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Arcana: Books on the Arts
8675 Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232 USA

310-458-1499
books@arcanabooks.com



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Only a very small portion (about 2%) of our stock is listed here. If there are titles you are searching for beyond those you find on our website, please contact us. We will gladly search our extensive stock of as-yet-uncatalogued material to help locate the items you seek.

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  • Senon Williams: Everything Must Go - Signed And Numbered Etching On Paper In An Edition Of Twelve

    $240.00
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    SENON WILLIAMS: EVERYTHING MUST GO - SIGNED AND NUMBERED ETCHING ON PAPER IN AN EDITION OF TWELVE

    (Williams, Senon). Williams, Senon. Los Angeles: APKG Press, 2025. First Edition of 12 examples. 7 1/4 x 9". Etching on Paper. Artist's Multiple. As New. One 7 1/4 x 9" etching on paper, 1 monochrome illustration. Published in a limited edition of twelve copies in conjunction with his 2025 Hat & Beard Press book "Scrapyard", "Everything Must Go'" is a charming new etching from esteemed Los Angeles artist, musician, and author SEnon Williams. A brand new example SIGNED AND NUMBERED by the artist in pencil across the lower margin, as issued. Inventory Number: E00SWEMG

    $240.00
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    Filed Under: African-American Art, Artist Monographs, Artists' Books, California Artists and Arts, Limited Editions, Original Art, Graphics + Multiples, Signed Books
  • Senon Williams: Words Dont Mean Much - Copy Signed By The Artist

    $24.95
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    SENON WILLIAMS: WORDS DONT MEAN MUCH - COPY SIGNED BY THE ARTIST

    (Williams, Senon). Williams, Senon. Los Angeles: Hat & Beard Press, 2021. First Edition. 12mo (4.5 x 5.25 in.). Printed Flexible Boards. Artist Monograph. As New/No Jacket - As Issued. 152pp, illustrated in color and b&w. Designed by Lorraine Wild, Green Dragon Office. “The old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” is turned on its side in “Words Don't Mean Much” - Senon Williams’ new book of aphoristic phrasing. Far fewer words are needed to create an illuminating image in the mind’s eye, conjuring immediate multi-sensory experiences. This book of poems is derived from the text in Williams’ ink on paper drawings. The drawings are textual extractions and gather momentum within the book, exhibiting great attention to materials and craftsmanship. Every detail, from select paper to classic typeface, has been considered. An object, not unlike a sculpture, can be viewed from all sides, handled - and leafed through in the case of this book - front to back, back to front, or randomly opened. “Words Don't Mean Much” is a small pocket book, easy to conceal. A book to keep all to yourself or share intimately.”

    Los Angeles native Senon Williams is a lifelong artist and musician. A founding member of the always-engaging Dengue Fever, Williams’ visual work finds space in the natural, exposing outstanding and devastating stages of human evolution. “To provoke thought, a question works better than answers. I enjoy to start a story I resolve in different ways depending on my mood."

    A brand new, most handsome example of this charming new work additionally SIGNED by Senon Williams in ink. Inventory Number: E000SWWDMM

    $24.95
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    Filed Under: African-American Art, Artist Monographs, Artists' Books, California Artists and Arts, Literature and Fiction, Music + Sound Art, Signed Books
  • Senon Williams: Hunted & Gathered - Signed By The Artist

    $50.00
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    SENON WILLIAMS: HUNTED & GATHERED - SIGNED BY THE ARTIST

    (Williams, Senon). Williams, Senon. Venice, CA: Hamilton Press, 2017. First Edition 1/750. Small 4to. Illustrated Flexible Boards. Artist Monograph. As New/No Jacket as Issued. 152pp, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Los Angeles native Senon Williams is a lifelong artist and musician. A founding member of the always-engaging Dengue Fever, Williams’ visual work finds space in the natural, exposing outstanding and devastating stages of human evolution. “To provoke thought, a question works better than answers. I enjoy to start a story I resolve in different ways depending on my mood". With imagery ranging from stark silhouettes to lush landscapes and human forms staged in undetermined acts of hope, his pairing of words and imagery form a poignant visualization of the inherent human struggle both ancient and contemporary.  Senon Williams' first book, "Hunted & Gathered" was painstakingly produced by Hamilton Press. The press was established in 1990 by master printmaker Ed Hamilton and artist Ed Ruscha to encourage artists to produce art in a peaceful, unhurried atmosphere. Steeped in traditional book making in a modern age, each publication itself is a fine object created by an esteemed team. Designed by Lorraine Wild and Marina Mills Kitchen of Green Dragon Office with color separations by Echelon Color, Santa Monica and printed by Dr. Cantz’sche Druckerei Median GmbH in Ostfildern, Germany, the book consists of seven hundred hardbound copies along with a deluxe edition of limited to fifty copies containing an original work on paper by the artist. A brand new, most handsome example of the standard edition additionally SIGNED by Senon Williams. 978-0-692-87700-5


