Painting is a continually expanding and evolving medium. The radical changes that have taken place since the 1960s and 1970s – including the shift from modernism to postmodernism – have been accompanied by fierce debates regarding the place of painting in contemporary culture, and have led to its reinvigoration as a practice, lending it an energy and excitement that persist today.
Renowned critic and art historian Suzanne Hudson offers an intelligent and original survey of the subject, exploring the ways in which the medium is being approached, re-imagined and challenged by contemporary artists. Her rigorous critical record brings together more than 250 eminent artists from around the world, whose diverse ideas and aesthetics characterize the painting of our time. They include Cecily Brown, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Theaster Gates, Josh Smith, Jenny Saville, Takashi Murakami, Gabriel Orozco, Kara Walker, Kehinde Wiley, Zhang Xiaogang and many others. Hudson’s compelling text is sensitive to issues such as queer narratives, race, activism and climate, and demonstrates the continued relevance of painting today.
Once upon a time pottery schools saw an increase in enrolments whenever the film Ghost aired on television. Today it is all year round. Not since the 1970s has there been this level of interest and appreciation for pottery and ceramics. The return to the handmade has been driven by our increasingly digital lives and there are now more makers, sellers and collectors than ever. There is also a new desire for unique objects made by hand and the imperfections associated with the marks of the maker. Pottery is the vehicle that most aptly captures this authenticity. From decorative pieces to the primarily functional to sculptural works pushing the boundaries of the medium, Clay surveys the richly creative output of over 50 studio potters from around the world. It is a celebration of a new generation of artisans working in clay, a snapshot not necessarily of what is happening at elite gallery level, but rather a behind-the-scenes look at the unique and eclectic offerings from small studios around the world.
Swedish Modern is a playful introduction to the philosophy and heritage of the Swedish interior design and furniture company Svenskt Tenn, founded in 1924 by Estrid Ericson and joined ten years later by designer and architect Josef Frank. Contrary to the rigid modernism that dominated in their day, theirs was a soft and tolerant style, full of variety, fantasy, humour – and elegance.
Line drawings to be coloured in by the reader are integrated with full-page colour reproductions of Josef Frank’s fantastical prints and furniture pieces, the designer’s own sketches, archival photographs and Estrid Ericson’s imaginative room and table settings. Through a creative and engaging series of compositions and short texts, the reader will not only get an insight into the creative process and design philosophy of Estrid Ericson and Josef Frank, but will also see how their legacy is still at the heart of Svenskt Tenn today.
The powerful aesthetic and philosophical framework that Modernism ushered in during the early part of the 20th century revolutionized the built world, transformed our living spaces and lifestyles, and fundamentally changed the way we think about design. As they experimented with new forms, materials and techniques, Modernist designers rejected historical precedents to prioritize function over history and tradition. This comprehensive volume brings together all facets and scales of Modernist design, presenting the vast breadth of both towering and lesser-known figures, and revealing unexpected connections and new insights. With sections on furniture, lighting, glass, ceramics, textiles, industrial and product design, graphic design and posters, architecture and interiors, and featuring profiles of nearly a hundred influential creators, including such iconic figures as Bruno Mathsson, Charlotte Perriand and László Moholy-Nagy, as well as architects Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Eliel Saarinen and Walter Gropius, the book’s scope is unprecedented.
Helmut Newton (1920-2004) lived and worked all over the world and was one of the most internationally famous and controversial photographers of the 20th century. His shots at haute couture and the beau monde are instantly recognizable, having appeared in virtually every major magazine in Europe and the United States. From his early work for Vogue to his portraits of the rich and famous, Newton conveys a unique vision of a wealthy and glamorous world that often shocks but never ceases to fascinate.
The Photofile series brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers, in an affordable pocket format. Handsome and collectable, the books are produced to the highest standards. Each volume contains some sixty full-page reproductions printed in superb duotone, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography. The series has been awarded the first annual prize for distinguished photographic books by the International Center of Photography, New York.
Ambitious and wide-ranging, this is the first single volume to tell the story of the library as a distinct building type, all around the world and from the beginnings of writing to the present day. In its highest form the library is a total work of art, combining painting, sculpture, furniture and architecture. From their designs for the libraries of ancient Rome to those of the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, architects have sought to outdo each other by producing ever more spectacular settings.
The author and photographer have travelled the globe, documenting some eighty libraries. Architectural historian James Campbell contributes an authoritative and highly readable account. Will Pryce is one of the world’s leading photographers of interiors and architecture. Arresting and technically flawless, his photographs are both lucid and deeply atmospheric.
This visually rich survey – the first of its kind – showcases the work of over 200 artists and celebrates the explosion of street art in Africa over the last decade. Including eleven in-depth interviews with street artists active in Africa today as well as coverage of the continent’s major street art projects, collectives and festivals, it takes the reader on an introductory tour of the many African street art scenes, with a deeper focus on the most prominent players in Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.
