This catalogue for an exhibition at the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht features paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Younger and his contemporaries that depict the popular religious subject “Christ Carrying the Cross,” and examines these works for covert critiques of power and politics in Flanders during the 16th and 17th centuries. The show explores how artists incorporated both direct and indirect social and political criticisms into paintings on this theme, and brings together a selection of works from Bruegel the Younger, his predecessors, contemporaries, and followers.
The review of this book in Apollo Magazine speaks for itself: it describes it as ‘essential’ and ‘hard to put down’, declaring that ‘the reader will be given an education in how to look at and write about works of art’.
The Ashmolean’s collection of European sculpture is among the finest of its kind in the world. The collection accumulated over four centuries, from the dawn of English Art Collecting through to the Victorian period, which saw the arrival of one of the world’s great collections of Renaissance bronzes and other sculpture assembled by the scholar-connoisseur C.D.E. Fortnum, as well as further gifts and occassional purchases leading up to the present day. The catalogue covers the Ashmolean’s collection dating from 1200 to around 1540. From Romanesque bronzes and Gothic ivories to High Renaissance sculpture, this three-volume set is a meticulous and comprehensive record of over 500 pieces, each one fully illustrated.
Michele De Lucchi and AMDL Circle Connettome details the connections activated in the design work of Michele De Lucchi’s studio, named AMDL CIRCLE since 2019.
Through a suggestive photographic sequence, the book traces the most significant creations of the studio, combined in order to make visible what the designer calls the “synapses of architecture”, meaning the associations of emotions, memories and thoughts that stimulate new creativity. Covering over 20 years of activity, the images reveal a way of thinking about architecture and design in the light of a multidisciplinary, visionary, future-oriented – in a word, humanistic – approach. At the end of the book, which includes a text by De Lucchi, is a chronologically arranged selection of projects carried out in the new millennium, in the fields of architecture, interiors, installations, product design, graphics and research.
Text in English and Italian.
The dedicated art dealer Rudolf Zwirner and the artist Jakob Mattner meet to look back at his over 40-year-long career. They discuss the fascination with perspective, the poetic means of light, the change of position, and procedure of reversal through which the essence of art can be achieved without withholding information from the viewer: the secret of transcendence, its cause and effect.
Text in English and German.
Swiss artist Silvie Defraoui realised a significant part of her work beginning in 1975 together with her husband Chérif (1932–1994). Silvie and Chérif Defraoui compiled their photo and video works, installations, sculptures, and performances under the title Archives du Futur. They taught together at Geneva’s École supérieure des Beaux- Arts (today HEAD–Genève), where they founded the legendary studio Média Mixte and counted a number of renowned artists among their students.
The Archives du Futur, to which Silvie Defraoui has continued adding works since Chérif’s premature death, has been made available as a digital catalogue raisonné to browse online. This book accompanies, supplements, and expands on the digital documentation. It gathers 14 commentaries on individual works of the two artists by distinguished art theorists and curators, originally published from 1984 onwards, in various art journals and exhibition catalogues or newly written for this book.
They reflect on the artists’ joint oeuvre as well as on work created independently by Silvie Defraoui. Interviews with her and selected lecture texts from the couple’s shared teaching activities shed light on their artistic stance and thematic focuses.
The volume invites an exploration of an artistic body of work that is highly topical through its merging of dualities – memory and the present, Orient and Occident, man and woman, tradition and invention.
Text in English, French and German.
Once, nutmeg was worth its weight in gold. For much of human history, the tiny Banda Islands in Indonesia were the only source of this esteemed spice. From the age of the Silk Roads through to the mid-19th century partial shift of production to the Caribbean, covering battles between the Honourable East India Company and the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, this book traces the story of nutmeg, revealing its extensive and often surprising influence over conflict, politics, social mores, and Western society.
Beautiful antique silver, gold, enamel, bone, ivory, treen and Tunbridgeware graters and rasps demonstrate how much nutmeg was valued throughout history. This book gathers pictures of some of the finest examples world-wide, alongside mechanical and base metal graters and spice containers. It illustrates, and provides useful information on, the history of pomanders which were associated with nutmeg, as this spice was once thought to ward off pestilence and plague.
Combining the social history of nutmeg with explanations of the spice production and transportation process, and illustrating in detail examples in international nutmeg grater collections and museums, this book is the essential reference work for collectors, antique dealers and auctioneers.
“The term ‘avant-garde’ stands for progress and the way of a pioneer. Driven by the desire to give their lives meaning, and guided by their own integrity, migrants bring new perspectives and points of view to our society.” – Michael Danner With his new book of photographs, Migration as Avant-Garde, Michael Danner delivers a moving, critical, and thought-provoking contribution to the current public debate on immigration. He skillfully combines his own photos and texts with historic images, and the result is a coherent and multifaceted narrative of the immigrant experience. Danner has photographed the people who migrate from their homes, but also “those that influence, prevent, channel, or impact a migrant’s humanity”, including border police and agents of the state. In addition to these portraits, his book includes archival images of refugees and satellite imagery from crisis regions. Quotes from Hannah Arendt’s 1943 essay We Refugees, which was also the inspiration for the title, are interspersed through the book. The events that Arendt wrote about more than seventy years ago – giving up one’s home, one’s friends, family, and language – are more pressing today than ever before. In search of progress, driven by the desire for a better future, and risking their lives, people both then and now hit the road, break through physical and psychological boundaries, and thus provide our society with new perspectives and ways of thinking.
