of her childhood and youth and fills the gaps in her memories. With her photographs she symbolically captures the essence of this search and of her life stages. Simultaneously, she pulls off the balancing act of keeping the images open for the beholder. Her photographs possess metaphoric potential and work against the grain of a classic social documentary photography. They alternate between realism and abstraction. Jessica Backhaus is regarded as one of the most important representatives of contemporary photography in Germany. Her works are internationally exhibited, published and are found in major collections. "Six degrees of freedom" is her sixth photobook at Kehrer Verlag and deals with the great universal themes of background, yearning, identity, and destiny.”

Events Posted Oct 05, 2016

Book Signing + Discussion with Reece Jones and Rene Peralta for "Violent Borders" Saturday, October 15th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM at Arcana!

PLEASE JOIN LA FORUM FOR ARCHITECTURE,
VERSO BOOKS, AND ARCANA FOR A SPECIAL 
BOOK SIGNING AND DISCUSSION:
REECE JONES: VIOLENT BORDERS
REFUGEES AND THE RIGHT TO MOVE
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15th, 4:00 - 6:00 PM

 


The LA Forum for Architecture and Urban Design in partnership with Verso Books is thrilled to present a conversation about the history of the US / Mexico border and the militarization of border walls around the world on the occasion of the launch of Reece Jones’ Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move. Jones, an expert on international border security projects and a geographer at the University of Hawaii, will discuss his book with architect Rene Peralta. 

Violent Borders breaks down the contradictions of living in a globalized world that simultaneously attempts to limit the free movement of people. Jones travels the border regions of the world, documenting the billions of dollars spent on border security projects, and their dire consequences for the majority of the people in the world. While the poor are restricted by the lottery of birth to slums and the aftershocks of decolonization, the wealthy travel freely, exploiting pools of cheap labor and lax environmental regulations. 
 
The US / Mexico border - a major focus of the book - is a perfect example of the global hardening of borders. Over the past thirty years, many borders have been transformed into militarized security spaces through increased funding, deployments of additional guards, and construction of walls and surveillance infrastructure. While two-thirds of the border with Mexico remains unfenced, the federal fences are products of the relatively recent 2006 Secure Fence Act, and the Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s call to build a wall on the remaining section of the border has been a major issue of the presidential election. Jones will make the case that borders are not the answer to our problems, and end on a simple, yet important idea: borders need not be natural part of the human world.
 
Reece Jones is a Professor of Geography at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, and the author of Border Walls, published by Zed Books in 2013. He is an award-winning scholar whose work has been featured in Time Magazine, The Economist, and Vice who is often called on to comment on border crises by publications such as the New York Times.
 
Rene Peralta is the co-founder of the Tijuana-based architectural firm Generica as well as the Director of the Architecture, Landscape + Urbanism program at the Woodbury University School of Architecture in San Diego. His recent work has been directed toward the research of social and cultural forms of urban border between the cities of Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, California.
 

 

If you are unable to attend and wish to purchase a signed copy of Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Moveplace your order here - or call us at 310-458-1499.

 

Book of the Day Posted Oct 04, 2016

Book of the day > Saul Bass: 20 Iconic Film Posters

Book of the day > Saul Bass: 20 Iconic Film Posters. Published by Laurence King. “This collection of 20 iconic movie posters by Saul Bass, one of the greatest American designers of the 20th century, is a must for graphic designers and film fans. Each poster is removable and designed to fit the standard frame size 12 x 16 inches.

The posters included are: The Man with the Golden Arm; Saint Joan; Love in the Afternoon; Bonjour Tristesse; The Big Country; Vertigo; Anatomy of a Murder; Exodus; Spartacus; The Magnificent Seven; Advise & Consent; The Cardinal; In Harm's Way; Bunny Lake is Missing; Seconds; Grand Prix; The Fixer; Such Good Friends; The Shining; Schindler's List.”

