Book of the Day Posted May 20, 2021

Book of the Day > Ultimate Collector Cars

● Purchase ● For the seasoned car collector or the awestruck newcomer, this double-volume is the unrivaled collector car anthology. Curating 100 of the most exquisite, remarkable, and desirable cars of all time to tell a spellbinding story of automotive design-and-engineering endeavor in the tireless pursuit of ever-greater performance both on and off the track, from the first Indy 500-winning 1910 Marmon Wasp to the futuristic 2020 Aston Martin Valkyrie.
 
Laps ahead of any generic catalog, this superlative volume exudes authority and elegance, settling for nothing less than the very best of the best, and presenting each model with the lavish spreads it deserves, complete with stunning imagery taken by the world’s leading car photographers alongside rare archival treasures, from original factory photos to famous motorsports event posters. Each entry is also accompanied by expert descriptive texts and specs, detailing each car’s make, model, year, engine size, horsepower, top speed, transmission, and all-important production numbers.
 
By passionately tapping into their transatlantic expertise and insider knowledge of car auctions, museums, and collections around the world, design authors Peter and Charlotte Fiell survey the autoworld's finest cars of all time. Their carefully curated selection spans the whole history of the automobile, taking in such rare models as a 1912 Stutz Model A Bearcat, as well as lesser-known jewels such as the astonishing 1937 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS “Goutte d’Eau” Coupé by Figoni et Falaschi.
Book of the Day Posted May 19, 2021

Book of the Day > Carolyn Drake: Knit Club

● Purchase ● A foreboding meditation in the vein of Southern Gothic literature, Drake’s most recent body of work emerged through her collaboration with an enigmatic group of women loosely calling themselves “Knit Club.” The nature of the club is ambiguous. It is a cross between a gang, a cult of mysteries, and a group of friends bound by secrets only they share.
 
The book follows a narrative structure loosely borrowed from Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying–– that is to say, not one omniscient narrator but many disparate stream-of-consciousness voices. We sense the authorship of the photographs to be collaborative, the result of creative play between Drake and the club in which she found herself embedded, their process a kind of alchemy. In the style of the Gothic, Drake’s masterful use of color to create mood opens the door to the tension between the real and the supernatural. What we find, however, is not grotesque but something vital. A community that manages to exist outside the gaze or control of men. Women, children, and mothers, shrouded in masks and mystery to live a life on their own terms.
Book of the Day Posted May 18, 2021

Book of the Day > Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories

● Purchase ● Made by Americans of European, African, Native and Hispanic heritage, these quilts and bedcovers range from family heirlooms to acts of political protest, each with its own story to tell
 
A mother stitches a few lines of prayer into a bedcover for her son serving in the Union army during the Civil War. A formerly enslaved African American woman creates a quilt populated by Biblical figures alongside celestial events. A quilted Lady Liberty, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln mark the resignation of Richard Nixon. These are just a few of the diverse and sometimes hidden stories of the American experience told by quilts and bedcovers from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
 
Spanning more than 400 years, the 58 works of textile art in this book express the personal narratives of their makers and owners and connect to broader stories of global trade, immigration, industry, marginalization, and territorial and cultural expansion.
Book of the Day Posted May 15, 2021

Book of the Day > Nancy Rubins: Fluid Space

● Purchase ● Words frequently used to describe American artist Nancy Rubins’s sculptural practice embody ideas of monumentality, fortitude, and awe-inspiring strength. While it is most certainly true that Rubins’s works result in formidable tours de force, evoking a wonderment about their seemingly impossible feats of construction, scale is often a means rather than a goal unto itself.
 
Meet Fizzy’s Nebuli, one of several new sculptures in the Fluid Space series. Standing approximately six-and-a-half feet high, eightand-a-half feet wide, and nine-and-a-half feet deep, this sculpture and those from Rubins’s newest series are, relative to her previous works, more petite. Fizzy’s Nebuli gives us permission for close and intimate viewing, inviting us to explore all of its elaborate details.
 
As our eye roves, biomorphic forms shift and appear before us, including calla-lily-like appendages, branches, hollowed out tree stumps, rosebuds, and ivy tendrils. These subtle gestures linger with us, even after those forms dissolve back into the sculptural whole.
Events Posted May 15, 2021

Show & Tell with Jason E.C. Wright!

Starting on Wednesday 5/26 at 5:00 PST we are delighted to host a monthly Instagram “Show & Tell” moderated by Jason E.C. Wright of @burntsiennaresearchsociety! You are in for a real treat so gather up your art books, design books, coffee table books or rare magazines and come nerd out with Jason.
 
Here’s how it works: Jason will be live @arcanabooks sharing some of his favorites with you. Raise your hand to share and he will tap you in. Chat about your most influential book or bookshop. Enjoy the hour, meet some interesting people, and support your local bookstore. There’s nothing like a little book fun in the middle of the week.
 
