Can We Stop Killing Each Other? wrestles with the darkest side of humanity. It explores the fundamental question of why humans are led to kill, examining the artworks, films, video games and television programs that grapple with and manifest themes of death and destruction.

Using material culture linked to moments of extreme violence, such as the Holocaust and the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, this publication offers a challenging but eye-opening consideration of some of the most horrifying events in human history as explored through art.

Using historical and contemporary art as a lens to explore these themes, the book will include a new interview with Ethiopian artist Tesfaye Urgessa (b.1983), who creates emotive paintings reflecting on the refugee crisis. It will also explore the role of art as sanctuary from violence, through new approaches to the work of Claude Monet (1840–1926)

“It’s very hard for me to accept that Sukita-san has been snapping away at me since 1972, but that really is the case. I suspect that it’s because whenever he’s asked me to do a session, I conjure up in my mind’s eye the sweet, creative and big-hearted man who has always made these potentially tedious affairs so relaxed and painless. May he click into eternity.” – David Bowie

For Sukita, the creative mastermind behind the iconic cover for David Bowie’s album ‘Heroes’, photography is an expression of a ‘fundamental secret’ shared between artists: a spiritual communication that transcends the minutiae of language. Born and raised in Kyushu, Japan, Sukita’s reverence of American and Western counter-culture lured him to New York and London. He immersed himself in the western music scene which he loved, while his relaxed photo sessions endeared him to many celebrity figures, including David Bowie and Iggy Pop (with both of whom Sukita had a 40-year long professional relationship), Marc Bolan, and Japanese musician Hotei, best known for his work on the Kill Bill soundtrack. His work spans the early US and UK seventies rock scene, the London punk-rock era to the present crop of emerging Japanese rock artists.

This photo book is the first time the photographer has collaborated on a major retrospective of his career and includes some of his early documentary work and his rarely-seen travel and street photography. It introduces the artist through two essays that explore his place within the wider context of both Western and Japanese photography, presented alongside the many iconic shots of both Western and Japanese artists that earned him his eternal reputation.

Seeing Zen is the catalog of 124 masterpieces in the Kaeru-an Zenga Collection. There are 91 paintings and 33 calligraphies presented in full-color, high quality illustrations and extended captions. Each entry has a detailed description that includes the original Japanese characters, English translation, and a commentary by John Stevens, a world authority on Zen art and artists. Seeing Zen includes heretofore unpublished art work by every major Zen artist – Ikkyu, Fugai, Takuan, Mokuan, Jozan, Hakuin, Sengai, Jiun, Gocho, Suio, Torei, Rengetsu, Tesshu, Nantenbo, and others. An extensive section on Artists’ Biographies is appended. Published to coincide with a major exhibition of Felix Hess’ Kaeru-an Collection at the Czech National Museum in Prague in Autumn 2020. Also, in 2020 John Stevens will be the curator of the Otagaki Rengetsu exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. He will promote Seeing Zen in lectures and book signings.

The period 1870–1910 saw the heyday of a phenomenon of artist ‘colonies’ which, though centered on Europe, stretched to the USA and Australia. Despite most histories focusing on the urban and avant-garde, this was the dominant mode of international art practice – with its formative role in the emergence of modern tourism having ramifications still now.

Although at its core was a yearning and nostalgia for life that was pre-modern and immersed in nature, the authenticity it sought placed artists’ colonies firmly within a modern context. In doing so it set the scene for a qualitatively new encounter between artists and environment.

This book on the Staithes colony in Yorkshire is the first to present its activity in the context of painting on that coast, explore its international connections and influences and give a far fuller picture of the inter-relationship of its main artists, including Britain’s first female Royal Academician.

Vanessa Baird is confrontational, morbidly funny, even infamous, with her sharp, oblique observations of herself and her times. Go Down with Me, the book accompanying MUNCH’s exhibition of the same name, is richly illustrated with works from her whole career. This includes the installation You Must Never Go Down to the End of Town if You Don’t Go Down with Me, created especially for MUNCH, which reflects on the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.

