Zodiac: a Graphic Memoir by
NATIONAL BESTSELLER . In this beautifully illustrated and deeply philosophical graphic memoir, legendary artist Ai Weiwei explores the connection between artistic expression and intellectual freedom through the lens of the Chinese zodiac. ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR As a child living in exile during the Cultural Revolution, Ai Weiwei often found himself with nothing to read but government-approved comic books. Although they were restricted by the confines of political propaganda, Ai Weiwei was struck by the artists' ability to express their thoughts on art and humanity through graphic storytelling. Now, decades later, Ai Weiwei and Italian comic artist Gianluca Costantini present Zodiac, Ai Weiwei's first graphic memoir. Inspired by the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac and their associated human characteristics, Ai Weiwei masterfully interweaves ancient Chinese folklore with stories of his life, family, and career. The narrative shifts back and forth through the years-at once in the past, present, and future-mirroring memory and our relationship to time. As readers delve deeper into the beautifully illustrated pages of Zodiac, they will find not only a personal history of Ai Weiwei and an examination of the sociopolitical climate in which he makes his art, but a philosophical exploration of what it means to find oneself through art and freedom of expression. Contemplative and political, Zodiac will inspire readers to return again and again to Ai Weiwei's musings on the relationship between art, time, and our shared humanity.
The Quilts of Gee's Bend by
Since the early nineteenth century, the women of Gee's Bend in southern Alabama have created stunning, vibrant quilts. In the only photo-essay book about the quilts of Gee's Bend for children, award-winning author Susan Goldman Rubin explores the history and culture of this fascinating group of women and their unique quilting traditions. Rubin uses meticulous research to offer an exclusive look at an important facet of African American art and culture. In the rural community of Gee's Bend, African American women have been making quilts for generations. They use scraps of old overalls, aprons, and bleached cornmeal sacks-anything they can find. Their traditions have been passed down through the decades. Much to the women's surprise, a selection of the quilts was featured in an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in 2002. The exhibition then traveled to the Whitney Museum in New York City. "Eye-poppingly gorgeous," wrote a critic for the New York Times about the exhibition. He continued, "Some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced." The Metropolitan Museum of Art will exhibit its newly acquired collection of Gee's Bend quilts in 2017. Rubin is known for producing well-researched, highly praised, and sophisticated biographies of artists and other important figures. Through similar research, The Quilts of Gee's Bend shares specifics about this rare community and its rich traditions, allowing children to pause to consider history through the eyes of the people who lived it and through a legacy that is passed on to the next generation. This book should be of great interest to classrooms, libraries, and those interested in African American art in the United States, in addition to quilting, life in early emancipated colonies in the South, and Gee's Bends importance in the Civil Right's movement. The quilts and the incredible stories behind them are powerful motivators for anyone who wishes to accomplish anything. A map, directions on how to make a quilt square, endnotes, and an index round out this stunning nonfiction book.
Islamic Art in Detail by
How do we know Islamic art? What tells us that images and artifacts are products of the Muslim world, a culture that has historically extended from Spain to Southeast Asia and spanned a period from A.D. 622 to our day? This exquisitely and extensively illustrated book allows readers to identify those elements and themes that define art forms as Islamic, and to examine them in works of painting and metalwork, in calligraphy and manuscripts, ceramics, glass, wood, and ivory comprising one of the most imposing collections of arts from across the Muslim world. Arranged thematically--in chapters focusing on religion and belief, the supernatural and natural worlds, feasting, the hunt, war, music, and power--Islamic Art in Detail provides a much-needed cultural context for these widely varied works while pointing out exceptional features. In its exploration of selected works, the book juxtaposes images of each object with enlarged details--details that might otherwise be virtually invisible to the naked eye--affording surprising comparisons between seemingly unrelated pieces and offering a rare multifaceted view of the art, technique, and iconography of some of the Islamic world's most beautiful images and artifacts.
