Gabi Blum creates walk-in, room-filling installations that translate images from our collective pop-culture memory into real, three-dimensional scenes. Her location and context-specific work questions the creation of icons and myth-making, as well as the forms of staging of highbrow and popular culture. Figures—personified by herself, by others or by the visitors—act within her evocative spaces, blurring the borders between reality and fiction. Blum uses simple materials to reveal the artistic process, transforming the familiar into something new. The subject matter of her stagings include visibility, power, and the narrative of heroism. The monograph The Rise and the Fall (of the Great) looks back on 15 years of creative work, placing it in an art historical and societal context, and illuminates the challenges of artistic existence beyond commercial structures.
Text in English and German.
Jimi Hendrix has been for sure a unique guitarist and a master of rock music, who, with his early death, aged 27, entered the Rock’n’roll Hall of Fame with all the glory it takes. The never-heard-before result of his continuous improvement was contained in just three albums Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland. A deep focus on the three most important years of Hendrix’s career, closely followed by Assante, skilled author and real expert on rock music. Unedited photos, quotes, legendary interviews and deep research to outline the iconic figure of this rock legend.
“We were a band before we could play”, Bono tells us, and from the beginning U2 have been distinguished by their shared passion. What began in 1976 with Larry Mullen posting a “Musicians Wanted” ad on his school bulletin board led to an epic journey from Dublin clubs to stadiums around the world. This expressive coffee table book traces the great career of U2, who sold more than 130 million albums, revolutionised live performance, led political campaigns, and made music that defined our age. Discover insights in many personal accounts, photographs and recordings.
An intimate story of a great front man and his band, who sparked waves in the music industry and changed the way people viewed rock music. A singer, songwriter, an inimitable performer: Freddie Mercury has left his mark on the popular culture of the last 50 years, and his music has influenced the imagination of different generations, defying the definition of musical genre itself. The biggest voice of its generation and probably of all music’s history in a celebratory volume, 30 years after his passing (1991-2021). A must-have volume for every collection: an ever-selling title filled with photographs to outline the polyhedral character of Mercury through his life and his music. An intimate story of a great frontman and its band, who changed the way of doing music within the strict borders of musical genre.
The V&A may proudly hold the original artwork for the Rolling Stone’s ‘tongue and lips’ logo, but this is an anomaly. The cultural significance of the band logo has been overlooked. And yet, thousands of people wear them on T-shirts every day, mostly as badges of allegiance, but also simply because they look cool. Some have even become tropes – think The Ramones, Run DMC, AC/DC. (Q: How many people who wear Ramones T-shirts have seen them live or know their music?)
Band logos first emerged during the 1960s. They became commonplace in the 1970s and 1980s, when record companies and designers latched on to the power of music branding. Bands and logos may seem like unlikely bedfellows … yet it’s often the most eccentric, anarchic types who end up with the most compelling or ingenious visual marques to signify their attitude and style of music.
It is also interesting how many prominent graphic designers first became interested in logos and letterforms by doodling the names of their favourite bands on their school exercise books. Some of these efforts were reverential copies, others were improvements or embellished versions of the original. A wannabe designer’s version of attempting to emulate a Hendrix riff.
Logo Rhythm includes stories and insight from well-known designers such as Beatles art director Kosh, Bowie designer Jonathan Barnbook, Malcom Garrett, Rob O’Connor of Stylorouge, Chris Bigg of 4AD and editorial guru Mark Porter. There are contributions from Horace Panter of The Specials, XTC’s Andy Partridge, Allan Gorrie of Average White Band, Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds and Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand.
The book hails the unsung heroes and tall stories behind iconic band logos of all genres. It unearths original artwork and proffers informed comment and critique. It celebrates the good, the eccentric and the notorious, digging for nuggets of interest and illumination in the compelling world of band logos.
When Kurt Cobain died at his Seattle home on April 8, 1994 at the age of 27, music lost the idol of an entire generation. Ernesto Assante, renowned music journalist, guides the reader through the personal story of an artist and the discovery of an entire musical genre that symbolises an era. A story of pain, passion, and music. A fascinating and mysterious personal adventure. The story of a troubled boy who became a rock star and that of a band that gave sound to the last great rock season of the 20th century: Nirvana.
As soon as Bill Wyman was given a camera as a young boy, he quickly developed a passion for photography. After joining what would become the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band, Wyman continued his hobby. When he didn’t have his bass, he had his camera. The result is an arresting, insightful and often poignant collection of photographs, showing his exclusive inside view of the band. From travelling to relaxing, backstage and on, Stones From the Inside is a unique view captured by a man who was there, every step of the way. Along with the images of the band at work and play, Wyman includes remarkable images of those along for the ride, from John Lennon, Eric Clapton, David Bowie and Iggy Pop to John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. To accompany his photographs, Wyman offers up wonderful insights, anecdotes and behind-the-photo stories, giving all us a front-row seat and backstage pass to what it was like to be there, as music history was made as a member of The Rolling Stones. Limited to just 300 copies, this slipcased edition is accompanied by a print.
