The books of the day are > Kevin’s picks! Airline Visual Identity 1945-1975, Denis Freppel: Architectures de Los Angeles, 1880-1940, Desirée Van Hoek: Skid Row , Level -1: Contemporary Underground Stations of the World , Beatles: Photos From The Set Of Help!, E.O. Hoppé: The German Work 1925-1938, Hirschfeld: Century, JR: Can Art Change The World?, Wayne Thiebaud, Harry Gruyaert.
See/order them here and see/order everyone's choices here!
The books of the day are > Jess’s Holiday Staff Picks! Jess’s (@habituela) picks are: Tilda Swinton & Olivier Saillard: Impossible Wardrobe ,), Both Sides of Sunset: Photographing Los Angeles (@metropolisbooks), Noguchi: A Sculptor's World, James Mollison: Playground (@apertureNYC), Semina Culture; Wallace Berman and His Circle, Airline Visual Identity 1945-1975, Ed Templeton: Adventures in the Nearby Far Away (@ed.templeton), The LEGO Architect, Jabberjaw: It All Dies Anyway by Bryan Ray Turcotte (@bryanrayturcotte), Grafted: Plants by Kohei Oda, Pots by Adam Silverman (@white1977), The Rap Yearbook, Henri Cartier-Bresson : The Decisive Moment (@steidlverlag), Sun Ra: Space Is The Place, The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music 1965 to Now, Charlie Chaplin: The Keystone Album - The Invention of the Tramp, Paul Kooiker: Nude, Animal, Cigar.
See full descriptions of Jess's picks here and ALL staff picks here!
Book of the day and book signing/discussion/reception tomorrow, 4:00-6:00 – please join us!> The Soviet Photobook 1920-1941. Steidl (@steidlverlag).
If you can't make it on Sunday but would like a signed book, please order one here.
"The Soviet Union was unique in its formidable and dynamic use of the illustrated book as a means of propaganda. Through the book, the U.S.S.R. articulated its totalitarian ideologies and expressed its absolute power in an unprecedented way—through avant-garde writing and radical artistic design that was in full flower during the 1920s and ’30s. No other country, nation, government or political system promoted itself more by attracting and employing acclaimed members of the avant-garde. Among them were writers like Semion Kirsanov, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Ilya Selvinsky, Sergei Tretyakov and Kornely Zelinsky; artistic designers like Gustav Klutsis, Valentina Kulagina, El Lissitzky, Sergei Senkin, Varvara Stepanova, Solomon Telingater and Nikolai Troshin; and photographers including Dmitry Debabov, Vladimir Griuntal, Boris Ignatovich, Alexander Khlebnikov, Yeleazar Langman, Alexander Rodchenko, Georgy Petrusov—not to mention many of the best printers and book binders. 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 here for the first time.”
Erin’s Staff Picks for the Holidays are the books of the day!!! See these and more “2015 Staff Holiday Picks” page at arcanabooks.com. Erin’s picks are….Harry Smith: The Collections of Harry Smith; String Figures (Catalogue Raisonne Vol. 2), Both Sides of Sunset: Photographing Los Angeles, Christopher Herwig: Soviet Bus Stops, Imponderable: The Archives of Tony Oursler, Alec Soth: Gathered Leaves, Harry Smith: The Collections of Harry Smith; Paper Planes (Catalogue Raisonne Vol. 1), The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music 1965 to Now, Hippie Modernism: The Struggle For Utopia, Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College 1933–1957, To Live and Dine in LA. @erinschneiderprojects.
It never gets easier... Every year, each member of the Arcana staff faces the daunting task of selecting ten books to recommend for year-end giving from the many, many thousands in the shop that we love. But we bite the bullet and make the tough decisions to help you decide what to give to those on your "nice" list. We've collectively come up with an awesome group of suggestions priced from $9.95 to $600.00 - humble to glamorous, sublime to ridiculous.