Book of the Day Posted Sep 30, 2016

Book of the day (and book signing tomorrow (10/1, 4-6!) > Randi Malkin Steinberger: No Circus

Book of the day (and book signing tomorrow (10/1, 4-6!) > Randi Malkin Steinberger: No Circus. Published by Damiani. They’re in most neighborhoods in Los Angeles - houses shrouded in brightly colored vinyl tarps being fumigated for termites. Noted photographer Randi Malkin Steinberger first encountered these tented houses when she moved to Southern California in the early 1990s. In her new book No Circus from Damiani and DAP, tented houses have become sculptural abstractions and enigmatic monuments inserted into the ordinariness of suburban streets.
Steinberger’s sixty-nine color photographs are accompanied by D.J. Waldie’s essay that ranges from the mating habits of termites, to the chemistry of fumigation, to the phenomenology of a shrouded house. “Houses haunt themselves” he writes. “While we’re away, the chair improvises a sitter, the door frame a passing figure, and the bed a sleeper. To be something more than a windbreak or a covering from rain or a frail barrier, a home must have dreamers inside. A house undreamed in is already neglected.  Joining us along with Ms. Steinberger and Mr. Waldie will be the book's designer - and Deadbeat Club head honcho Clint Woodside - along with a special musical performance by composer Gavin Gamboa. Evoking the language of insects - both real and imagined - as well as the sounds of quarantine, Mr. Gamboa of The Teaching Machine collective will provide a backdrop of chirping, clicking, whirling, buzzing oscillations to the event! @123randi @gavartgamhag @artbook @ damiani_books 

Book of the Day Posted Sep 29, 2016

Book of the day > ZZYZX by Gregory Halpern

Book of the day > ZZYZX by Gregory Halpern. Published by MACK (@mack_books).” The early settlers dubbed California The Golden State, and The Land of Milk and Honey. Today there are the obvious ironies – sprawl, spaghetti junctions and skid row—but the place is not so easily distilled or visualized, either as a clichéd paradise or as its demise. There’s a strange kind of harmony when it’s all seen together—the sublime, the psychedelic, the self-destructive. Like all places, it’s unpredictable and contradictory, but to greater extremes. Cultures and histories coexist, the beautiful sits next to the ugly, the redemptive next to the despairing, and all under a strange and singular light, as transcendent as it is harsh.

The pictures in this book begin in the desert east of Los Angeles and move west through the city, ending at the Pacific. This general westward movement alludes to a thirst for water, as well as the original expansion of America, which was born in the East and which hungrily drove itself West until reaching the Pacific, thereby fulfilling its “manifest” destiny.

The people, places, and animals in the book did exist before Halpern’s camera, but he has sewn these photographs into a work of fiction or fantasy—a structure, sequence and edit which, like Los Angeles itself, teeters on the brink of collapsing under the weight of its own strangely-shaped mass.”

Book of the Day Posted Sep 28, 2016

Book of the day > The Moon 1968–1972

Book of the day > The Moon 1968–1972. Published by T. Adler Books. “NASA’s Apollo program landed the first humans on the moon in 1969. In the next three years, Apollo sent 10 more men to the moon in five subsequent missions. The first moon landing in particular is a legendarily well-documented event, representing one of those rare moments in which the world was united in awe, witnessing the feat together on their television screens. But each Apollo mission also generated hundreds of photographs, many of which have only recently been released by NASA. A selection of these images--shot by the astronauts themselves with suit-mounted and handheld Hasselblad cameras--are gathered in this beautifully designed, affordable volume.

Many of the photographs, though shot originally for scientific, documentary purposes, have an extraordinary snapshot quality, boasting inadvertently artful compositions and effects: in one, a pair of astronaut’s legs emerges upside down from the bottom of the frame; in another, a striding astronaut appears to glow against the black recesses of space.

Contextualized with background information about the Apollo Missions and the role of photographic documentation in them, the photographs in The Moon 1968–1972 are fascinating documents of the majesty of outer space, but also record the surface of the moon as a landscape of wonder.“

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