This catalogue describes what is probably the most encyclopaedic collection of early coloured Worcester porcelain in existence. Henry Marshall assembled the collection between the two World Wars. In the years that followed, he sought to represent as comprehensive a range of patterns as possible, with minimal duplication, so that his collection would become a true reference work in itself. Every piece was acquired for specific purpose, many of them either to further his knowledge or because they were so rare. He was one of a small group of ceramic collectors who sought to document sources and influences, creating comprehensive hypotheses for the objects’ histories.
In this case specifically, Marshall’s records reveal the Far Eastern influence on Worcester porcelain, alongside the many other prototypes used by decorators of these fine ceramics. This catalogue, like the collection itself, seeks to present early Worcester porcelain to collectors and a wider public in a systematic way. It describes, classifies, and reproduces every item in the Marshall Collection. It does not seek to present detailed new research, but to record the state of knowledge about the subject at the time of writing.
This book of photographs by Swedish photographer Christer Löfgren explores the diverse and multifaceted world in which we live, from north to south. In comparing photographs of various cultures, diversity is more noticeable: the colours, clothes, and food point to the identity of each place. The further north or south of the equator you travel, colours are paler, and the food is milder and less spicy. The more extreme nature is, the more difficult the lifestyle. These vibrant photographs ask us to broaden our vision and grasp the complexity and beauty of the world as a global whole. This deluxe edition consists of three hardcover books in a slipcase.
Around 1900, a small group of influential patrons, critics, writers, and artists turned Weimar into a utopian centre of modern art and thought. Several artists and writers sought to create a ‘New Weimar’ and position Friedrich Nietzsche at its head, as the radical prophet of modernity.
In 1902, two years after the philosopher’s death, Max Klinger was commissioned to carve Nietzsche’s portrait where his cult was organised. Starting from a heavily reworked death mask, Klinger executed the famous marble herm that still today adorns the reception room of the Nietzsche Archive. Only three monumental bronze versions were cast, one of which is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. With this sculpture in focus, accompanied by a series of paintings, drawings, plaster casts, and small bronzes, Radical Modernism will show how Klinger and his patrons invented the ‘official’ Nietzsche, transforming a highly expressionist portrait into an idealised classical cult image. The exhibition and this catalogue will also include a comprehensive series of early editions of Nietzsche’s most influential books and will bring together work by the other protagonists of the ‘New Weimar’, in order to shed light on this extraordinary artistic and cultural constellation of modernism for the first time in North America.
Published to accompany an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa – 18 April – 25 August 2019.
Maria Lai (Ulassai, September 27, 1919 – Cardedu, April 16, 2013) is without doubt one of the leading figures in the history of contemporary Italian art. Not only on account of the content of her works, but also thanks to the diversity of her artistic approach, ranging as it does across many media – public art, embroidery, weaving, sculpture, drawing, and writing: all are grist for her poetics. The book is published to coincide with the exhibition at the MAXXI Museum in Rome, which is presenting to the general public over one hundred works by the Sardinian artist, from the early 1960s to her very last works, and explores the various themes dear to the artist with the contributions of experts in their fields: the locations, the creation, and publication of art books, her public art events and her relationship with the written word and her own writing. Her entire oeuvre is distinguished by its powerful visual impact, revealing a ‘way of doing art’ that is nothing other than an instrument of thought. The book’s structure reflects the exhibition’s own sections, arranged by theme, whose titles are paradigmatic of Lai’s oeuvre as a whole: Essere è tessere. Cucire e ricucire; L’arte è il gioco degli adulti. Giocare e raccontare; Disseminare e condividere; Il viaggiatore astrale. Immaginare l’altrove; L’arte ci prende per mano. Incontrare e partecipare.
Published to accompany an exhibition at the MAXXI Museum, Rome, 19 June 2019-12 January 2020.
Text in English and Italian.
Darwishi Ur-atum Msamaki Minkabh Ishaq Eboni, the son of an Egyptian pharaoh, is only nine years old when he dies. He is mummified and laid to rest in a tomb, with the powerful Golden Scarab of Mukatagara hanging around his neck. Thousands of years later, during a transport of three precious sarcophaguses, there is a terrible storm. Lightning strikes, the lorry plunges from a flyover and the sarcophaguses are hurled through the air. During all this, a little white shape escapes the wreckage unnoticed…
Angus Gust is ten and has a perfectly normal life. Then one night a little mummy appears in his room! Life changes completely. Angus and Dummie (short for his real name) become best friends. One dreadful day, Dummie’s scarab goes missing. Without the scarab Dummie falls terribly ill. Angus must now do everything he can to find the scarab, so Dummie doesn’t have to face death again. Can Dummie be saved in time?
