The Swiss artist David Bielander (b.1968) is one of the most significant proponents of contemporary art jewelry in the world. With him, nothing is what it seems: corrugated cardboard is actually silver or gold, Wiener sausages are a chair in a coffee house, shapely lips are made of rubber… This ambiguity distinguishes his work as much as his exceptional knowledge of materials and artisanal skill. Created with the support of Pro Helvetia, Schweizer Kulturstiftung, David Bielander offers the first comprehensive review of this multi-award-winning artist, who with his conceptual reflection and power of imagination creates works full of wit and sensuality. With essays by: Gijs Bakker, Maria Cristina Bergesio, Rutger Emmelkamp, Karl Fritsch, Toni Greenbaum, Florian Hufnagl, Bernhard Schobinger, Marjan Unger, Jorunn Veiteberg et al. Exhibition: mudac – Musée de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains, Lausanne (CH), 8. 2. – 30. 4. 2017 Text in English, French and German.
Gabriela Koschatzky-Elias writes absorbingly on the life and work of Fritz Maierhofer, one of the most important contemporary Austrian jewelry artists, whose international career took off in late-1960s London. Under the sway of that throbbing city, he had arrived at a conception of jewelry and a language of forms that were distinctively his own. Maierhofer places jewelry on an equal footing with painting, sculpture and architecture. What is crucial to him is the artistic intention rather than the market value of the materials used. Maierhofer keeps coming up with new statements – using acrylic glass and precious metals in the 1970s, pewter and gold in the 1980s and, in the 1990s, aluminium, steel and computer technology while his most recent work features the new material CORIAN®.
A new publication in our art jewelry series: the first comprehensive monograph surveying Fritz Maierhofer’s work from the 1960s to the present. With superlative color illustrations and texts by a group of distinguished specialists in the field (including Ralph Turner and Graziella Folchini Grassetto).
Text in German and English.
Gisbert Stach’s (b. 1963) monograph Jewellery and Experiment presents a multifaceted opus from twenty-five years of gold- and silversmithing. In his oeuvre the primarily conceptual artist combines jewelry with video, photography and performance. One focus of his work deals with processes of transformation and experiment – pieces disappear through chemical dissolution, and form is determined by agencies of growth in nature. Stach works with means of alienation and irritation. Ground amber serves as pigment, which he works into jewelry pieces in the form of fish fingers, sliced bread or schnitzel. A further characteristic of his work is the performative act, for example when brooches are pelted with knives.
Gisbert Stach is represented in numerous museums and collections, including Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum, Munich (DE); Fondazione Cominelli, Brescia (IT); Museo de Arte Moderno, Tarragona (ES); Museum of Arts & Crafts, Itami (JP); Gallery of Art, Legnica (PL); Museum of Bohemian Paradise, Turnov (CZ); Amber Museum, Gdansk (PL).
Published to accompany exhibitions at Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Stuttgart (DE), 9-11 November 2018, and Bayerischer Kunstgewerbeverein (BKV), Munich (DE) 28 February-24 March 2019.
Text in English and German.
A ‘vessel for living’ – such were the words Glenn Adamson used to describe this remarkable residence. Richard Meier designed the Grotta home to house Sandra and Louis Grotta’s collection of contemporary studio jewelry and significant works in wood, ceramic and fibre. The building was conceived around the collection, framing the objects within the open architecture, which comprises an equal blend of glass and concrete. Nature, visible from many vantage points, plays an essential supporting role. The Grotta Home by Richard Meier: A Marriage of Architecture and Craft is rich in photographs of the collection and provides impressive insights into this exceptionally personal project. The accompanying essays afford the reader a greater sense of how the Grottas have not simply acquired art, but have immersed themselves in it.
2018 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first international symposium of silver jewelry Jablonec ’68. Thanks to the liberalization endeavours as part of the ‘Prague Spring’, European jewelry artists from East and West came together for a ‘summit’ at the invitation of the Czech artists’ association in Jablonec, northern Bohemia. On the guest list were such renowned names as Anton Cepka, Hermann Junger and Bruno Martinazzi – artists celebrated today as the founders of studio jewelry. The jewelry pieces that developed at that time have remained in the Muzeum skla a bizuterie in Jablonec nad Nisou and to this day have lost nothing of their exceptional and pioneering aura. This publication – which contains a reprint of the original catalogue from 1968 – makes these pieces accessible to a wider audience for the very first time. A document that in a wholly authentic way allows the reader to experience this unique historical moment in the history of the international studio jewelry scene.