     

     
     

    Inventory Number: E000SWH&G

    $50.00
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    Filed Under: African-American Art, Artist Monographs, Artists' Books, California Artists and Arts, Music + Sound Art, Edward Ruscha, Signed Books
  • Senon Williams: Scrapyard - Signed By The Artist

    $40.00
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    SENON WILLIAMS: SCRAPYARD - SIGNED BY THE ARTIST

    (Williams, Senon). Williams, Senon, Richelle Munkhoff & Beth Ann Whittaker. Los Angeles: Hat & Beard Press, I00251213, 2025. First Edition. 8 1/4 x 10 1/2", Oblong 4to. Illustrated Boards. Artist Monograph. As New/No Jacket - As Issued. 978-1955125680


    PLEASE NOTE: MR. WILLIAMS WILL BE SIGNING BOOKS AT ARCANA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13th FROM 4:00 TO 6:00 PM. BOOKS WILL BEGIN SHIPPING TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16th.

    146pp, profusely illustrated in color. Designed by Russell Etchen. Senon Williams is a lifelong musician, visual artist and poet, born and currently based in Los Angeles. Descended from survivors of enslavement and the Holocaust, Williams is an artist whose practice is a response to scarcity and loss with a deep commitment to preservation. He is drawn to the physical scraps of life - and the layering of those scraps into a larger tapestry - believing that these objects have souls. Assembling found pieces, large and small, sometimes literally from yards or the street, Williams collects unwanted things, used things, to create anew. A blending of these objects’ inner character with his own vision into an assemblage, not only of the physical but also of the spirit. Williams’ work is grounded in a love of language play, sounds, textures, and associations of word and object. Working in various media in his visual art practice - sculpture, painting, serigraphy, and printmaking - he counters what we think we know. Something familiar gives us pause and words we know well induce questions. Always blending the visual with poetry, we are addressed with layers of contrasts. 

    This book forms a graveyard or a scrapyard of items one might typically discard. In our time of extreme wastefulness, assembling the detritus from his artmaking into a scrapbook gives each of these items a collective home and value. Gathered from his day-to-day studio practice, they are thoughts jotted down, remnants of materials used, random receipts, which suggest a sense of care, like acts of preservation, mending and repurposing. Each piece is held, suspended from its final dissolution, forming a new place in which to exist. Interspersed within are vignettes looking at the histories of scrapbooking and ephemeral collection over time by Richelle Munkhoff and Beth Ann Whittaker of Plain Sight Archive. There is a long legacy and history of this artistic action and this publication represents now another documentation of time and place. A brand new, most handsome example of this charming new work additionally SIGNED by Senon Williams in ink

    Inventory Number: E00251213

    $40.00
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    Filed Under: African-American Art, Artist Monographs, Artists' Books, California Artists and Arts, Music + Sound Art, Signed Books
  • Jody Zellen: Blur

    $50.00
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    JODY ZELLEN: BLUR

    (ZELLEN, JODY). Zellen, Jody. Santa Monica, CA: Self-Published, 1997. First Edition 1/500. 16mo. Stapled Pictorial Wrappers. Artist's Book. Fine.. np (40pp), profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Designed by Jody Zellen. Published in conjunction with the 1997 exhibition "Blur" at San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery, this is the second of Santa Monica-based artist/graphic designer Jody Zellen's self-produced small format artist's books. Uniformly scaled to 4 ½ x 4 ½", these beautiful little editions combine photographic reproduction, text, and a grid format to achieve a sublime narrative. A most handsome example of this uncommon item limited to five hundred unnumbered copies. Inventory Number: 023103