Topics and projects covered include the monumental project Murais da Leba in Angola, which saw a huge wall covered by local graffiti and visual artists in the Serra da Leba mountain range; the cultural influences and idiosyncrasies of individual street art scenes, and how they mesh with local communities; and eL Seed’s project ‘Perception’, a huge multi-part mural stretching across more than fifty buildings in Cairo’s Zaraeeb neighbourhood, revealing a message of hope to its marginalized community in the artist’s distinctive ‘calligraffiti’ style.
Text commentaries elaborating on styles and processes, and social and cultural context, are peppered throughout the book, giving the reader further insight into a wealth of striking contemporary visual cultures – and helping make this a must-have for street art fans and practitioners.
Revolutions hold a distinct place in the popular imagination. This may be because their rhetoric, such as ‘liberty, fraternity, equality’, articulates aspirations with which we identify; or because we are shocked by the destructive forces unleashed when social conventions break down. Yet each revolution is unique – a product of its time, its society, its people – and the outcomes vary dramatically, from liberal reform to cruel dictatorship.
Twenty-four leading historians, each writing about their country of origin, consider revolutions from England’s Glorious Revolution of 1688 to the Arab Spring of 2011, reflecting not only on their causes, crises and outcomes, but also their long-term legacies and their changing, sometimes contested, meanings today. They reflect on key questions, such as: What were the reasons for the revolution? What were the main events and dominant ideologies, and who were the leading protagonists? How is it considered today and what is its ideological legacy?
Whether as inspiration or warning, the legacies of these revolutions are not only important to those interested in protest, political change and the power of the people but also impact on virtually every one of us today.
The most captivating and intriguing 19th-century murders from around the world are re-examined in this disquieting volume, which takes readers on a perilous journey around the world’s most benighted regions. In each area, murders are charted with increasing specificity: beginning with city- or region-wide overviews, drilling down to street-level diagrams and zooming-in to detailed floor plans. All the elements of each crime are meticulously replotted on archival maps, from the prior movements of both killer and victim to the eventual location of the body.
The murders revisited range from the ‘French Ripper’ Joseph Vacher, who roamed the French countryside brutally murdering and mutilating over twenty shepherds and shepherdesses, to H.H. Holmes, who built a hotel in Chicago to entrap, murder and dispose of its many guests. Crime expert Dr Drew Gray illuminates the details of each case, recounting both the horrifying particulars of the crimes themselves and the ingenious detective work that led to the eventual capture of the murderers. He highlights the development of police methods and technology: from the introduction of the police whistle to the standardization of the mugshot and from the invention of fingerprinting to the use of radio telegraphy to capture criminals. Disturbing crime-scene photographs by pioneers of policework, such as Alphonse Bertillon, and contemporary illustrations from the sensationalist magazines of the day, including the Illustrated Police News and the Petit Journal, complete the macabre picture.
Illustrated with images as iconic as they are stunning and including the author’s first-hand experiences on set and interviews with the great director, this magnificent book charts the extraordinary journey of Britain’s greatest living director.
Telling the stories behind Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, his new HBO drama Raised by Wolves and many more, it also goes in search of the themes and motifs that unite such different films, and the methods and madness of Scott’s approach to his medium. This is the story of a director who has never been less than stubbornly, brilliantly, unforgettably his own man.
Described by Lennon as ‘the best thing I’ve ever done’, and widely regarded by critics as his best solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was released alongside the remarkable Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band on 11 December 1970. With first-hand commentary by John & Yoko, members of the Plastic Ono Band and other key figures in their lives, and packed with evocative and revealing letters, artworks and photographs, this incisive volume offers new insights into the raw emotions and open mindset of Lennon after marriage to Ono and the break-up of the Beatles.
Following their wedding in March 1969, Lennon and Ono decided that their future musical endeavours should be credited to a conceptual vehicle, the Plastic Ono Band. The band featured an ever-changing line-up of musicians, including Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Ringo Starr, Alan White, George Harrison, Billy Preston and Jim Keltner, all of whom played live with Lennon and Ono, and contributed to their recordings. The fearless honesty that John & Yoko inspired in one another in their search for truth, meaning and peace had a huge impact on Lennon’s song writing, resulting in the creation of tracks that are intensely personal and unlike anything previously heard in popular music, including ‘Mother’, ‘Working Class Hero’ and ‘God’. This book takes those lyrics as a starting point and explores Lennon’s life, relationships and world view during this transformative period.
Women have been pioneering photographers since the earliest days of the art form. This expertly curated set of three volumes in the renowned Photofile series brings together 190 women photographers from all over the world, working in all styles and genres. From the imaginative experiments of the 19th century to the thriving art movements of the 20th century and on to the digital world of the 21st century, this rich and diverse overview will inspire readers to explore the work of some of the greatest photographers of all time.
A testament to the art of colour composition, this book – art directed by Wong himself and produced to the highest printing standard – brings together a complete and refined body of images that are evocative, timeless and completely transporting. Rounding out the volume's special treatment is the first publication use of the 45/90 font, designed by Henrik Kubel, of London-based A2-TYPE.
The book also features a section that reveals the creative and technical process of Wong’s method, from identifying the right scene to making a good composition, from capturing the essence of a moment to enhancing colour values and deepening an image’s impact – insights that will be invaluable to admirers and photography enthusiasts alike.