No. 1: First Works by 362 Artists by
Sincere and ironic. Hip and stodgy. Academic still lifes and ready to hang museum pieces. When you ask over 300 artists, "What was your first work of art?" the results are vast. An inspirational collection, No.1: First Works by 362 Artists showcases works by a variety of contemporary painters, photographers, sculptors and filmmakers. The artists were asked to submit what they considered their "first" work of art--not necessarily the first piece they ever created, but the one that first successfully represented who they are as an artist today. Some of the works are first "mature" works, others are seminal or pivotal, others are catalysts, some are new beginnings. These submissions, along with written artists' statements, make up this fascinating look at the process of art-marking. Among the artists included are Vito Acconci, Kutlug Ataman, Fiona Banner, Nayland Blake, Louise Bourgeois, Vija Celmins, Judy Chicago, John Currin, Amy Cutler, Martin Creed, Tacita Dean, Wim Delvoye, Mark Dion, Mitch Epstein, Larry Fink, Tom Friedman, Hans Haacke, Ann Hamilton, Gary Hill, Roni Horn, Callum Innes, Joan Jonas, Anish Kapoor, Mary Kelly, Yayoi Kusama, Alfred Leslie, Glenn Ligon, Barry McGee, Tracey Moffatt, Shirin Neshat, Gabriel Orozco, Roxy Paine, Richard Prince, Dorothea Rockburne, Tom Sachs, Kiki Smith, Pat Steir, Juergen Teller, Fred Tomaselli, Rosemarie Trockel, Tunga, Luc Tuymans, Gus Van Sant, John Waters, John Wesley, Sue Williams, Fred Wilson, Lisa Yuskavage and Andrea Zittel. No.1 is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in art and the process of discovery and creation.
Asian Art by
Over the centuries, the exotic elegance of Asian art has been a source of fascinating and inspiration for artists and art lovers worldwide. This book explores the diversity of art and artefacts from around Asia, detailing the subjects depicted, the materials used in their making, and the lives of the artists and artisans who created them.
Indian Art in Detail by
The rich and diverse cultures of India are represented in exquisite detail in this book, which begins with a simple question: what is Indian art? The answer is as complex as the history of a nation that is only sixty years old and a civilization that is one of the oldest in the world. The vocabulary of Indian art is syncretic and is shaped by a variety of religious influences such as Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist. Persian, Turkish, Central Asian, Chinese, Japanese, as well as a host of European artistic traditions have also left their imprint on India. And the stunning topography of the subcontinent--the majestic Himalayas in the north, the dramatic deserts of Rajasthan, the fertile Gangetic plain, a southern coastline washed by the waves of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal--continues to shape the Indian artistic imagination. Each thematically organized chapter in this book delves into such topics as religion and myth, epics, festivals, courtly and village life, and the natural world. The gorgeous close-ups of paintings, textiles, and sculptures in metal, ivory, and wood illuminate the aesthetics and workmanship, as well as recurrent motifs that are distinctly Indian. The objects are all part of the extraordinary Indian Art collection in the British Museum. The beauty of the smallest details are magnified and contextualized through the accompanying essays written by an expert on Indian art and culture.
Japanese Art in Detail by
Beginning by asking, "What is Japanese art?" this book supplies an answer so broad in its reach, so rich in detail, and so extensively illustrated as to give a reader not just a true picture, but also a fine understanding, of Japanese art. Arranged thematically, the book includes chapters on nature and pleasure, landscape and beauty, all framed by the themes of serenity and turmoil, the two poles of Japanese culture ancient and modern. Highlighting--close up and in color--outstanding examples of design and craft in prints, paintings and screens, metalwork, ceramics, wood, stone, and lacquer, Japanese Art in Detail presents each image alongside enlarged details--details that otherwise might be virtually invisible to the naked eye--thus affording intriguing comparisons between seemingly unrelated pieces. Throughout, John Reeve provides cultural context while pointing out exceptional features. Though drawn from one extraordinary source--the British Museum--the specific objects pictured here are representative of many others in public and private collections worldwide, and offer a clear idea, both broad and particular, of what constitutes Japanese art. Most of these images, as well as many of those mentioned, are accessible electronically through the British Museum's online database, as are several tours linked to recent exhibits.
African Art in Detail by
This book opens with the question, What is African art? The answer is a brilliantly colorful and detailed look at the myriad materials and genres, forms and meanings, cultural contexts and expressions that comprise artistic traditions across this vast and varied continent. Viewing artworks in their contexts--ancient and modern, urban and rural, western and eastern, decorative and functional--the book is nothing less than a virtual tour of African culture.Masks, textiles, royal art, sculpture, ceramics, tools and weapons--in each instance, the book features examples that reveal the most significant aspects of workmanship, materials, and design in objects of wood, stone, ivory, clay, metalwork, featherwork, leather, basketwork, and cloth. Photographs of each piece alongside close-ups of fine details afford new views of these works and allow for intriguing comparisons between seemingly unrelated objects and media. The featured details evoke the hand and eye of the most accomplished craftspeople across Africa, past and present. In sum, these photographs, along with Chris Spring's enlightening commentary, offer an experience of African art that is at once broad and deep, richly informed and intimately felt. They are, at the same time, a kaleidoscopic view of art from prehistory to gestures prefiguring the future.