Text in English and German.
Accompanies the exhibition at Die Neue Sammlung The Design Museum, Munich (DE), 10 March-3 June 2018.
Arte Vetraria Muranese (AVEM) emerged from the liquidation of Successori Andrea Rioda in November 1931. The new factory placed a very personal accent on contemporary artistic glass production on Murano: while designs prior to the Second World War were generally still the responsibility of master glassblowers themselves, after the war designers and freelance artists increasingly determined production.
Giulio Radi began experimenting in 1940, obtaining the company’s signature chromatic effects by superimposing mould-blown layers of glass, often opaque and transparent in alternation, and inlaying them with gold and silver foil. This latest volume of Marc Heireman’s ongoing Murano manufactory books features over 800 design drawings, numerous archive images and new photos of AVEM masterpieces, making this anthology of the company’s history indispensable for all Murano glass lovers.
The largest surviving portion of the first major collection of Classical antiquities in Britain – the sculptures and inscriptions collected in the early 17th century by Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel for his London house and garden – is in the Antiquities Department of the Ashmolean Museum. This handbook tracks their eventful history.
The 2000s proved a turning point for the skateboard and its relationship to art. Previously restricted to practical use, the skate deck left the pavement to appear on the walls of galleries and auction houses. Such was the advent of an entirely new contemporary art movement, laconically baptized Skate Art. From silk-screening to Posca markers, from repurposing and twisted shapes to upcycling broken boards, SkateArt is an anthology of specialized and eclectic decks made by artists from all over the world. Text in English and French.
“I was walking up the Miami Beach boardwalk to the Fontainebleau Hotel where Sinatra was staying… I just reached out with the letter in my hand and he took it. He opened it, read it… turned to his security men and said, “this kid’s with me.” I never found out what Ava said to him in that letter. From that moment on, I was part of his inner circle.” – Terry O’Neill
From The Beatles to the Rolling Stones, Terry O’Neill fast became the photographer of the 1960s. Having an eye – and ear – for music and musicians, he instinctively knew what bands to focus on. And they in turn trusted him. “I remember sitting in a pub with the Beatles and the Stones. We were just hanging-out and talking about what we’d do next, after all of this was over. By this, we meant the fame, being the ‘new kids of the moment’. Usually, this sort of celebrity doesn’t last. Little did we know that 60 years later, we’d still be at it.” Music lead O’Neill to Hollywood and working with stars resulted not only in to memorable moments but long-lasting friendships. He traveled with Frank Sinatra. Took Raquel Welch to the beach. Went in the ring with Ali. Put The Who in a cage.
O’Neill captured many of the most unforgettable faces from the frontline of fame, and his photographs exude his own brand of serene simplicity, intimate behind-the-scene moments and the rare quality of trust between photographer and subject. The list of people Terry O’Neill has worked with over the past 60 years is a Who’s Who in celebrity; from film to music, sports to politics. Terry O’Neill: Every Picture Tells a Story is like going through a walking tour of memory by a man who has seen, met and photographed them all. Also available by Terry O’Neill: Terry O’Neill’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Album ISBN 9781851497720 Terry O’Neill ISBN 9781851496921 Two Days That Rocked The World ISBN 9781851498062 Breaking Stones ISBN 9781851498161
Trained at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts de Paris in the atelier of Georges Jeanclos, Elsa Sahal quickly focused on working with ceramics for their sensuality and fragility. Former resident at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, in 2013 (Helena, MT), at Alfred University, New York State College of Ceramics, in 2009-2010 (Alfred, NY) and at the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres (2007-2008), Elsa Sahal has also taught at the Haute École d’Art et de Design in Geneva and at the École Supérieure d’Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg.