Created in collaboration with Dronestegram, the world-leading drone photography website, and Ayperi Karabuda Ecer, a highly renowned photography editor, Dronescapes is the first book to bring together the very best photographs taken by quadcopters around the globe. It grants us the thrilling opportunity to see our planet from entirely new vantage points, whether this is a bird’s-eye view of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, a photograph taken inches away from an eagle in mid-flight, or a vertiginous shot taken above Mexico’s Tamul Waterfalls. There are extended commentaries on how individual images were created, profiles on notable photographers and a separate user guide containing key advice on how to use your drone. An introduction also discusses how the arrival of drone photography signals a major shift in the history of aerial photography.
Dronescapes is a landmark publication at the cutting edge of contemporary photography, taking the medium – for once, literally – to newfound, dizzying heights.
Gain a new perspective on photography in this personally guided introduction to photographic images and what they mean by one of the leading writers and curators of our time
On Photographs is destined to become an instant classic of photography writing. Rejecting the conventions of chronology and the heightened status afforded to ‘classics’ in traditional accounts of the history of the medium, Campany’s selection of photographs is an expertly curated and personal one – mixing fine art prints, film stills, documentary photographs, fashion editorials and advertisements. In this playful new take on the history of photography, anonymous photographers stand alongside photography pioneers, 20th-century talents and contemporary practitioners. Each photograph is accompanied by Campany’s highly readable commentary. Putting the sacred status of authorship to one side, he strives to guide the reader in their own interpretation and understanding of the image itself. In a visual culture in which we have become accustomed to not looking, Campany helps us see, in what is both an accessible introduction for newcomers and a must-have for photography aficionados.
Fashion: The Whole Story provides a global history of fashion and traces the evolution of fashion design period by period and trend by trend.
- Organized chronologically, covering Greco-Roman draped clothing and the silk court dress of the Chinese Tang dynasty through to contemporary sportswear designers and Japanese street fashion
- Places key fashion pieces in the context of social and cultural developments, with historical timelines highlighting important influences and events
- Takes you inside the process of creating haute couture, from concept to catwalk
- Written by an international team of experts led by Marnie Fogg
Iconography, the study of symbols – be they animals, artefacts, plants, shapes or gestures – is an essential element of art history.
This guide unravels over fifty of the most common and intriguing visual symbols from across the globe from 2300 BCE to the present day. While symbols cross dialects and national boundaries, their meanings can vary and are often culturally specific. The snake, an object of fascination and mysticism in Aztec culture, usually represents sin in the west. Yinka Shonibare’s Last Supper (2013) plays on the grapevine’s historic associations to satiric and startling effect.
Matt Wilson explores symbolism’s subtle implications and overt and covert meanings, providing an indispensable tool for interpretation. A reference section includes suggestions for further reading and a glossary of art and historical terms.
This lively introduction tells the ever-evolving story of abstract art, tracing its history from the early 1900s right up to the present day. Emerging out of western movements such as Cubism and Expressionism, abstract art quickly became a global phenomenon, changing the face of modern and contemporary art. Stephanie Straine weaves accounts of well-known pioneers with fascinating insights into lesser-known ground-breakers from across the world.
Although abstraction in art is often associated with vagueness or the forbiddingly theoretical, for many artists the abstract represents pure simplicity. Straine’s vivid discussion demystifies the work of over seventy innovative artists – from Wassily Kandinsky to Emma Kunz and Rana Begum – and develops our appreciation of their conceptual approach. A reference section includes a timeline of key exhibitions of abstract art, suggestions for further reading and a glossary of art terms.
Paul Gauguin achieved a high public profile during his lifetime, and was one of the first artists of his generation to achieve international recognition. But his prominence has always had as much to do with the dramatic events of his life – his self-imposed exile on a remote South Sea island, his turbulent relationships with his peers – as with the appeal of his art.
Belinda Thomson gives a comprehensive and accessible account of the life and work of one of the most original artists of the late nineteenth century. Gauguin’s work – painting, sculpture, prints and ceramics – is discussed in the light of his public persona, his relations with his contemporaries, his exhibitions and their critical reception. His private world, beliefs and aspirations are revealed through his extensive cache of journals, letters and other writings. Fully updated throughout, drawing on the insights of thirty years of scholarship since its first edition, Thomson’s text remains the best introduction to this controversial and often contradictory artist.
Whitney Chadwick’s acclaimed study challenges the assumption that great women artists are exceptions to the rule, who ‘transcended’ their sex to produce major works of art. While acknowledging the many women whose contribution to visual culture since the Middle Ages have often been neglected, Chadwick’s survey amounts to much more than an alternative canon of women artists: it re-examines the works themselves and the ways in which they have been perceived as marginal, often in direct reference to gender. In her disussion of feminism and its influence on such a reappraisal, the author also addresses the closely related issues of ethnicity, class and sexuality.
With a new preface and epilogue from an exciting new authority on the history of women artists, this revised edition continues the project of charting the evolution of feminist art history and pedagogy in recent years, revealing how artists have responded to new strategies of feminism for the current moment.
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