The Pacific Arts of Polynesia and Micronesia by
Comprising thousands of islands and hundreds of cultural groups, Polynesia and Micronesia cover a large part of the vast Pacific Ocean, from the dramatic mountains of Hawaii to the small, flat coral islands of Kiribati. The Pacific Arts of Polynesia and Micronesia offers a superb introduction to the rich artistic traditions of these two regions, traditions that have had a considerable impact on modern western art through the influence of artists such as Gauguin. After an introduction to Polynesian and Micronesian art separately, the book focuses on the artistic types, styles, and concepts shared by the two island groups, thereby placing each in its wider cultural context. From the textiles of Tonga to the canoes of Tahiti, Adrienne Kaeppler sheds light on religious and sacred rituals and objects, carving, architecture, tattooing, personal ornaments, basket-making, clothing, textiles, fashion, the oral arts, dance, music and musical instruments--even canoe-construction--to provide the ultimate introduction to these rich and vibrant cultures. Each chapter begins with a quote from an indigenous person from one of the island areas covered in the book and features both historic and contemporary works of art. A timeline for migration into the Pacific includes the latest information from archaeology, as well as the influx of explorers and missionaries and important exhibitions and other artistic events. With more than one hundred illustrations--most in full color--this volume offers a stimulating and insightful account of two dynamic artistic cultures.
Scrawl: an A-Z of Famous Doodles by
From the first ever sketch of the Red Cross logo by its founder Clara Barton to a cartoon scrawled on a love letter from Charles Bukowski, the objects in this fascinating collection are a perfect reflection of the eclectic and storied cast of characters from whose archives they've been collected over the years. Organised alphabetically, with a range of influential names, from William Burroughs to Mark Twain, the book is a voyeur's treasure trove of the ephemeral, in which cultural icons reveal their own preoccupations, passions, plans, and distractions in the marginalia of their daily correspondence. A satirical sketch by Marc Chagall sits beside a quick self-portrait by Charlie Chaplin; a throwaway drawing on a dollar bill by Joan Miro follows the first ever idle iteration of Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren; and a hasty drawing by Andy Warhol precedes a sketch of Falstaff on a hotel notepad by Orson Welles. A treat for lovers of the analog in the digital age, and reproduced beautifully on uncoated paper to come as close as possible to the texture of the originals, Scrawl connects high and low, art and science, history and literature, youth and age, with the universal truth of doodling.
Fifty Years of Illustration by
This book charts contemporary illustration's rich history: from the rampant idealism of the 1960s to the bleak realism of the 1970s, and from the over-blown consumerism of the 1980s to the digital explosion of the 1990s, followed by the increasing diversification of illustration in the early twenty-first century. The book explores the contexts in which the discipline has operated and looks historically, sociologically, politically, and culturally at the key factors at play across each decade, while artworks by key illustrators bring the decade to life. Contemporary illustration's impact and influence on design and popular culture are investigated through introductory essays and profiles of leading practitioners, illustrated with examples of the finest work.
Cut That Out: Collage in Contemporary Design by
The most innovative uses of collage today, from 50 leading contemporary graphic designers across 15 different countries--including Hort, Mike Perry, Stefan Sagmeister, Matthew Cooper, and many others. Collage--a term coined by Picasso and Braque at the beginning of the twentieth century--is undergoing a vibrant resurgence, and it's not hard to see why. Destructive yet sustainable, digital and lo-fi, thriving on mass media and a sense of nostalgia--the catchphrases for collage are as contemporary as the bands that are using it on their record sleeves. New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl calls it "The most consequential visual-art form of the twentieth century." Today, designers are combining traditional techniques and methods with digital technology to encompass assemblage, photomontage, mixed-media installation, digital manipulation, and even tapestry and video to create truly dazzling work for personal projects, clients, and commercial campaigns alike. Curated by Ryan Doyle and Mark Edwards, who work together as the studio DR.ME, Cut That Out focuses on the compositions of 50 leading designers and studios for whom collage has been the key to creating vibrant, effective work--for clients from Beck to Coca-Cola; Target and The New York Times to Grimes, Tame Impala, Panda Bear, and Stella McCartney. In brief Q&As, the designers describe their individual techniques and processes, sources of inspiration, and thoughts on the medium. With fresh and diverse work copiously illustrated throughout, Cut That Out is a rich seam of inspiration to be mined by all students, graphic designers, and art aficionados who wish to explore the creative possibilities of collage in their work, showing how artists take advantage of the freedom inherent in collage to combine various media and methods in the search for something entirely unexpected, original, and wildly new.
