From Nirvana to Catastrophe
Matsuzawa Yutaka and his ‘Commune in Imaginary Space’
Published by Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2017, 384 pages (colour & b/w ill.), 12 × 18.7 cm, English
Price: €34

Produced on occasion of the exhibition From Nirvana to Catastrophe: Matsuzawa Yutaka and his ‘Commune in Imaginary Space’ at Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, 3 March–22 April, 2017.

Yutaka Matsuzawa (1922–2006) was considered the father of Japanese conceptual art. In his pursuit of ways to express the invisible invisibly, Matsuzawa developed a unique understanding of conceptual art that both elevated and transcended the typical notions of conceptual art in the western, euro-centric art worlds.

The exhibition focused on the period 1969–1973, the most active years of Matsuzawa’s activities, and reflected on the exhibition Nirvana (1970), which was a pioneering international exhibition on Conceptualism in Japan.

#2017 #japaneseavantgarde #yutakamatsuzawa
I Wanna Give You Devotion
Philipp Gufler
Published by Hammann Von Mier Verlag, München, 2017, 112 pages (colour & b/w ill.), 17 × 24 cm, German / English
Price: €16

Philipp Gufler realised the installation I Wanna Give You Devotion in cooperation with the self-organized archive Forum Queeres Archiv München. The key element is the poster collection of the forum. The artist books combines historical posters/flyers and works by 29 artists and collectives, who Gufler specifically invited in order to question, actualize and expand on the poster collection.

With new posters by: Muriel Aichberger, Tabea Blumenschein, Virág Bogyó, Johannes Büttner, Cinenova Working Group, Fernando Corona, Stephan Dillemuth, Holger Dreissig, Johannes Fedisch, Philipp Gufler, Hammann von Mier, Leo Heinik, Vera Hofmann, Richard John Jones, Isaac Julien, Byron Kalomamas, Chris Kraus, Kriwet, Lothringer13_Florida, Sands Murray-Wassink, Gyula Muskovics, Anna McCarthy, Mirja Reuter, Paola Revenioti, Barbara Spiller, Angela Stiegler, Evelyn Taocheng Wang, Maria VMier, Raphaela Vogel and XPatch Collective.

#2017 #philippgufler
Last Words
Luis Camnitzer
Published by Information As Material, 2017, 14 pages, 10 × 13.5 cm, English
Price: €4

Since the late 1960s, Luis Camnitzer has created works in a variety of media—including installation, printmaking, drawing, and photography—that expose our collective indifference to the violence governments inflict on individuals.

A pioneer of conceptual art, Camnitzer critiques current political realities with a perspective informed by his first-hand experience of dictatorships in Latin America.

Last Words was originally composed in the wake of New Jersey’s historic decision to abolish the death penalty and as the US Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of lethal injections. The short, continuous text is a montage of select final statements by Death Row prisoners, collected from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s public records online and chosen because they include the word ‘love’.

#2017 #luiscamnitzer
Kyiv Biennial Guidebook
Published by Kyiv Biennial, Kyiv, 2017, (b/w ill.), 11 × 18 cm, English / Ukrainian
Price: €6

Guidebook of the Kyiv Biennial, an international forum for art, knowledge and politics that integrates exhibitions and discussion platforms. It adopts an interdisciplinary perspective at the intersection of science, politics and art in order to reflect on the crucial issues of the contemporary world. Organised by the Visual Culture Research Center.

Designed by Uliana Bychenkova, based on a grid by Experimental Jetset. Cover image and emblems by Experimental Jetset.

#2017 #experimentaljetset
Ice Breaker
Ron Nagle
Published by Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, 2017, foldout card (colour ill.), 15.7 × 15.7 cm, English
Price: €12

Produced on the occasion of Ron Nagle: Ice Breaker at Matthew Marks Gallery, 1062 North Orange Grove, January 21–April 8, 2017.

Nagle is known for his intimately scaled sculptures made of ceramic elements that are slip-cast, fired, and embellished with epoxy and other synthetic materials that allow him to expand his forms beyond the limits of clay. Some are glazed to a hot-rod finish, others textured like stucco and then airbrushed.

#2017 #ceramics #ephemera #ronnagle #westcoastceramics
The Bigness of Things: New Narrative and Visual Culture
Published by Wolfman Books, Oakland, 2017, 124 pages (colour & b/w ill.), 14.9 × 20.2 cm, English
Price: €18 (Out of stock)

The Bigness of Things surveys the intersection of New Narrative, San Francisco’s queer-and-punk-infused writing avant-garde, and visual culture, through photographs and essays on visual art, literary journals, and film. Including essays by Matt Sussman, Brandon Callender, Jamie Townsend, Stephanie Young, Ismail Muhammad, Syd Staiti, Brandon Brown; art from the Homes of Bruce Boone, Robert Glück, Jocely Saidenberg, Dodie Bellamy and Kevin Killian; and stills from the Films of Marc Huestis, Abigail Child, Cecilia Dougherty, and Leslie Singer.

#2017 #bruceboone #dodiebellamy #kevinkillian #newnarrative #robertgluck