Book of the Day > Supreme Glamour. Published by Thames & Hudson. “As Motown’s leading act in the 1960s, The Supremes became synonymous with glamorous, elegant, coordinated ensembles. Supreme Glamour presents founding member Mary Wilson’s unparalleled collection, showcasing thirty-two of the group’s most eye-catching gowns, meticulously reassembled and photographed on the Grammy Museum stage. Detailed captions accompany each photograph, providing information about the design, fabric, and embellishments of each ensemble, as well as the occasion on which each was first worn. In addition to the fashion history of The Supremes, the book chronicles the evolution of the group and celebrates the cultural icons they became. Engaging and insightful narrative text by Mary Wilson and close personal friend Mark Bego is interspersed among hundreds of archival photos. Packed with anecdotes and insights, Mary Wilson tells the complete story of The Supremes, both on- and off- stage, from their founding in Detroit in 1959 as The Primettes to their 1964 breakthrough hit, “Where Did Our Love Go,” and from the departure of Diana Ross to The Supremes’ disco hits of the 1970s. Supreme Glamour builds a complete picture of the charm, sophistication, and magic of The Supremes.”

​Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott. Published by Rizzoli Electa. "The most comprehensive volume devoted to the life and work of pioneering African American artist Robert Colescott, accompanying the largest traveling exhibition of his work ever mounted. Robert Colescott (1925-2009) was a trailblazing artist, whose august career was as unique as his singular artistic style. Known for figurative satirical paintings that exposed the ugly ironies of race in America from the 1970s through the late 1990s, his work was profoundly influential to the generations of artists that have followed him, such as Kara Walker, Kehinde Wiley, and Henry Taylor, among many others. This volume surveys the entirety of Colescott's body of work, with contributions by more than ten curators and writers, including a substantive essay by the show's cocurator, the renowned Lowery Stokes Sims. It provides a detailed stylistic analysis of his politically inflected oeuvre, focusing on Colescott's own consideration of his work in the context of the grand traditions of European painting and contemporary polemic. In addition, the book features reminiscences and thought pieces by a variety of family, friends, students, curators, dealers, and scholars on his work as well as a selection of writings by the artist himself. Relying on previously unpublished transcripts of lectures, reviews, and archival materials provided by institutions and individuals, the book will provide a fuller story of the artist's life and career."

Book of the Day > Basil Wolverton: Brain Bats of Venus: The Life and Comics of... Vol. 2 (1942–1952). Published by Fantagraphics Books. "The peak period of a producer of preposterous pictures. Basil Wolverton was a commercial oddity, a one-man art factory who sidestepped conventional virtuosity by forging a highly personal and intricate approach to black-and-white graphics, linked to an intense, often disturbing, imagination and sense of humor. He created an impressive body of work, and Brain Bats of Venus represents Wolverton during his most prolific decade. In 1946, Wolverton attained national prominence by creating the winning image of Lena the Hyena, “the ugliest woman in all creation,” for Al Capp’s hit comic strip, Li’l Abner. Wolverton’s Lena was unveiled in nearly 400 newspapers, and prominently featured in Life Magazine. This exposure led to his most successful period as a working cartoonist. The volume continues Sadowski’s biography, which includes scores of letters between Wolverton and his editors and publishers and excerpts from his personal diaries, providing documentary insight not only into Wolverton’s day-to-day life and career, but also the inner workings of the early comic book industry. Brain Bats is also chock full of Wolverton’s comics stories from this period, including 17 science-fiction and horror tales fully restored and never before collected in a single volume."

Our friend Steve Kilfoy - and 20-year Arcana veteran - has passed away. The last three years have been fraught for him and his body succumbed to leukemia last night. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who supported him through his life and through his illness, supported his Go Fund Me campaign, sent him books, brought him food, thought a good thought for him. We love him and we will miss him. Lee + Whitney + all of the Arcana family

Book of the Day > Off The Wall: American Art To Wear. Published by Philadelphia Museum of Art & Yale University Press. “This is the first publication to consider art to wear, also known as wearable art, as a discrete American movement that mirrored the cultural, political, social, and spiritual concerns of a generation that came of age in the late 1960s and 1970s. Trained primarily in the fine arts, they adopted nontraditional forms, materials, and techniques to create works using the body as an armature. Collectively, these practitioners have had a significant but underrecognized impact on art making and education. Their legacy continues today among younger artists who have embraced multimedia forms of expression.”

