Portraits
Ghislaine Leung
Published by Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, 2021, box containing 3 A4 stapled documents, 6 cards, fluorescent lamp, usb cord, instructions and object (colour & b/w ill.), 16.3 × 20.7 cm, English/German
Price: €54

Produced on the occasion of Portraits a solo exhibition by Ghislaine Leung displayed at Museum Abteiberg from 3 June–24 October, 2021, curated by Susanne Titz and Haris Giannouras. The exhibition comprised of works commissioned by Museum Abteiberg and produced over the duration of a year from 2020–21. The catalogue references the legendary box catalogues developed by previous museum director Johannes Cladders with Joseph Beuys in 1967. With essays from Bruce Hainley and Eleanor Ivory Weber.

You can see a round table discussion of the exhibition featuring Bruce Hainley, Fatima Hellberg & Susanne Titz and Haris Giannouras here.

#2021 #brucehainley #eleanorivoryweber #ghislaineleung #harisgiannouras #johannescladders #museumabteiberg #susannetitz
Termite Economies
Nicholas Mangan
Published by Bom Dia Boa Tarde Boa Noite, Berlin, 2021, 152 pp. (colour & b/w ill.), 17.5 × 24.5 cm, English
Price: €34

This publication assembles three phases of Termite Economies, a major series of artworks produced between 2018–2020 by the Australian artist Nicholas Mangan.

In Termite Economies (Phase 1) Mangan researched an anecdote that termite abilities might one day lead humans to gold deposits. Phase 2 explored termite eusociality, pheromonal communication, building behaviour, biomimicry, super-organism and swarm intelligence. Phase 3 deployed termite collectivism as a speculative model for rerouting human neural pathways. Within each phase, Mangan developed specific methods to explore these phenomena formally, spatially, and through moving images.

The book presents each phase in the order of the exhibition series. It includes process and research photographs, diagrams, installation and detailed imagery. It includes an essay by Artist Mariana Silva, a fictional text by writer ST.Lore, a conversation between Mangan and cultural theorist Ana Teixeira Pinto, and a republished essay by Dr. Guy Theraulaz. Designed by Žiga Testen.

#2021 #anateixeirapinto #bomdiaboatardeboanoite #nicholasmangan #stlore #zigatesten
L’agence
Philippe Thomas
Published by MAMCO, Geneva, 2021, 104 pp. (colour & b/w ill.), 16 × 23 cm, French
Price: €25 (Out of stock)

Created by French artist Philippe Thomas, the communication agency called readymades belong to everyone®, for its American version inaugurated in 1987 in New York, and les ready-made appartiennent à tout le monde®, for its French version, is a company behind which the artist disappeared. MAMCO owns the whole agency, which closed in 1995. This book is the first comprehensive study of this work which challenged the traditional role and function of the artist. With readymades belong to eveyone®, the collector or the institution themselves sign the works and become the authors of the works. The book proposes also the last (and unpublished) interview by Philippe Thomas which enables to understand the deep coherence of his entire work. Textes de Paul Bernard, Émeline Jaret, Philippe Thomas, Stéphane Wargnier.

#2021 #emelinejaret #mamco #paulbernard #philippethomas #readymadesbelongtoeveryone #stephanewargnier
Why are they so afraid of the lotus?: A Series of Open Questions, vol. 2
Jeanne Gerrity and Kim Nguyen (eds.)
Published by Sternberg Press, Berlin & CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, 2021, 256 pp. (b/w ill.), 11 × 18 cm, English
Price: €12

Based on questions raised by the work of filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha, the second volume of the Wattis Institute’s annual reader includes new writing and art by Ranu Mukherjee, Kathy Zarur, Shylah Hamilton, Astria Suparak, and Tamara Suarez Porras, as well as written and visual contributions by Trinh T. Minh-ha, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Sky Hopinka, Christina Sharpe, Christine Wang, Camille Rankine, Dionne Brand, Renee Gladman, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Steffani Jemison, among others. Designed by Scott Ponik.

#2021 #ccawattisinstitute #jeannegerrity #kimnguyen #meimeiberssenbrugge #reneegladman #scottponik #skyhopinka #steffanijemison #sternbergpress #theresahakkyungcha #trinhtminhha
Quelle Aventure!
Jacqueline Mesmaeker
Published by MER. Paper Kunsthalle, Ghent, 2021, 232 pp. (colour & b/w ill.), 21.6 × 27.9 cm, English/French/Dutch
Price: €39

The work of Jacqueline Mesmaeker is intangible, discreet and captivating. Starting from analytical intentions and experimental protocols linked to perception and representation, her practice remains anchored in a literary and poetic universe, including references to Lewis Carroll, Mallarmé, Melville or Paul Willems. Minimal, sometimes even unnoted, her rare and precise work is nonetheless present. It willingly takes over space, playing with the actual and symbolic architecture, revealing the structures and lines of force, but also the errors, by thwarting their perspectives or correcting them with delicate touches.

#2021 #jacquelinemesmaeker #merpaperkunsthalle
5 CUTS
Stephanie Oursler
Published by Wirklichkeit Books, Berlin, 2021, 64 pp. (b/w ill.), 17 × 24 cm, English/Italian
Price: €22

Facsimile edition of Stephanie Oursler’s 1975 artist’s book. Oursler self-published 5 CUTS in 1975 with a small number of copies, on the occasion of her exhibition of the same name which took place in Rome, Bari, Milan and Como. She combines stills from unidentified silent films with autobiographical texts, and in doing so creates an open narration of her life, which is both an intimate recollection and a literary construction. A poetic depth unfolds in Oursler’s language, which—in connection with the sometimes concrete, sometimes surreal and enigmatic images—approaches the essence of memory.

#2021 #stephanieoursler #wirklichkeitbooks