Text in English and German.
A new volume in ACC Art Books’ London series, focusing on the capital’s vibrant LGBTQ+ scene. Queer London is a timely and accessible introduction to the city through a LGBTQ+ lens, and will appeal to anyone with an interest in London’s thriving queer landscape.
Celebrating the diversity and innovation of queer individuals in London, both historically and today, Queer London features a range of bars, clubs, shops, Pride events, charities, community organisations, saunas and sex shops that cater to the LGBTQ community.
Along with highlighted features on influential queer Londoners of the moment, this book delves into the cultural history of queerness in the capital, including events, organisations or venues that have sometimes been forgotten or overlooked, but which were of key importance to the community. From the long, illustrious queer history of Soho and the legendary drag balls at Porchester Hall, to the hottest clubs of the moment, Queer London is the go-to guide for anyone looking to engage with rich queer legacy of this nation’s capital.
“Reading Tableaux was like revisiting old haunts, or places I would have liked to have haunted. It sparked visceral sense memories and made me nostalgic. And the ending …” – Midori
It is 1984, the year of Ronald Reagan’s re-election and the Brighton bomb; one can sense revolution in the air. Oliver Woolf is a thirty-something journalist, well-connected socially, and an instinctual conservative, whose comfortable routine is upset by a chance encounter in the rain. The girl in the rain is Candy, who is not what she first seems. Over the summer, Oliver and Candy form an unlikely friendship, and when she stops calling on him, he sets out to find her. His search leads him through a labyrinthine underworld that extends from London to Manhattan. Along the way, he meets someone who will change his life forever. A late-twentieth century Rake’s Progress, Oliver’s journey confronts issues that are still largely taboo. Illustrated with photographs by Steve Diet Goedde, Tableaux combines art and storytelling in a new hybrid form.
“And now David Bowie: Rock ‘n’ Roll With Me is out in the world — perhaps the closest you’ll get to being on tour with Bowie in that era without a time machine and a backstage pass.” — InsideHook
“His photographic memoir reveals untold stories and nearly 150 candid photos.” — The Guardian
“Intimate and full of references so specific you can almost smell the pub carpets and stage make-up” — HuckMag
“Go on tour with David Bowie in an all-new photographic memoir” — Yahoo! Entertainment
David Bowie: Rock ‘n’ Roll with Me is Geoff MacCormack’s remarkable photographic memoir, charting his lifelong friendship with David Bowie. Images bring MacCormack’s stories to life, showing the places he and Bowie inhabited, the people they met and the adventures they shared. Beginning at Burnt Ash Primary school in the mid-1950s, the years go by in a whirlwind of discovering and making music. The book contains nearly 150 photos taken by MacCormack throughout the years, some never seen before: from touring the Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane shows and sailing to New York on a world tour, to Bowie’s first major film The Man Who Fell to Earth and the recording of Station to Station and his Thin White Duke persona.
David Bowie: Rock ‘n’ Roll with Me is an incredible story, told with wit and candour. A must for all Bowie fans, it sheds a rare insight into a friendship where two men shared their love for music from the moment they met to their final goodbyes.
“Through superb photography, nostalgic ephemera and detailed descriptions by travel journalist, Ellie Seymour, we’re treated to a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the lavish worlds these historic establishments conceal.” — We Heart
In Grand Hotels of the World, travel journalist Ellie Seymour takes us on a nostalgic journey around the world to discover 40 legendary hotels that have welcomed guests in luxury and style for centuries. Through exquisite photography and detailed descriptions, we are given a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the lavish worlds these historic establishments conceal. From fabulous Claridge’s in London’s Mayfair and the luxurious St Regis New York, to the chic Splendido in Portofino and the timeless Villa Serbelloni on the shores of Lake Como, this book tells the fascinating stories of some of the world’s finest architectural gems and the famous guests to have sashayed through their storied corridors.
Some of the habitats designed by animals to defend themselves, their families and their society, are absolutely fascinating; many are well known, but at the same time they are hidden from us and difficult to interpret. We know that ants and termites build complicated underground tunnels, that bees in their hives create precise and impeccable geometric structures, that mammals like beavers design ingenious and unique solutions to protect the entrance to their dens, but all these structures hide unexpected and interesting secrets. By investigating and clearly showing them, this book explains and highlights, as never before, the genius of certain animals. The clear and colourful illustrations by Giulia de Amicis, combined with the scientifically and didactically accurate texts, suited to young readers, lead us on a unique journey to see for ourselves the hidden lives of animals. Ages 6 and up
Thanks to the simple but effective mechanism of a rotating wheel, this book turns into a microscope! On each page, children will be able to take a closer look at a flower, ant, pile of sand, or snowflake to find out what they look like up close. Just turn the wheel to ‘zoom in’! Colourful illustrations by Esme Lee, short engaging text, and a book you can play with are the perfect tools to stimulate children’s innate curiosity and desire to explore the natural world.
