Distributed Art Publishers

Africa remix; contemporary art of a continent.

This catalog was published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name at the Hayward Gallery in London in 2005, which was the largest exhibition of contemporary African art ever seen in Europe. As the African continent consists of more than 50 countries and over 800 million people, no one exhibition can provide a comprehensive survey of its art. This catalog serves as a compilation or anthology of significant African artists, and offers a brief look at the work of each. Following essays by seven curators and scholars, the catalog is divided into three sections (identity & history, body & soul, and city & land) that display color plates of the work of over 80 artists. The book concludes with a list of works, but no subject index. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The art of Richard Tuttle.

Published in conjunction with a retrospective exhibition of the same title organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, this oversize (11.25x12.25 inches) volume features over 260 high quality reproductions of post-minimalist artist Richard Tuttle's working methods, installations, and works in the exhibition. The text includes nine essays on his life and work, and is followed by a catalogue of the exhibition, and list of exhibition history and reviews. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Colorama; the world's largest photographs.

"Everybody come over here and get in the picture" took on new meaning with Colorama, a system that created 18-by-60-foot photographs — big enough to display in one image, for example, the entire Irish Guard Pipe and Drum Corps, a gaggle of tourists, and, by the way, Windsor Castle. This image and 564 others in succession graced New York's Grand Central Terminal from 1950 to 1990, giving even the most grizzled urban commuter an eyeful of Machu Pichu or the Taj Mahal, with each shot prominently featuring a camera-toting enthusiast and at least one pretty girl. Most of the subjects were closer to home and touted the American way of life and so, in this much more ironic age, they are often inadvertently hilarious (e.g. a bouquet of football players' hindquarters framed by scenes of fans in the throes of demonic possession). Alison Nordstrom and Peggy Roalf provide thoughtful essays for the 50 images shown here in a much more portable format than that afforded by the originals. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Hellen van Meene; portraits.

They pose where they are told, wear what they are told, and do what they are told, but they are adolescents with minds of their own. Photographer van Meene calls them "objects to direct and guide," and "simply material for me," but in fact the relationship between her and her models is symbiotic. Her models are very young but quite aware they are wearing cast-offs from some adult's wardrobe or linen closet, and are posed pinned to someone else's tree or in someone else's bathtub. On rare occasions their eyes meet the gaze of the camera, but most often they look at that "anything else" that so preoccupies the prepubescent. This may be a kind of defense or young wisdom, because some of the poses are disturbing, and whether or not they are "objects" they are at the stage of life when they are keenly aware of themselves and where they have been placed. Kate Bush provides a commentary. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Henry Darger; disasters of war.

Fans of Darger (1892-1973) and those who have heard of his mysterious and disturbing 19,000-page novel The Realms of the Unreal will be interested in this exhibition catalog containing watercolors and details. They depict the angelic Vivian sisters doing battle with Glandelinians and often being chased, captured and tortured or strangled. Also included are a conversation about Darger between Klaus Biesenbach and Kiyoko Lerner — in which they describe his eccentricities and method of tracing blown-up comics and movie posters — and excerpts from Darger's writings. The book is published by KW Institute of Contemporary Art and distributed by D.A.P. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Jock Sturges; notes.

Photographed in naturalist communities in northern California and southern France, these images of mostly nude children and adults (some in family groups) will spark the usual praise or criticism for the controversial work of this well-known photographer. Sturges comments on his creative philosophy and relationship with his non- professional subjects, and includes remarks by a woman on the experience of being photographed by him since childhood. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Lee Friedlander; sticks & stones; architectural America.

Published by the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco, Calif., in association with Distributed Art Publishers, this handsome, oversized volume (12.25x13 inches) presents 196 square format b&w photos by Friedlander in full-page plates. The photos, which rarely include people, capture distinctly American urban and small town settings, unaccompanied by any caption or text (a list is included indicating the location of each). A brief essay on Friedlander's work is included, by James Enyeart (photography, College of Sante Fe, NM). Not indexed. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Light matters; writings on photography.

Selected essays from the past 25 years of Goldberg's writings touch on the work of individual photographers (Ansel Adams, Weegee, Herb Ritts, Diane Arbus, Walker Evans, and a dozen others) as well as photographic issues: sex; history; the uses of tragedy. Goldberg, an award-winning biographer of Margaret Bourke-White, lectures widely on photography and the arts and writes for publications including The New York Times, American Photo, and Vanity Fair. The volume is effectively (if not copiously) illustrated in b&w. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Louise Bourgeois; emotions abstracted, werke/works 1941-2000.

This volume contains the catalogue of an exhibition held at Daros Exhibitions in Zürich, Switzerland in 2004. Thirty-five works, mainly sculpture, as well as some drawings and an oil are depicted in full-page plates. Two essays discuss Bourgeois' art. A chronology of her career, exhibition checklist, and bibliography are included. Not indexed. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Mexico, the revolution and beyond; photographs by Augustín Víctor Casasola, 1900-1940.

Monasterio (co-founder of the Consejo Mexicano de Fotografía) has selected images by the prolific and talented documentary photographer that span his career from the late-19th century to his death in 1938. The truly arresting photos, which are reproduced in full-page plates of excellent quality, depict groups of people and scenes that are public, private, urban, rural, social, commercial, and political. They're grouped by theme, including the Porfirian peace, the Revolutionary War, trades, modernity, night entertainments, halls of justice, and famous people. Writer Pete Hamill has contributed an historical introduction. The photos are accompanied by a brief descriptive caption. The volume is oversize: 9.75x13 inches. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Paul Strand southwest.

At first Strand's photography was all tension and geometry in the streets of New York. Suddenly, in his trips to Taos, it was all tension and geometry in sagebrush backlit under a confection of clouds, a single dark figure approaching a white cascade of adobe from its shadows, and Georgia O'Keefe's angular and naked body. Fifty of Strand's 1930-32 monochrome photographs of the Southwest are at the core of this collection, along with artifacts from his time there while he struggled with the end of a marriage and a mentorship. The experience attenuated Strand's mastery of a medium for which he had been born. The commentary includes quotes from a diverse group of artists and writers; the text is spare, fluid, and refuses to overshadow either the photography or the photographer. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Photography speaks; 150 photographers on their art.

Featuring images drawn from the Chrysler Museum's expansive collection, Photography Speaks (1987) and Photography Speaks II (1995) offer photography students, professionals, and enthusiasts a history of the medium from its invention to the present day. This volume brings together the material presented in the original two volumes (with revisions) plus 16 additional works. Each of 150 chronologically-arranged entries contains biographical information and an original statement from the artist, accompanied by an example of his or her work. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Self portrait with cows going home.

Printed in an oversize format (9.75x11.5 inches), this volume presents full-page and some two-page plates of the photos taken by Plachy on multiple visits to eastern Europe since the 1960s. The photos, most of them b&w, are accompanied by captions, some descriptive, many personal. Landscape and people are the main subjects, filmed in Hungary, Romania, Russia, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and the former Yugoslavia. Not indexed. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)