She experiments in particular with the idea of volume and balance in sculpture, while returning to an exploration of the themes of the body and femininity. Ambiguous, dense, sensual and colorful, her works oscillate between anthropomorphic landscape and the landscaped body, taking up Cézanne’s dream of uniting women’s curves with the shoulders of hills. Elsa Sahal conceives, kneads and then produces complex and disturbing forms sustained by dense colors and sublimated through enamel.
Winner of the MAIF prize for sculpture, in 2008, and the contemporary sculpture prize awarded by the Fondazione Francesco Messina, in 2007, Elsa Sahal has presented her work in one-woman shows and group exhibitions in numerous museums around the globe: at the Bonnefantenmuseum, ‘Ceramix, Ceramic art from Gauguin to Schütte’, in 2015 (Maastricht); at the MAD Museum, ‘Body and Soul, New International Ceramics’, in 2013 (New York); at the Fondation d’entreprise Ricard, ‘Sculptures’, in 2008 (Paris); and at the Incheon Women Artists Biennale, in 2008 (Korea).
Text in English and French.
Spanish-born photographer Fadia Ahma (b.1975) lives and works in Lebanon. Her poetic series of photographs of Beirut eloquently captures the street life of that resilient city; merchants on street corners, grocers, fishermen, bathers, street artists, collapsed buildings, new construction. She presents fragments of life through fragments of the city itself. This is the first monograph of her vibrant and intuitive work on the people and places of Beirut.
She has been crisscrossing her city with a camera since 2003. District after district, house after house, she explores the complexity and humanity of Beirut and the Lebanese people. “I decided,” she explains, “to follow an itinerary, which is always the same, so that I wouldn’t disperse myself. It is my constancy that allows me to discover, to meld with this city.” Fadia Ahmad’s imagines her photographs as paintings, which mirror Beirut and capture the poetry of place and people which are nestled in the slightest details.
Text in English and French.
Archaeological objects offer outstanding opportunities to explore the way people conceived life in past ages. Their study demonstrates that subjects such as fertility, myths, rituals and cosmogony are embedded in all man-made artefacts, as they have always been part of daily human life. Even when creating artefacts for individual use, we have adopted imaginative and ingenious ways to represent and convey a message, a narrative that is a facet of our personal and social identity. That’s why the amulets presented in this outstanding catalogue hold secrets: memories of deeds, lands and sacred representations. Objects used as offerings are full of life: the warrior recalls his heroic condition during his long mortal journey; the deceased person, who travels to the other world equipped with his objects of power, arrives satisfied and disposed to be generous toward his descendants, who receive fertility and well-being in return.
The choice of materials is a fundamental aspect of such objects. The use of metals, for example, is etched into the language of social communication, whereas the vital force that moves the universe is found immersed to a large degree in magical materials like fired clay, the product of extensive chemical transformation, or shell, a product of the sea, its brilliance a sign of spirituality, or imperishable gold, which is the embodiment of the Sun itself, ductile and able to express extraordinary religious ideas.
This catalogue introduces us to this world of magic, life and death.
Text in English and Spanish.
The fashion, history, and development of Jewish dress tells a story that spans the globe and crosses many cultures. In this colorful volume, Jewish communities – particularly those established for centuries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa – are revealed through their garments. Stunning photographs spin tales of family traditions and religious devotion, with a special section dedicated to jewelry worn by brides and grooms. Superb photographs of specific garments, with many close-up details, are juxtaposed with rare contextual photographs from The Israel Museum’s archives to create a tapestry of a people revealed through textiles, costume, and images. More than 350 revelatory illustrations tell us how these precious articles of dress were originally worn.
“Meet the stars of Instagram: the most famous people you’ve never heard of” – The Independent The Insta Grammar series explores the most interesting corners of the incredibly popular social media site, Instagram. After Cats, City, Nordic, Green, Graphic and Dogs, two new subjects are revealed: Unicorn and Cars. Hitching a ride on the back of today’s unicorn trend that’s flooding Instagram, Unicorn shows the most original posts revolving around the mythical creatures, while Cars gathers the most beautiful classic car shots.