    $50.00
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    Filed Under: Artist Monographs, Artists' Books, California Artists and Arts, Graphic Design, Photography Monographs
  • Ex Libris Catalog: The Bauhaus And Its Legacy

    $50.00
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    EX LIBRIS CATALOG: THE BAUHAUS AND ITS LEGACY

    Cohen, Arthur A.. New York: Ex Libris, 1982. First Edition. 4to. Stapled Pictorial Wrappers. Bookseller's Catalogue. Fine.. np (30pp), 62 b&w illustrations. New York's Arthur Cohen was the premier purveyor of books and ephemera on twentieth century Modern Art movements for nearly twenty years. Ex Libris' copiously researched, scholarly, illustrated catalogues stood as unparalleled bibliographic tools at a time when there was a paucity of available reference to the documentary literature of the modernist avant-gardes. This slender hord serie catalogue was devoted entirely to The Bauhaus and its impact - featuring one hundred and ninety fully described original photographs, weavings and textiles, drawings, books, periodicals, pamphlets, and printed ephemera related to the likes of Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Aenne Biermann, Walter Dexel, T. Lux Feininger, Walter Gropius, Joannes Itten, Paul Klee, El Lissitzky, Hannes Meyer, Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, Lucia Moholy, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Xanti Schawinsky, Oskar Schlemmer, Joost Schmidt, Thonet, Jan Tschichold, "Umbo" (Otto Umbehrer), Theo Van Doesburg, and many, many others. And while at the time of its publication the prices here seemed astronomical, some thirty-five odd years later they are finally downright bargains! A most handsome example this uncommon reference. Inventory Number: 025895

    $50.00
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    Filed Under: Architecture, Art, Art Theory, Artists' Books, Ceramics and Glass, Decorative Art, Ephemera and Announcements, Illustrated Books, Performance Art, Periodicals, Photography, Posters, Textiles, Graphic Art
  • Ex Libris Catalog: Victory Over The Sun (Russian Rarities)

    $42.50
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    EX LIBRIS CATALOG: VICTORY OVER THE SUN (RUSSIAN RARITIES)

    Cohen, Arthur A.. New York: Ex Libris, 1981. First Edition. Tall Narrow 8vo. Stapled Printed Wrappers. Bookseller's Catalogue. Near Fine.. np (18pp), 17 b&w illustrations. With a bibliography. New York's Arthur Cohen was the premier purveyor of books and ephemera on twentieth century Modern Art movements for nearly twenty years. Ex Libris' copiously researched, scholarly, illustrated catalogues stood as unparalleled bibliographic tools at a time when there was a paucity of available reference to the documentary literature of the modernist avant-gardes. This slender eighteen page hors sequence catalogue describes sixty-one books, catalogues and printed works of the Russian Avant-Garde by the likes of Natan Altman, Yurii Annenkov, David Burliuk, Natalia Goncharova, Iliazd, Velimir Khlebnikov, Mikhail Larionov, El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, Alexandr Rodchenko, Olga Rozanova, Vladimir Tatlin, and many others. And while at the time of its 1981 publication the prices here seemed astronomical, some thirty-five years later they are finally downright bargains! A handsome example of this uncommon reference. Inventory Number: 025894

    $42.50
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    Filed Under: Architecture, Art, Art Theory, Artists' Books, Ephemera and Announcements, Illustrated Books, Photography, Posters, Graphic Art
  • Ex Libris 18

    $60.00
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    EX LIBRIS 18

    Cohen, Arthur A.. New York. ND (circa 1988).: Ex Libris. First Edition. Tall Narrow 8vo. Stapled Illustrated Wrappers. Bookseller's Catalogue. Fine.. np (48pp), profusely illustrated in b&w. New York's Arthur Cohen was the premier purveyor of books and ephemera on twentieth century Modern Art movements for nearly twenty years. Ex Libris' copiously researched, scholarly, illustrated catalogues stood as unparalleled bibliographic tools at a time when there was a paucity of available reference to the documentary literature of the modernist avant-gardes. Catalogue number eighteen features fifty-two fully described and illustrated exceptional works, photographs, posters, books, periodicals, pamphlets, and printed ephemera on or by the likes of Hans (Jean) Arp, Broom, Francesco Cangiullo, Fortunato Depero, Andre Derain, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Die Flaeche, Fluxus, Natalia Goncharova, Wassily Kandinsky, Valentina Kulagina, Fernand Leger, El Lissitzky and Mayakovsky, Kazimir Malevich, Henri Matisse, Bruno Munari, Diter Rot (Dieter Roth), Kurt Schwitters, Surrealism, Ladislav Sutnar, Yves Tanguy, Tato (Guglielmo Sansoni), Tolschin, H. Th. Wijdeveld, Tristan Tzara, Frank Lloyd Wright, Piet Zwart, and more. And while at the time of its publication the prices here seemed astronomical, some thirty years later they are finally downright bargains! A bright, most handsome example of this uncommon reference with the original price list additionally laid in. Inventory Number: 025893

