Arcana:

(ALTOON, JOHN). Nye, Tim, Robert Creeley, Walter Hopps, Klaus Kertess & Dr. Milton Wexler. New York: Nyehaus Gallery and the Monacelli Press, 2013. First Edition. Oblong 4to. Illustrated Boards. Artist Monograph. As New/No Jacket - As Issued. 224pp, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Designed by Kyle Lamar. With a biography, exhibition history and collections listing. Published to coincide with a 2014 retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, "The Astonishing Works of John Altoon" surveys the colorful paintings and virtuosic drawings of this larger-than-life personality exhibited at New York's Nyehaus in 2013. Altoon's art is intimate, haunting, and erotic - capturing a magical moment in California art between the Beat Generation and the sexual and psychedelic revolutions. The work is put in context through essays and remembrances from those who knew him best: the poet Robert Creeley; psychiatrist and fan Dr. Milton Wexler; pioneering West Coast curator Walter Hopps; and curator, gallerist, and critic Klaus Kertess. This lavishly produced original collection also features a juxtaposition of Altoon's lithographs with a selection of Creeley's poems that the longtime friends originally published as "About Women" in 1965, a facsimile of his Ed Kienholz-published memorial exhibition catalog, and posthumously addressed letters from friends. A brand new, pristine example of this exquisite document. 1-58093-386-6 Inventory Number: 025206