Also included are thought-provoking essays by Kari Brandtzæg, Jon Refsdal Moe, Trude Schjelderup Iversen and Vegard Vinge, demonstrating Baird’s ceaseless productivity and unique ability to hit where it hurts the most.

After the season of the great Renaissance painters, the prestige of the figurative arts grew as never before in history. During the 16th century, the artist went from being a common craftsman to holding a status equal to that of the greatest intellectuals of his time. The relationship between poetry and painting was consolidated in the 17th century, and became close, even competitive, when artists and men of letters confronted each other with the same themes. In this framework, the great poetry of Giovan Battista Marino (Naples, 1569-1625) plays a fundamental role. His compositions are rich in visual suggestions, derived as much from direct contact with the art collections he visited during his itinerant life as from the memory of the images of the great artists of the past. The Galeria (1620), one of his most famous books, projects onto the walls of an imaginary gallery the names of the artists and works of art that marked the poet’s courtly experience.  

This volume accompanies the Art Brut CUBA exhibition organized by Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne and features essays by Cuban authors and other experts, reproductions of works and previously unpublished letters from the collection’s archives.

The exhibition represents a voyage of discovery that explores the world of outsider art in Cuba more than 40 years after the first exhibition, which came about as a result of Jean Dubuffet’s desire to gather together in Collection de l’Art Brut works by self-taught Cuban artists assembled by his friend Samuel Feijóo, the curator of the 1983 exhibition.

Being an island with a distinctive history that has long been isolated for political and economic reasons, Cuba is a fertile breeding ground for artistic creations unaffected by the traditional artistic influences of the world outside.

The exhibition is divided into two sections: the first presents historical works by the Signos Group, founded by Samuel Feijóo in the late 1960s to promote popular Cuban culture through the graphic arts; the second presents works by contemporary outsider artists from the Riera Studio. Most of the works on display are made from recycled materials – cardboard packaging, newspaper, scrap metal, recycled waste – or natural materials, such as wood and jute fiber.

The works reflect the artists’ personal experiences, the economic, social and political circumstances of their country, and their inner worlds and obsessions. They offer an alternative and authentic view of Cuba, far from the stereotyped imagery associated with this nation.

Text in English and French.

As part of a personal quest, director Hermann Vaske explored the genius behind the world’s most intriguing artists and thinkers for over 30 years. His interview partners include over 1000 luminaries, among them Academy Award and Nobel Prize winners, from the fields of visual art, music, acting, philosophy, politics, business and science, posing the question: “Why are you creative?”

All of the participants also created an artefact for the project — some very personal, some bizarre. Following the success of exhibitions across Europe, now, 100 of the most interesting, fascinating answers are compiled in this book.

In a former shipyard of 8,000 square meters at the ultra-hip NDSM Wharf in Amsterdam, you will find Europe’s largest street art museum: STRAAT. Yearly an impressive 200,000 visitors admire their collection of over 180 works by around 170 artists, many of which were specially created for this location. As STRAAT’s collection is constantly refreshed and expanded, it’s time for a second catalogue featuring only new works by about 80 artists. Divided into chapters by genre—muralism, art and activism, native/nature, abstract graffiti, and installations—and interspersed with essays by experts like Steven P. Harrington, Carlo McCormick, Charlotte Pyatt and Christian Omodeo, this book is a wonderful anthology of the key figures in the contemporary street art scene.

D*Face, born Dean Stockton, is a British artist known for his distinctive blend of pop art and punk culture in street art. Drawing inspiration from American comics, he creates street art and exhibits globally, contributing to the rise of contemporary street art alongside artists like OBEY and BANKSY.

The purpose of this book is to give a wider insight into the practice of working within the streets and the public domain. What people most often see of street art is actually the middle point of an artwork’s lifespan, the clean image of a recently finished mural or a freshly peeled sticker but that’s not the whole picture. Not only is there a whole process leading up to the creation of a mural but there also exists a journey of change after work has been left to the streets. Paint fades, tags appear, stickers peel and crack – all these are part and parcel of what it means to work within the street. This book aims to tell that story.