Black Panther: the Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas by
A reformatted and reduced price edition--including a revised and updated introduction by Sam Durant and new text on the artist today by Colette Gaiter--of the first book to show the provocative posters and groundbreaking graphics of the Black Panther Party. The Black Panther Party for Self Defense, formed in the aftermath of the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, sounded a defiant cry for an end to the institutionalized subjugation of African Americans. The Black Panther newspaper was founded to articulate the party's message, and artist Emory Douglas became the paper's art director and later the party's minister of culture. Douglas's artistic talents and experience proved a powerful combination: his striking collages of photographs and his own drawings combined to create some of the era's most iconic images. This landmark book brings together a remarkable lineup of party insiders who detail the crafting of the party's visual identity.
Mary Weatherford by
This is the first monograph to offer a comprehensive account of the work of Californian artist Mary Weatherford (born 1963), beginning in the mid-1980s and extending to the present. Weatherford was a student of pioneering twentieth-century art historian Sam Hunter at Princeton. Her broadly literate and visually arresting paintings address the legacies of American modernists from Arthur Dove and Agnes Pelton to Willem de Kooning and Morris Louis, while grappling with the politics of gender, the representation of specific moods and experiences, and other concerns squarely rooted in the present moment. From her early monumental targets, through canvases studded with real shells and starfish, as well as more abstract evocations of landscape inspired by caves, to her recent neon-appended panels whose atmospheres of rolling color foreground the painting process itself, Weatherford's works argue forcibly and convincingly for the engagement of painting with contemporary life. Suzanne Hudson's text, the fruit of many studio visits and long interviews, reveals a singularly inventive artist whose boundless facility for reinvention will compel any viewer, student, or critic of painting.
Modern Ink: the Art of Xugu by
The enigmatic Chinese monk-painter Xugu (1823-1896), with his daring brush techniques and implicit expression of spiritual insight, stands out among notable innovators in the late Qing period. Despite the political upheaval and cultural decay of his day, he tapped the creative spring of Chan (Zen) Buddhism to develop a highly personal and modern visual language within the calligraphic idiom of traditional scholars' art. His portraits and landscapes, along with his depictions of flowers, fruits, and animals, convey quiet elegance, sensitivity, ethereality - and at times humor - even as they surprise with their unconventionality and tendency toward abstraction. This monograph, illustrated in full color, examines seventeen paintings and one rare work of calligraphy by this extraordinary artist in the context of his life and stylistic development. The inclusion of a portrait by two of his close associates provides perspective on the enduring impact of Xugu's vital breakthroughs on the burgeoning art center of nineteenth-century Shanghai and beyond.
Graffiti Women: Street Art from Five Continents by
From the author of the enormously successful "Graffiti World" comes this spectacular follow-up, celebrating the contributions of women to contemporary graffiti and street art. Female writers have always been in the vanguard of the graffiti movement, though often shunted to the sidelines by their male counterparts. This exhaustive volume places them front and center, featuring 1,000 full-color illustrations from some of the world's most prominent artists, including Brazil's Nina, Japan's Sasu, Mexico's Peste, and the Americans Lady Pink, Swoon, and Miss 17. Two eight-page fold-out collages, a fold-out poster jacket, and an authoritative text round out the impressive package. The first and only comprehensive survey of its kind, this book is sure to attract and expand upon the wide and enthusiastic readership that made "Graffiti World" such a runaway success.
Against the Wall: the Art of Resistance in Palestine by
This stunning book of photographs captures the graffiti and art that have transformed Israel’s wall into a living canvas of resistance and solidarity. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Featuring the work of artists Banksy, Ron English, Blu, and others, as well as Palestinian artists and activists, these photographs express outrage, compassion, and touching humor. They illustrate the wall’s toll on lives and livelihoods, showing the hardship it has brought to tens of thousands of people, preventing their access to work, education, and vital medical care. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Mixed with the images are portraits and vignettes, offering a heartfelt and inspiring account of a people determined to uphold their dignity in the face of profound injustice.