    $60.00
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    Filed Under: Art, Artists' Books, Dada and Surrealism, Marcel Duchamp, Ephemera and Announcements, Illustrated Books, Performance Art, Periodicals, Photography, Posters, Dieter Roth, Graphic Art
  • Ex Libris 10: Dada Once And For All

    $60.00
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    EX LIBRIS 10: DADA ONCE AND FOR ALL

    Cohen, Arthur A. & Trevor Winkfield. New York: Ex Libris, 1983. First Edition. 4to. Wrappers in Illustrated Jacket. Bookseller's Catalogue. Near Fine./Fine.. np (76pp), profusely illustrated in b&w. Designed by Tamar Cohen and Elaine Lustig Cohen. With a bibliography. New York's Arthur Cohen was the premier purveyor of books and ephemera on twentieth century Modern Art movements for nearly twenty years. Ex Libris' copiously researched, scholarly, illustrated catalogues stood as unparalleled bibliographic tools at a time when there was a paucity of available reference to the documentary literature of the modernist avant-gardes. Catalogue number ten was devoted entirely to Dada material - featuring three hundred and thirty-six fully described and indexed original works, photographs, posters, books, periodicals, pamphlets, and printed ephemera on or by the likes of Hans Arp, Hugo Ball, Andre Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, George Grosz, Raoul Hausmann, John Heartfield, Richard Huelsenbeck, Marcel Janco, Alfred Jarry, Man Ray, Francis Picabia, Hans Richter, Kurt Schwitters, Tristan Tzara, Theo Van Doesburg, and many, many others. And while at the time of its 1983 publication the prices here seemed astronomical, some thirty-five years later they are finally downright bargains! A most handsome example of this uncommon reference in a like dust jacket. Inventory Number: 025890

    $60.00
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    Filed Under: Art, Art Theory, Artists' Books, Dada and Surrealism, Marcel Duchamp, Ephemera and Announcements, Illustrated Books, Literature and Fiction, Performance Art, Periodicals, Photography, Posters, Graphic Art
  • Ex Libris 3: Apollinaire To Surrealism

    $75.00
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    EX LIBRIS 3: APOLLINAIRE TO SURREALISM

    Cohen, Arthur A. & Trevor Winkfield. New York. ND (circa 1976).: Ex Libris. First Edition. 4to. Printed Wrappers. Bookseller's Catalogue. Very Good.. np (152pp), profusely illustrated in b&w. New York's Arthur Cohen was the premier purveyor of books and ephemera on twentieth century Modern Art movements for nearly twenty years. Ex Libris' copiously researched, scholarly, illustrated catalogues stood as unparalleled bibliographic tools at a time when there was a paucity of available reference to the documentary literature of the modernist avant-gardes. Catalogue number three features nine hundred and eighty-five fully described and indexed original works, photographs, posters, books, periodicals, pamphlets, and printed ephemera on the subjects of Guillaume Apollinaire, Architecture, Expressionism, Illustrated Books and Livres de Peintre, Alfred Jarry, Periodicals and Annuals, Photographs and Photogravures (including a large collection of plates from "Camera Work"), Photography and Film, and Surrealism. And while at the time of its 1976 publication the prices here seemed astronomical, some forty years later they are finally downright bargains! A handsome example of this uncommon reference showing a bit of light sunning to the covers along with its title added discreetly in ink to the spine. Inventory Number: 015159

    $75.00
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    Filed Under: Architecture, Art, Art Theory, Artists' Books, Cinema, Dada and Surrealism, Decorative Art, Marcel Duchamp, Ephemera and Announcements, Graphic Design, Literature and Fiction, Performance Art, Periodicals, Photography
  • Ex Libris 6 - Constructivism & Futurism: Russian & Other