“Belgian solutions is first of all a title, that became a way of speaking: ‘Look, a Belgian solution.’ It all started with me stopping to take pictures of situations that I later began publishing on Facebook under this title. After some time people were sending me more and more photos, not only from Belgium of course, but from all over the globe, pictures that in very different and individual ways always kept saying: ‘Look, a Belgian solution.’ or simply: ‘Look, a solution.'” David Helbich Not every solution is an answer to a problem. The Brussels-based artist David Helbich started collecting ‘Belgian Solutions’ in 2006. Once he started to share his photos online on Facebook in 2008 (the Belgian Solutions page has over 23,000 fans), the project gathered speed, with contributions by Belgian Solutions spotters all over the world. Luster is publishing the third, updated and improved edition of the original publication.
The Brussels-based artist David Helbich started collecting Belgian Solutions in 2006; he made photos of the peculiar and sometimes hilarious, no-nonsense solutions that he spotted in his daily surroundings. Once he started to share his photos online on Facebook in 2008 (the Belgian Solutions page has over 25,000 fans), the project gathered speed, with contributions by ‘Belgian Solutions’ spotters all over the world. And because Helbich keeps receiving pictures, he keeps creating content – much to the joy of his fans. Also available: Belgian Solutions 1 ISBN 9789460581571
This absorbing introduction to the story of Rembrandt s rampant fame and influence in Britain is filled with beautiful images. The story of ‘Rembrandt mania’ began in 18th-century Britain with passionate, and often eccentric, collectors acquiring artworks by any and every means. As the craze for Rembrandt ebbed and flowed, each new wave of enthusiasm brought him ever-greater fame and influence, and collectors became increasingly ingenious. This master’s impact not only on collectors and the public but also on British artists over the last four centuries is explored, with lavish paintings, drawings and prints from artists such as Henry Raeburn, Joshua Reynolds and James Abbott McNeill Whistler shown alongside some of Rembrandt’s most famous masterpieces.
Assembly of the Exalted presents some 50 pieces from the remarkable collection of Alice S. Kandell. The works, dating from the late 13th century to the early 20th, include great masterpieces and emblematic examples of Tibetan Buddhist art. They are all presented here as the constituents of a Tibetan Buddhist shrine. Shrines, both modest and grand, are the primary sites of Tibetan Buddhist practice, whether it be reciting scriptures, performing rituals, saying prayers, or engaging in meditation. The introductory essays thus focus on the Tibetan Buddhist shrine, describing its evolution over the history of Buddhism, its special role in Tibet, and how the pieces in the Kandell Collection came to be assembled and displayed in shrines at institutions across America. Illustrated with vivid photography, forty short essays, each centered on a single work or set of objects, describe the pieces in terms of their importance for the practice of Buddhism, highlighting the many essential functions of Tibetan Buddhist art within the space of a shrine.
“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.
From medieval manuscript to Japanese prints, from Steinlen’s splendid drawings to 17th century prints, the author introduces the reader to the hundreds of books and manuscripts (belonging to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris) in which the lovely feline is represented. The cat has been the main character of many tales, but also the inhabitant of the most diverse books: from natural histories to household manuals, from medieval prayer books to famous writers’ manuscripts. A wonderful selection for all who love cats and books!
Contents: Preface by Pierre Rosenberg Chapter I, A History of the Cat Chapter II, Tales of Cats Chapter III, What a Lovely Cat! Chapter IV, Cats and the Feminine Chapter V, The Cat as a Muse
The young Fribourg architect and his team have already produced a notable number of high-quality buildings: small school buildings, for instance for the school in St-Cierges VD, which is placed with great topographic precision, the exciting ensemble of the vocational school in Domdidier FR and the cleverly conceived extension to the multifunctional hall in Sâles FR.
Text in German with an English summary.
Since 2003, the Lenzburg-based team led by André Meier has been continuously working on intelligently designed housing and commercial buildings in Malters and supplementary buildings within the historical prison facility in Lenzburg. These buildings have very special requirements. Any architectural firm that wants to tackle them needs experience and talent. Am-architektur, celebrated for the timeless, innovative and suitable solutions they provide to practical problems, is more than worthy of the job.
Text in English and German.