Street Art World by
Street art and graffiti are a familiar sight in all our cities. Giant murals commemorate historical events or proclaim the culture of a neighborhood, while tagged walls can function simultaneously as a claim to territory and a backdrop for an urban fashion shoot. Street Art World examines these divergent forms and functions of street art. This strikingly illustrated book explores every aspect of street art, from those who spray it into being to those who revel in it on Instagram, from its place under highway overpasses to one on the austere walls of high art museums. What exactly is street art? Is it the same as graffiti, or do they have different histories, meanings, and practitioners? Who makes it? Who buys it? Can it be exhibited at all, or does it always have to appear unsanctioned? Talking with artists, collectors, sellers, and buyers, author Alison Young reveals an energetic world of self-made artists who are simultaneously passionate about an authentic form of expression and ambivalent about the prospects of selling it to make a living--even a fabulously good one. Drawing on over twenty years of research, she juxtaposes the rise and fall of art markets against the vibrancy of the street and urban life, providing a rich history and new ways of contextualizing the words and images--some breathtakingly beautiful--that seem to appear overnight in cities around the world.
Pewabic Pottery: a History Handcrafted in Detroit by
At the height of America's Arts and Crafts movement, Detroit neighbors Horace J. Caulkins and Mary Chase Perry pooled their talents together to found Pewabic Pottery. With modest beginnings in 1903, Pewabic transformed from a rented stable in Brush Park to an English Tudor building on East Jefferson Avenue, where it has operated since 1907. Today, the iconic enterprise continues Perry's dedication to handcrafted ceramics and remains known for its iridescent glaze on everything from vessels and architectural tiles to ecclesiastical installations in churches across the country, including the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Author Cara Catallo illuminates the story behind one of the oldest American handcrafted pottery traditions.
Vases by
Vase design is blooming. As the vase has become one of the most universal home accessories, contemporary designers are pushing the boundaries, making vases that are not only functional, beautiful objects, but also works of art and conceptual statements. The history of design includes many significant examples of state-of-the-art vases, but the scope and quality of those that we can admire today are unprecedented. From Ted Muehling's sleek, gilded 'Goose Egg' to Glithero's botanical cyanotypes on ceramic and Joogii Design's colour-shifting prisms covered in dichroic film, there are no limits to what contemporary designers can make out of what is fundamentally a container for holding flowers. This book includes important mid-century and late 20th-century vases by acclaimed artists, but primarily focuses on the 21st-century scene, with a wide international selection of emerging designers from the younger generation. Inspired by the organic world, architectural elements, artworks or geometric rules, all these designers translate their original visions into a variety of forms, blurring the lines between design, sculpture and architecture. The vases featured in this book are contemporary works of art, worthy of inclusion in museum collections - as many already are.
Gay Gotham: Art and Underground Culture in New York by 
Glorious Qing: Decorative Arts in China, 1644-1911 by
A guided tour through centuries of exquisitely crafted objects With over 250 color illustrations, this companion volume to Claudia Brown's Great Qing: Painting in China, 1644-1911 covers an array of superbly crafted objects of art produced during China's last dynasty. It features ceramics, metalwork, textiles, lacquer, glass, jade, and works of bamboo selected from collections in North America, Europe, China, and Taiwan. Art historian Brown probes the materials, motivations, technologies, and skills of Qing period artists, along with trends in art patronage and collecting. She considers objects of private patronage, including snuff bottles and instruments for the scholar's desk, alongside imperial commissions, palace furnishings, and pieces made for export in the flourishing East-West trade market. Moving chronologically from one emperor's reign to the next, Glorious Qing offers a comprehensive survey of Qing decorative arts that will delight experts and novices alike, from collectors to students of art history.
The Story of Drawing: an Alternative History of Art by
Winner of the Apollo Book of the Year Award 2024 Drawing is at the heart of human creativity. The most democratic form of art-making, it requires nothing more than a plain surface and a stub of pencil, a piece of chalk or an inky brush. Our prehistoric ancestors drew with natural pigments on the walls of caves, and every subsequent culture has practised drawing--whether on papyrus, parchment, or paper. Artists throughout history have used drawing as part of the creative process. While painting and sculpture have been shaped heavily by money and influence, drawing has always offered extraordinary creative latitude. Here we see the artist at his or her most unguarded. Susan Owens offers a glimpse over artists' shoulders--from Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Hokusai to Van Gogh, Käthe Kollwitz, and Yayoi Kusama--as they work, think, and innovate, as they scrutinise the world around them or escape into imagination. The Story of Drawing loops around the established history of art, sometimes staying close, at other times diving into exhilarating and altogether less familiar territory.
