Events Posted Mar 30, 2015

SATURDAY - Book Signing! Ed Templeton & Thomas Campbell

Come! Meet the men, the myths, the legends, Thomas Campbell & Ed Templeton! Saturday April 4th, 4-6pm at Arcana. Questions? Comments? Pre-orders? Just want to chit chat? Sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499. See you on Saturday!

Book of the Day Posted Mar 27, 2015

Book of the day > Psychedelic Sex

Book of the day > Psychedelic Sex. Taschen. “How men's magazines turned hot and hippy between 1967–1972. In a brief golden span between 1967 and 1972, the sexual revolution collided with recreational drug exploration to create "psychedelic sex." While the baby boomers blew their minds and danced naked in the streets, men’s magazine publishers attempted to visually recreate the wonders of LSD, project them on a canvas of nubile hippie flesh, and dish it up to men dying for a taste of free love.
Way Out, Groovie, Where It’s At—each magazine title vied to convince the straight audience it offered the most authentic flower power sex trip, complete with mind-bending graphics and all-natural hippie hotties. Along the way hippies joined in the production, since what could be groovier than earning bread in your birthday suit?
At its height, psychedelic sex encompassed posters, tabloids, comics, and newsstand magazines, but the most far-out examples of all were the glossy magazines from California, center of both hippie culture and the budding American porn industry. It’s these sexy, silly reminders of peace, love, and pudenda we celebrate in Psychedelic Sex. So put on your beads, tune up your sitar, and let the love-in begin! “
Book of the Day Posted Mar 25, 2015

Book of the day > Poetry of the Metropolis: The Affichistes

Book of the day > Poetry of the Metropolis: The Affichistes. Snoeck. “During the 1940s and 1950s, the Affichistes appear in Paris with a new and revolutionary artistic format: the tearing down of posters. Ever more present within the cityscape, they assimilate this expanding advertising medium and its particular aesthetics, and formulate from these looted, random images a radical contradiction to the dominant abstract painting of the postwar period. On the one hand, they are interested in the act of violent appropriation of imagery from the public sphere, on the other hand, they celebrate randomness and show a particular interest in language and typography. However, in their action, they see themselves no longer committed to an avant-garde agitprop self-concept, but aim at the visual complexity of contemporary modern means of expression that were eventually picked up on by pop art and, to this day, remain relevant despite all electronic mediality. Book and exhibition provide a comprehensive look at activities spanning two decades (1948-1968) by this important post-war avant-garde that occurred in particular in France, and extend the spectrum by looking at the photographic, cinematic and auditory works of the main protagonists, among them Raymond Hains, Jacques Villeglé, François Dufrêne, Mimmo Rotella, and Wolf Vostell. It also highlights their further specific background, for instance, in décollage, action or happening. Quite surprisingly, many of the works still today appear fresh and radiant.”
Events Posted Mar 24, 2015

Book Signing! Ed Templeton & Thomas Campbell

PLEASE JOIN US SATURDAY, APRIL 4th,
4:00 - 6:00 PM FOR A BOOK SIGNING!!!
THOMAS CAMPBELL: SEEING FATIMA'S EYES
+ ED TEMPLETON: WAYWARD COGNITIONS
Click here for all the gnarly details
 

 

 

Book of the Day Posted Mar 21, 2015

Book of the day > Karl Lagerfeld: Chanel Shopping Center

Book of the day > Karl Lagerfeld: Chanel Shopping Center. Steidl. “Chanel's fashion shows are always unexpected, but with the set of Karl Lagerfeld's most recent Fall-Winter 2014/15 Prêt-à-Porter collection for the house, the designer seems to have finally outdone himself. The concept of the catwalk was born anew as the "Chanel Shopping Center," where models jostled with one another as they browsed shelves and placed items in their shopping trolleys. This was, of course, no normal supermarket but a spectacular ironic reinterpretation of Chanel 's beloved codes, where supermarket produce and packaging were re-designed according to Lagerfeld's wit and whim. There were thousands of items to behold including Mont Cambon wine, Mademoiselle Privé doormats, tweed energy drinks, Coco Flakes (to be eaten with no more than Lait de Coco), Paris-Dallas ketchup, lion-shaped pasta, as well as bottled water labeled "Eau de CHANEL No 0." The visual vocabulary of the supermarket equally informed Lagerfeld's collection: from chain shopping baskets, vacuum-packed handbags, bottletop and padlock-shaped jewelry, to iridescent outfits with shoplifter-sized pockets. This book preserves the Chanel Shopping Center in print, and is playfully styled as a mail order catalogue displaying all items seemingly for purchase-but only while stocks last.”
Book of the Day Posted Mar 19, 2015