Jason E.C. Wright is the Founder of Burntsienna Reseach Society, a critical-thinking research consultancy for design histories, intangible culture, and reference materials. Jason is Indiana born and raised, who now considers Los Angeles home. He is an accomplished designer, researcher, writer, with 20+ years as a retail and fashion professional, who takes his love of books seriously, serving as librarian-in-residence at home in Treehouse Hollywood.
 
* You can watch the 5/26 show and tell through our instagram post here.
Book of the Day Posted May 14, 2021

Book of the Day > Ellen Sheidlin

● Purchase ● Russian artist and model Ellen Sheidlin provides an almost limitless exploration of millennial culture with her Instagram feed. Her conceptual self-portrait photography is both whimsical and weird, and the young woman also uses her doll-like appearance to induce more disturbing, bizarre undertones and thought-provoking social commentary in her creations. The many different layers of Ellen’s absurd and beautiful dreamscapes point to the perils of social media and our obsession with technology, or hint at more troubling topics like the situation of LGBTQ+ people in Russia and today’s global existential angst. Escape into her chameleonic fantasy world with this mind-bending collection.
Book of the Day Posted May 13, 2021

Book of the Day > Rashid Johnson: The Hikers

● Purchase ● A massive compendium on the multimedia art of Rashid Johnson, tackling themes of Black history, literature, philosophy and material culture
 
Rashid Johnson (born 1977) is renowned for challenging the assumptions often present in collective notions of Blackness. Based in New York, Johnson is among an influential group of American artists whose work employs a wide range of materials and images to explore themes of art history, literature, philosophy, and personal and cultural identity. After beginning his career working primarily in photography, Johnson has expanded into a variety of mediums, including text work, sculptural objects, installation, painting, drawing, collage, film, performance and choreography. Drawing on a dizzying array of historical, cultural, literary and musical references, Johnson ultimately invites audiences to find connections to their own lives.
Book of the Day Posted May 12, 2021

Book of the Day > By Design: The World's Best Contemporary Interior Designers

● Purchase ● A richly illustrated, authoritative global survey of the best and most creative interior designers and decorators working today
 
Our surroundings are the key to our comfort and happiness, and we're endlessly inspired by the creative professionals that show us how to put a personal stamp on the spaces we inhabit. This gorgeous book is a timely, comprehensive showcase of the most exceptional, innovative, and groundbreaking interior designers working today, nominated by an esteemed group of industry experts and thoughtfully curated to demonstrate why the world of interior design continues to raise the bar of creative practice.
 
Nominators include: Felix Burrichter, Aric Chen, Amy Fine Collins, Francisco Costa, Ronnie Fieg, Marianne Goebl, Laila Gohar, Niki Haas, Gert Jonkers & Jop van Bennekom, Lorena Mosquera, Hanya Yanagihara, and Rachel Zoe.
 
Featured designers include: Beata Heuman Ltd, Kelly Wearstler Studio, Martin Brudnizki Design Studio, Neri & Hu, Norm Architects, Romanek Design Studio, Studioilse, Studio KO, Studio Shamshiri, Faye Toogood, and Vincent Van Duysen.
Book of the Day Posted May 11, 2021

Book of the Day > Lucio Fontana: Walking the Space

● Purchase ● Documenting the first-ever reconstruction of Fontana’s immersive installations
 
Lucio Fontana’s (1899–1968) Ambienti spaziali, or Spatial Environments were immersive installations that include neon crystal tubes, paint that glows under black light and captivating pa-pier-mâché sculptures. Fontana’s use of technology pushed the boundaries of art beyond the canvas to “paint” with light and invite viewers into the physical space of the work itself. In spring 2020 Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles staged the first comprehensive presentation of Ambienti spaziali in the United States, carefully reconstructing the installations as they initially appeared from 1948 to the final years of the artist’s life. This accompanying volume is edited in collaboration with Milan’s Fondazione Lucio Fontana and includes a survey of Fontana’s contributions to the evolution of conceptual art, tracing his influence on other legendary figures as Piero Manzoni, Yayoi Kusama and James Turrell.
Book of the Day Posted May 08, 2021

Book of the Day > Dawoud Bey: Street Portraits

● Purchase ● From 1988 to 1991 Dawoud Bey made a series of portraits of African Americans in the streets of various American cities. Using a large format tripod mounted camera and a unique positive/negative Polaroid film that created both an instant print and a reusable negative, he asked a cross section of the populations of these communities to pose for him, creating a space of self presentation and performance in the streets of the urban environment. As part of every encounter, Bey gave each person a small black-and-white Polaroid print for themselves as a way of reciprocating and returning something to the people who had allowed him to make their portrait. Defying racial stereotypes, the resulting portraits reveal the Black subjects in all of their psychologically rich complexity, presenting themselves openly and intimately to the camera, the viewer, and the world.
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