    $85.00
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    EX LIBRIS 6 - CONSTRUCTIVISM & FUTURISM: RUSSIAN & OTHER

    Cohen, Arthur A. & W. Michael Sheehe. New York: Ex Libris, 1977. First Edition. 4to. Illustrated Wrappers. Bookseller's Catalogue. Very Good.. np, profusely illustrated in b&w. Designed by Elaine Lustig Cohen. With an index and bibliography. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. New York's Arthur Cohen was the premier purveyor of books and ephemera on twentieth century Modern Art movements for nearly twenty years. Ex Libris' copiously researched, scholarly, illustrated catalogues stood as unparalleled bibliographic tools at a time when there was a paucity of available reference to the documentary literature of the modernist avant-gardes. Catalogue number six was their piece de resistance - with four hundred and thirty-four fully described and indexed books, periodicals, pamphlets, and posters of the Russian Avant-Garde by the likes of Natan Altman, Yurii Annenkov, David Burliuk, Vladimir Burliuk, Marc Chagall, Vasilii Ermilov, Alexandra Exter, Pavel Filonov, Naum Gabo, Natalia Goncharova, Vasilii Kamensky, Vasilii Kandinsky, Ivan Kliun, Gustav Klucis, Petr Konchalovsky, Mikhail Larionov, V. Lebedev, El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, Mikail Matiushin, Petr Miturich, Liubov Popova, Ivan Puni, Alexander Rodchenko, Olga Rozanova, Georgii Stenberg, Vladimir Stenberg, Vavara Stepanova, Vladimir Tatlin, Alexandr Vesnin, and many, many others. It contains over five hundred additional items related to F.T. Marinetti and Italian Futurism, De Stijl, The Bauhaus and its Legacy, and Eastern European & German books, periodicals, graphics and photographs. And while at the time of its 1977 publication the prices here seemed astronomical, some forty years later they are finally downright bargains! An internally most handsome example of this uncommon reference showing wear, rubbing, and some sunning along the spine of its graphically striking covers. LC 77-71400 Inventory Number: 025835

    $85.00
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    Filed Under: Architecture, Art, Art Theory, Artists' Books, Ephemera and Announcements, Illustrated Books, Periodicals, Photography, Posters, Graphic Art
  • Carl Andre / Robert Barry / Douglas Huebler / Joseph Kosuth / Sol Lewitt / Robert Morris / Lawrence Weiner: The Xerox Book

    $325.00
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    CARL ANDRE / ROBERT BARRY / DOUGLAS HUEBLER / JOSEPH KOSUTH / SOL LEWITT / ROBERT MORRIS / LAWRENCE WEINER: THE XEROX BOOK

    Siegelaub, Seth & John W. Wendler, Editors. Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS: Roma Publications, Stedelijk Museum, De Appel & Stichting Egress Foundation, 2015. Second Edition (First Thus) 1/1600. 4to. Wrappers in Acetate Jacket. Artists' Book. As New/As New. np (372pp), 350 b&w illustrations. Issued in 1968 by gallerists Seth Siegelaub and John W. Wendler, this collaborative project known as "The Xerox Book" features contributions from artists Carl Andre, Robert Barry, Douglas Huebler, Joseph Kosuth, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris, and Lawrence Weiner. Each participant contributed an original twenty-five page, 11 x 8 ½" artwork that would only exist on the printed page - not on a gallery wall. Generally considered to be the first conceptual artists' book, it was originally envisioned as being produced by a Xerox copy machine, however the price for printing the three hundred and sixty-eight page volume proved to financially unworkable, so it was ultimately printed using the offset process. A brand new, most handsome example of the already unavailable 2015 facsimile edition of this extraordinarily important Conceptual Art document limited to one thousand, six hundred copies published in conjunction with the Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum and De Appel arts centre's exhibition "Seth Siegelaub: Beyond Conceptual Art" still in the publisher's shrinkwrap. 94-91843-52-4 Inventory Number: 027336

    $325.00
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    Filed Under: Art, Artists' Books, Conceptual and Minimal Art, Sol LeWitt, Lawrence Weiner

Books on the Arts