Book of the day > Semina Culture: Wallace Berman & His Circle

Book of the day > Semina Culture: Wallace Berman & His Circle. D.A.P./Santa Monica Museum of Art. Edited with text by Michael Duncan, Kristine McKenna. Text by Stephen Fredman.
“This reprint of the now classic and much sought-after 2005 volume celebrates the circle of the quintessential visual artist of the Beat era, Wallace Berman (1926–76), who remains one of the best-kept secrets of the postwar era. A crucial figure in California's underground culture, Berman was a catalyst who traversed many different worlds, transferring ideas and dreams from one circle to the next. His larger community is the subject of Semina Culture, which includes previously unseen works by 52 artists. Anchoring this publication is Semina, a loose-leaf art and poetry journal that Berman published in nine issues between 1955 and 1964. Although printed in extremely short runs and distributed to only a handful of friends and sympathizers, Semina is a brilliant and beautifully made compendium of the most interesting artists and poets of its time, and is today a very rare collector's item. Showcasing the individuals that defined a still-potent strand of postwar counterculture, Semina Culture outlines the energies and values of this fascinating circle. Also reproduced here are works by those who appear in Berman's own photographs, approximately 100 of which were recently developed from vintage negatives, and which are seen here for the first time. These artists, actors, poets, curators, musicians and filmmakers include Robert Alexander, John Altoon, Toni Basil, Wallace Berman, Ray Bremser, Bonnie Bremser, Charles Britten, Joan Brown, Cameron, Bruce Conner, Jean Conner, Jay DeFeo, Diane DiPrima, Kirby Doyle, Bobby Driscoll, Robert Duncan, Joe Dunn, Llyn Foulkes, Ralph Gibson, Allen Ginsberg, George Herms, Jack Hirschman, Walter Hopps, Dennis Hopper, Billy Jahrmarkt, Jess, Lawrence Jordan, Patricia Jordan, Bob Kaufman, Philip Lamantia, William Margolis, Michael McClure, David Meltzer, Taylor Mead, Henry Miller, Stuart Perkoff, Jack Smith, Dean Stockwell, Ben Talbert, Russ Tamblyn, Aya (Tarlow), Alexander Trocchi, Edmund Teske, Zack Walsh, Lew Welch and John Wieners.”

Book of the Day Posted Mar 18, 2015

Book of the day > Paul Kooiker: Nude Animal Cigar

Book of the day > Paul Kooiker: Nude Animal Cigar. Art Paper Editions. “Paul Kooiker is among the most interesting conceptual photographers currently working in the Netherlands. Although his work consists of photographic images, he is not so much a photographer as a sculptor and installation artist. His fascination with intriguing themes like voyeurism, innocence and clichés leads him to construct fictive collections of images that are of extremely uncertain origin, subject and significance. In his latest installation, 'Nude Animal Cigar', Kooiker looks back over his twenty-year career. The result is a bewildering array of photographic works, in which images of nudes and animals are interspersed with close-ups of the countless cigars he has smoked in his studio over the years.”
Book of the Day Posted Mar 17, 2015

Book of the day > Homegrown: Austin Music Posters 1967 to 1982

Book of the day > Homegrown: Austin Music Posters 1967 to 1982. University Of Texas Press. “Before Austin became the “live music capital of the world” and attracted tens of thousands of music fans, it had a vibrant local music scene that spanned late sixties psychedelic and avant-garde rock to early eighties punk. Venues such as the Vulcan Gas Company and the Armadillo World Headquarters hosted both innovative local musicians and big-name touring acts. Poster artists not only advertised the performances—they visually defined the music and culture of Austin during this pivotal period. Their posters promoted an alternative lifestyle that permeated the city and reflected Austin’s transformation from a sleepy university town into a veritable oasis of underground artistic and cultural activity in the state of Texas.
This book presents a definitive survey of music poster art produced in Austin between 1967 and 1982. It vividly illustrates four distinct generations of posters—psychedelic art of the Vulcan Gas Company, early works from the Armadillo World Headquarters, an emerging variety of styles from the mid-1970s, and the radical visual aesthetic of punk—produced by such renowned artists as Gilbert Shelton, Jim Franklin, Kerry Awn, Micael Priest, Guy Juke, Ken Featherston, Danny Garrett, and NOXX. Setting the posters in context, Texas music and pop-culture authority Joe Nick Patoski details the history of music posters in Austin, and artist and poster art scholar Nels Jacobson explores the lives and techniques of the artists.”
Book of the Day Posted Mar 14, 2015

Book of the day > Mina Stone: Cooking for Artists

Book of the day > Mina Stone: Cooking for Artists. Kiito-San. “Chef Mina Stone has been cooking delicious lunches at Urs Fischer's Brooklyn-based art studio for the past five years and producing private gallery dinners in the New York art world since 2006. Cooking for Artists presents more than 70 of Stone's family-style recipes inspired by her Greek heritage and her love of simple, fresh, seasonal food. The book is designed by Fischer and includes drawings by Hope Atherton, Darren Bader, Matthew Barney, Alex Eagleton, Urs Fischer, Cassandra MacLeod, Elizabeth Peyton, Rob Pruitt, Peter Regli, Josh Smith, Spencer Sweeney and Philippos Theodorides-all members of the community of artists that delights in Stone's cooking.”
Book of the Day Posted Mar 13, 2015

Book of the day > Stephen Shore: Survey

Book of the day > Stephen Shore: Survey. Aperture/Fundación MAPFRE. “Stephen Shore has had a significant influence on multiple generations of artists and photographers. Even for the youngest photographers working today, his work remains an ongoing and indisputable reference point. This book copublished with Fundación MAPFRE in conjunc¬tion with the first-ever retrospective exhibition, includes over 250 images that span Shore’s impressive and productive career. The images range from 1969 to 2013, with series such as Early Works, Amarillo, New York City, American Surfaces, and Uncommon Places, among others. Stephen Shore: Survey elucidates Shore’s contributions, as well as the historiographical interpretations of his work that have influenced photographic culture over the past four decades. Both the exhibition and the narrative of the catalogue are conceptualized around three particularly revealing aspects of Shore’s work, including his analysis of photographic and visual language, his topographical approach to the contemporary landscape, and his significant use of color within a photographic context.”
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