Book of the Day > Julie Mehretu. Published by DelMonico Prestel. "This full-scale retrospective monograph of Julie Mehretu’s work traces the development of one of America’s most celebrated abstract painters. Over the past twenty-five years Julie Mehretu has emerged as a major force in American art. Known mostly for her enormous abstract paintings, she also produces exquisite drawings, often created as studies for larger works. This sumptuous volume accompanies a major mid-career survey of Mehretu’s work. Designed to allow close viewing of Mehretu’s vast canvases, it features lush reproductions of her paintings in their entirety, as well as numerous full-page details. The genesis for much of Mehretu’s work lies in the black ink drawings she created in the late 1990s. From these early drawings and paintings, Mehretu moved onto large-scale canvases. These drawings and paintings are maplike and colorful, with diagrammatic elements that reflect her life experience. Each of these stages of her oeuvre is represented here, including works from her landmark exhibition Drawing into Painting, the twelve-panel intaglio, Auguries, and the paintings she created as a result of time spent in Africa and the Middle East. Accompanying these images are numerous essays by leading curators, scholars, and writers. Long overdue, this magnificent volume pays tribute to an artist whose work and process intermingle in a unique and important examination of painting, history, geopolitics, and displacement."

Book of the Day > Great Women Artists. Published by Phaidon. “Five centuries of fascinating female creativity presented in more than 400 compelling artworks and one comprehensive volume The most extensive fully illustrated book of women artists ever published, Great Women Artists reflects an era where art made by women is more prominent than ever. In museums, galleries, and the art market, previously overlooked female artists, past and present, are now gaining recognition and value. Featuring more than 400 artists from more than 50 countries and spanning 500 years of creativity, each artist is represented here by a key artwork and short text. This essential volume reveals a parallel yet equally engaging history of art for an age that champions a greater diversity of voices.”

Book of the Day > Margaret Kilgallen: that's where the beauty is. Published by Aspen Art Press. "Margaret Kilgallen: that’s where the beauty is. is published on the occasion of Kilgallen’s first posthumous museum exhibition, and the largest presentation of her work in more than a decade. Using the artist’s exhibition history as a chronological tool, that’s where the beauty is. examines Kilgallen’s roots in histories of printmaking, American and non-Western folk history and folklore, and feminist strategies of representation, expanding the narrative around her work beyond her association with the Bay Area Mission School and the "Beautiful Losers" artists. Kilgallen’s graphic, schematic style came from a deep engagement with the handmade in wildly divergent forms—from folk art to letterpress printing to freight train graffiti, among many other sources. “I like things that are handmade and I like to see people's hand in the world anywhere in the world,” she said, embracing the idiosyncrasies and imperfections that come from hand craft. “I think that’s where the beauty is.” Kilgallen’s work, in form and content, celebrates the handmade, making heroes and heroines of those who live and work in the margins and challenging traditional gender roles, hierarchies and mainstream culture. This publication offers a comprehensive look at Kilgallen’s work, revisiting the ongoing legacy and idiosyncratic spirit of one of California’s most innovative artists." Purchase here.

We have been blessed - truly - to have had Jess at Arcana for 10 of the last 17 years. It’s a bittersweet day for us as she sashays out the door today to devote herself full-time to her primary careers of making exquisite jewelry, making exquisite spaces (along with her husband with their company, Landlocd ), and raising her wonderful son. Jess’s glamour, elan, and flair are foils for her deep intellect and massive knowledge. She is a pure delight and her sparkling presence, her passion, and her solidarity have been priceless gifts to us.