We trust you'll find something here to give - even to yourself. Quantities are limited for some titles, so we recommend that you make your purchases early to avoid disappointment. Remember that these seventy or-so titles represent only the tiniest fraction of our very comprehensive inventory of new, rare, and hard to find books on Photography, Art, Design, Fashion, Design, Architecture, Music, Cinema, Music, and Culinariana, so come in to see much more and to avail yourself of our famously knowledgeable and clever staff's expertise. We will be open every day from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM - except Monday 12/14 - through December 24th for your shopping convenience.
For even more ideas, scroll through our blog, Instagram or Facebook - where we post our “Book of the Day” selection. Or forgo option paralysis and give the always appreciated gift of an Arcana: Books on the Arts gift certificate.
Happy holidays to you all, with thanks for another year of your
wonderful support from all of over the world.
Erin, Jess, Kevin, Lee, Sam, Steve, and Whitney
We're so excited for tomorrow (4-6) at Arcana: it’s a double book signing with Ethan Rafal (Shock And Awe) and Ed Templeton! Ed will be here with a handful of his new books: Teenage Smokers 2, the new edition of Wayward Cognitions, the Common Side Effects catalogue, Umbrella, and the beautiful new Adventures in the Nearby Far Away. We will also have copies of the original Teenage Smokers along with a few vintage rarities. Read more about this sensational event here.
In the spirit of our double book signing, we have TWO books of the day > Ed Templeton: Teenage Smokers 2 (Super Labo, Tokyo) and Adventures in the Nearby Far Way (Éditions Bessard, Paris). Teenage Smokers 2: In 1999, the late, great Alleged Gallery published Ed Templeton's first book of photography, Teenage Smokers. In the intervening sixteen years Ed is a firmly entrenched guiding light of the Southern California art community, and Teenage Smokers has become a sought-after high spot for any photo book collection. Now, hot off the press from Tokyo's Super Labo is Teenage Smokers 2 - featuring a brand new generation of nicotine-inhaling youngsters. Adventures in the Nearby Far Away is a spectacular presentation of Ed’s Catalina Island photographs, both dreamily beautiful and soberingly unvarnished. An edition of 1000 copies, it’s an accordion book that unfolds to a span of over 27 feet – printed on both sides! - inside an beautiful clamshell box design by Cyrielle Molard.
Book of the day and a DOUBLE book signing (with Ed Templeton for Teenage Smokers 2 and MORE!) on Saturday! Join us and Ed and Ethan for book signings and bourbon and... walnut pie!!! > Ethan Rafal: Shock and Awe.
“A complex autobiographical project examining the relationship between protracted war and homeland decay, Shock and Awe is a meticulously crafted work combining image, text, and found objects compiled over twelve years of traveling the United States that blurs the line between author and subject, and personal versus authoritative histories. Drawing from the traditions of documentary photography and writing set on the American road, the unique, hand-made journal was created with transfer prints, handwriting, and found materials that were bound in the remains of an abandoned vehicle. This trade edition limited to five hundred copies carefully reproduces every inch of every page conveying the look and feel of the original down to its strap closure. Made by middle-class workers in Spain, the paper was sustainably harvested in Finland, and the cloth is from New England.
The artist introduces audiences to this work through his ongoing “Shock and Awe Book Tour” which returns the journal to the people and places depicted, bringing author, subject, and viewer into an exploration of the total meaning of the work. The presentation of Shock and Awe is equal parts story-telling, show-and-tell, and group discussion featuring for its Arcana stop ample homemade cast-iron walnut pie served with bourbon and milk.
Ethan Rafal's multi-media works deal with the individual and collective experience of violence, and the ways in which subsequent representations of violence inform personal and national mythologies. He helps run The Farmstand - an alternative artspace on a farm in Northern California - and collaborates with the Bay Area's Art For a Democratic Society.”
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
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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.
EVENT DETAILS AND ORDERING INFORMATION HERE