The Mirror and the Palette: Rebellion, Revolution, and Resilience: 500 Years of Women's Self-Portraits by
A dazzlingly original and ambitious book on the history of female self-portraiture by one of today's most well-respected art critics. Her story weaves in and out of time and place. She's Frida Kahlo, Loïs Mailou Jones and Amrita Sher-Gil en route to Mexico City, Paris or Bombay. She's Suzanne Valadon and Gwen John, craving city lights, the sea and solitude; she's Artemisia Gentileschi striding through the streets of Naples and Paula Modersohn-Becker in Worpswede. She's haunting museums in her paint-stained dress, scrutinising how El Greco or Titian or Van Dyck or Cézanne solved the problems that she too is facing. She's railing against her corsets, her chaperones, her husband and her brothers; she's hammering on doors, dreaming in her bedroom, working day and night in her studio. Despite the immense hurdles that have been placed in her way, she sits at her easel, picks up a mirror and paints a self-portrait because, as a subject, she is always available. Until the twentieth century, art history was, in the main, written by white men who tended to write about other white men. The idea that women in the West have always made art was rarely cited as a possibility. Yet they have - and, of course, continue to do so - often against tremendous odds, from laws and religion to the pressures of family and public disapproval. In The Mirror and the Palette, Jennifer Higgie introduces us to a cross-section of women artists who embody the fact that there is more than one way to understand our planet, more than one way to live in it and more than one way to make art about it. Spanning 500 years, biography and cultural history intertwine in a narrative packed with tales of rebellion, adventure, revolution, travel and tragedy enacted by women who turned their back on convention and lived lives of great resilience, creativity and bravery.
In Open Contempt: Confronting White Supremacy in Art and Public Space by
"An awe-striking masterpiece of love." --Jason Reynolds, #1 New York Times bestselling author "The sentences alone in In Open Contempt make it one of the most memorable books of the decade. But it's the unexpected lingering and genius crafting of consequential action that makes this one of the freshest explorations of space I've ever read. Irvin Weathersby Jr. has made something we've never before seen, felt, or witnessed." --Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir A stirring journey into the soul of a fractured America that confronts the enduring specter of white supremacy in our art, monuments, and public spaces, from a captivating new literary voice Amid the ongoing reckoning over America's history of anti-Black racism, scores of monuments to slaveowners and Confederate soldiers still proudly dot the country's landscape, while schools and street signs continue to bear the names of segregationists. With poignant, lyrical prose, cultural commentator Irvin Weathersby confronts the inescapable specter of white supremacy in our open spaces and contemplates what it means to bear witness to sites of lasting racial trauma. Weathersby takes us from the streets of his childhood in New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward to the Whitney Plantation; from the graffitied pedestals of Confederate statues lining Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, to the location of a racist terror attack in Charlottesville; from the site of the Wounded Knee massacre in South Dakota to a Kara Walker art installation at a former sugar factory in Brooklyn, New York. Along the way, he challenges the creation myths embedded in America's landmarks and meets artists, curators, and city planners doing the same. Urgent and unflinchingly intimate, In Open Contempt offers a hopeful reimagining of the spaces we share in order to honor our nation's true history, encouraging us to make room for love as a way to heal and treat each other more humanely.
As We See It: Artists Redefining Black Identity by
Across photography, sculpture and painting, a new wave of Black artists is challenging persistent tropes in art and wider society to depict a richer portrait of the lives of Black people from all corners of the globe. As We See It brings together 30 image-makers creating visually refreshing narratives on Black cultural identities, and exploring what Blackness brings to the making and viewing of art. How photographers are investigating and representing notions of Black identity in diverse new ways; Includes photographers who are both exploring the history of Black visual identity while also resetting its future; Full of visually refreshing and challenging narratives - including depictions of Black joy and love, as well as queer and non-binary identities, and images that underline photography's role in challenging stereotypical visual identities; Images come from across the world and straddle the worlds of portraiture, documentary, fashion and fine art; Artists included: Prince Gyasi, Nadine Ijewere, Campbell Addy, Chris Facey, Emeka Okereke, Lina Iris Viktor, Braylen Dion, Girma Berta, Kenny Germé, Naima Green, Mikael Owunna, David Nana Opoku Ansah, Lebohang Kganye, Dario Calmese, Melissa Alcena, Davey Adesida, Takeisha Jefferson, Atong Atem, Donavon Smallwood, Henry J. Kamara, Zithelo Bobby Mthombeni, Ronan Mckenzie, Rahima Gambo, Allison Janae Hamilton, Sedrick Chisom, Lunga Ntila, Jodi Minnis, Délio Jasse, Joana Choumali and Emma Prempeh