Richard Mayson’s award-winning Port and the Douro, first published in 1999, has become a classic over the last 25 years. In this comprehensively updated fifth edition he reminds us why Port is a drink that continues to fascinate wine-lovers and win new fans. The last 50 years, since the end of the dictatorship in 1974, have seen vast transformations in the Port world, from labour-saving technology in field and cellar, to advances in sales reach, especially since Portugal’s formal entry into the EU in 1986, and ongoing changes in the way the industry is managed and regulated. To begin with, Mayson provides a history of Port, from the beginnings of viticulture in Roman times to the present day. The vineyards and their vines as well as the quintas where they are cultivated are thoroughly explored, followed by an explanation of Port production, both traditional and modern. A short introduction to Port types prepares the reader for a detailed assessment of vintages from 1960–2023; notable vintages (both exceptional and poor) dating back as far as 1844 are also included. The structure of the Port trade remains in flux, and so the chapter on the shippers reflects recent changes in fortune and ownership. Douro wine, which pre-dates its fortified cousin and has seen its revival accelerate over the last 20 years, receives an entire chapter to itself. Finally, for those wishing to visit the region, there are some ideas on what to do and where to stay. Peppered throughout with anecdotes, potted biographies of those who shaped the industry and insights into quirks of the trade, this extensive and engaging guide to Port is an essential book for any wine enthusiast’s library.
In 2019, Cuba celebrated the 60th anniversary of the revolution. In 1959, Fidel Castro and Ché Guevarra ousted dictator Batista and the country entered a utopian future. But Soviet communism and the American embargo forced Cuba to survive because the country remained fundamentally committed to the socialist values of the revolution.
Against this background, an extensive photography project was set up with four Cuban and four European participants. Taking the current reality of the island as a starting point, they each developed a project, which together provide a nuanced picture of the complex country. The eight projects pit the photographic interpretations of the local artists against those of the Europeans. The project starts from ‘heritage’ in the broadest sense of the word and focuses on the past, present and future of Cuba.
Cuba Photography Missions proposes an approach to reality in the country from the personal poetics of our artists and their European counterparts, assuming Cuban contemporaneity as a topic of reflection, among universal aspects that specify the thematic and formal coherence of the exhibition. Participating photographers: Ossain Raggi Gonzalez, Bert Danckaert, Linet Sanchez, Charlotte Lybeer, Liudmila & Nelson, Ulla Deventer, Ricardo Elias and Simon Roberts.
Text in English and Spanish.
Shot over three years from 2019 to 2022, Thank You For Playing With Me by Yolanda Y. Liou is an intimate look at two plus-size models, Enam Ewura Adjoa Asiama and Vanessa Russell. Liou first came across Asiama’s Instagram in 2019 and was blown away by her confidence and charisma. It was the type of confidence that Liou struggled to have about her own body due to her upbringing in Taiwan. “Growing up in Taiwan, I was consistently exposed to the relentless beauty standards that prioritised being skinny… This obsession led me to believe that I was never beautiful enough, and consequently, I felt unworthy of love. I constantly sought ways to conform, believing that only then would I be accepted and appreciated.” Liou’s main aim with this photo book is to help people embrace their individuality.
In the pre-digital age, before email and cell phones, letters carried an importance that few who were not part of those times will understand. The words on the pages of a love letter carry the nuances and emotions of love and desire, passion and anger in a deeply confidential way.
The urgency and the intimacy of the writers can be clearly felt in this collection of letters between Lee Miller, Photographer, and Roland Penrose, Surrealist Artist, as they conduct their long-distance romance. It begins with their meeting in Paris in 1937 and runs to 1939 when Lee Miller left her Egyptian husband Aziz Eloui Bey in Cairo and joined Roland Penrose in London at the start of World War 2.
In this real-life romantic drama, the period and their connections give us a supporting cast that includes Dora Maar and Picasso, Nusch and Paul Eluard, Leonora Carrington and Max Ernst, Ady Fidelin and Man Ray.
The nearly 300 pages of love letters in this book show that as the relationship grew it produced and supported some of the world’s best loved art and photography. The letters have never been published before and have only been read by a handful of people since they were first written.
Special facsimile copy of the typeset version of the Surrealist photo book The Road is Wider than Long by Roland Penrose.
Written as a Surrealist love poem, the inspiration for the book is drawn from a journey that Roland Penrose made together with renowned photographer and war correspondent Lee Miller through the Balkans in 1938. This book is made as a replica of the first copy that Roland printed in 1939 using different fonts and then embellished with imaginative colour illustrations for Lee Miller.
A beautiful, tactile facsimile of the handwritten version of Roland Penrose’s The Road is Wider than Long Surrealist photobook.
In 1938, as Europe prepared for war, Roland Penrose and Lee Miller made a journey together through the Balkans. On his return to England Roland produced a handmade photobook containing a Surrealist love poem drawn from his memories and pictures from their travels. The following year he would create and print a typeset version based on this book which has today an important place in the history of Surrealist photobooks.