This is the first book to be entirely dedicated to the artwork of Jivya Soma Mashe. Through the quality of his work, Jivya Soma Mashe stands comparison with other outstanding enigmatic artists, such as Bill Traylor or Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, who broaden our understanding of the diversity of forms and cultures.

Jivya Soma Mashe (1934–2018) is a legendary figure among his people, the Warli, a tribe of around 300,000 inhabiting an area 150 km north of Mumbai (Maharashtra, India). Its members are animists and speak a language that has never developed a written form. To the best of human memory, it is Warli women who have always painted ritual and ephemeral paintings directly on the walls of their huts. The Warli have developed an extremely basic pictography based on circles, triangles, and squares to express their animist culture and represent their only deity, the mother goddess Palghatta, at the center of each painting.

After losing his mother at a young age, Jivya Soma Mashe took refuge in drawing, immersing himself in a personal style that first elicited the admiration of his peers and later that of regional, national, and international authorities. Jivya Soma Mashe received his first national award in 1976 – from Indira Gandhi herself. His works featured prominently in the Magiciens de la terre exhibition (Centre Pompidou, Paris 1989) and in the exhibition celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Cartier Foundation (Paris 2014).

Text in English and French.

In 2024, Dulwich Picture Gallery will present Soulscapes, a major exhibition of landscape art that will expand and redefine the genre. Published to coincide with this revelatory exhibition, this book features over 30 contemporary artworks, spanning painting, photography, film, tapestry and collage from leading artists including Hurvin Anderson, Phoebe Boswell, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Kimathi Donkor, Isaac Julien, Marcia Michael, Mónica de Miranda and Alberta Whittle, as well as some of the most important emerging voices working today. Soulscapes explores our connection with the world around us through the eyes of artists from the African Diaspora and considers the power of landscape art through the themes of belonging, memory, joy and transformation.

Each copy of Soulscapes includes a special edition print by Kimathi Donkor depicting the painting On Episode Seven, 2000, and is only available with this book. The print measures 177 x 221mm., including a 13mm. border, is housed inside the rear cover of the book, and is visible through a bespoke die-cut window.

Jewelry Stories highlights the Museum of Arts and Design’s unique, world-class collection of studio and contemporary art jewelry from the US, Europe, Australia, and Asia, a medium that comprises one-third of its permanent collection. Artists working in this field create jewelry rooted in sculptural experimentation and the concept of art as a wearable medium. The pieces featured represent the history of art jewelry as told from a largely US perspective. Jewelry artists are inspired by such subjects as found objects and materials, as well as by politics and pressing social issues, allowing for the development of unique, personal narratives in each piece. Each of the jewelry stories is written by an expert on the artist or subject, thus the book also celebrates the contributions they have made to the field.

Published to accompany an exhibition at Museum of Arts and Design, New York (US), on permanent display.

There are no rules, and even less justice. Death takes everyone without discrimination. Sometimes it is accidental – like Signorelli, who fell from scaffolding. Sometimes it is expected, as with the diabetic Cezanne, who wrote “I am old, sick, and I swore to die while painting”. But often, researching a painter’s death is an easier task than determining which of their works is truly their ‘last’. Paintings tend to be dated by year and not month, inciting much debate among art historians. This book embraces this ambiguity, studying 100 examples of works that lay completed for several years, or were left unfinished on the easel, or were finished post-mortem by a friend’s grieving hand.

The Last Painting collects 100 terminal paintings from 100 artists, including Dalí, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Goya, Pollock, Rembrandt, Dix, Bonnard, Titien, and many more. Each picture gives us a glimpse into the painter’s mind. Did they know death was coming? Did they paint with denial, or acceptance? Did they return to a favorite subject, or decide to embark on a new, original project while they still had time? A poetic and thought-provoking book, The Last Painting is a sensitive exploration of the relationship between art and death.