In this second book in the Dummie the Mummy series, Dummie, Angus and Nick travel to Egypt. It’s Dummie’s great wish to return to his country to visit the grave of his father, Pharaoh Akhnetut. Unfortunately, Egypt has completely changed in four thousand years and Akhnetut’s grave seems untraceable. To make matters even worse, Nick falls ill and Angus and Dummie set off without him. Then something terrible happens – Dummie has to give everything he’s got to save his best friend. Yet he is also determined to find his father’s grave. Fortunately, he remembers more and more about his life long ago and this proves to be very handy!
In The Power of the Avant-Garde, contemporary artists from different art disciplines enter into dialogue with their colleagues from the historical avant-garde movement. Luc Tuymans talks about ‘Le Grand Cheval’ of Raymond Duchamp-Villon; Marlène Dumas describes her passion for Edvard Munch; John Baldessari discusses the genius Marcel Broodthaers,… This book makes surprising links, shedding new light on the power and influence of art before, during and after World War I. Text in English, French, and Dutch.
Scotland has produced an astonishingly high number of men and women whose lives have inspired and changed the world. This book, illustrating just over forty portraits, represents only a few of them, but with Robert Burns and Walter Scott, Eric Liddell and Alex Ferguson, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Queen Victoria, it represents the flavour of the collection at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
The Darnley jewel, a masterpiece of the goldsmith’s art on display at Edinburgh’s Holyrood Palace, has been deemed a love token, but has also been labelled an emblem of political ambition. Taking the shape of a heart, the jewel was produced at a moment (1565-75) when such objects worn by courtiers were a primary means of asserting status and proclaiming allegiances. With a deep medieval history – originally the fleshly power centre of the human body, the seat of the soul, and place of memory and emotion – the heart has many aspects to offer. This book shows how the understanding of the heart changed during the Middle Ages, from spiritual locus of the body, to source of devotion to country, and finally, to the font of love and sentimentality.
“Seldom does a collection of art history essays leave readers yearning for a second volume…”—Barbara Wisch, Renaissance Quarterly
Roman church interiors throughout the Early Modern age were endowed with rich historical and visual significance. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in anticipation of and following the Council of Trent, and in response to the expansion of the Roman Curia, the chapel became a singular arena in which wealthy and powerful Roman families, as well as middle-class citizens, had the opportunity to demonstrate their status and role in Roman society. In most cases the chapels were conceived not as isolated spaces, but as part of a more complex system, which involved the nave and the other chapels within the church, in a dialogue among the arts and the patrons of those other spaces. This volume explores this historical and artistic phenomenon through a number of examples involving the patronage of prominent Roman families such as the Chigis, Spadas, Caetanis, Cybos and important artists and architects such as Federico Zuccari, Giacomo della Porta, Carlo Maderno, Alessandro Algardi, Pietro da Cortona, Carlo Maratta.
For his entire professional life, British architect Cedric Price (1934-2003) reflected on the mechanisation of society and its effect on people’s lives. In the 1960s and 1970s Price searched for a new language in modern architecture. His multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach and his sense of humour and self-irony, also with regard to his own profession, lead him into the fields of art and of social and natural sciences.
Tanja Herdt’s new book on the work and life of Cedric Price for the first time offers a comprehensive demonstration of his architectural concepts and social visions. Herdt focuses on his view of the city as a socio-technical system, the influence of product and everyday culture on architecture, and the role of science and technology in architectural design. Based on extensive research and drawing from rich and largely unpublished material, she features some of Price’s well-known projects, such as Fun Palace (1961) or Potteries Thinkbelt (1964), in context with her new findings. Herdt’s thorough analysis of his lesser-known works from the 1970s, including McAppy (1973-1975) and The Generator (1976), also questions the common perception of Cedric Price as an “anti-architect”.
“Mesmerizing and unputdownable – a virtuoso translation of what must surely be one of the best Thai novels to make it into English.” – Lawrence Osborne, author of Hunters in the Dark and Only to Sleep
”At its core, this novel from Veeraporn Nitiprapha has a simple dynamic: the tension between two sisters, and the young man whose life interweaves with each of theirs. What makes this novel unique is its attention to the granular, whether it’s the music that several of its characters obsess over or its author’s tendency to fill in the history or future of a specific character at a moment’s notice.” – Words Without Borders, February 2019
Watchlist On the day Chareeya is born, her mother discovers her father has been having an affair with a traditional Thai dancer. From that moment, Chareeya’s life is fated to carry the weight of her parents disappointment. With her sister, Chalika, she grows up in an insular world, until joined by the laconic orphan, Pran, and together they navigate the labyrinth of their own making, each trying to escape their fate.