Cornceptual Popstraction

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AARON CURRY & RICHARD HAWKINS

Cornfabulation

This gorgeous artist’s book project documents the eponymous collaborative exhibition between Aaron Curry and Richard Hawkins at David Kordansky Gallery in 2011. Brian Roettinger’s book design is a true highlight—the unique smyth-sewn volume has eight page-folded signatures showing detail shots on the external pages, with a perforated- finish top and a flush-cut open bottom that reveals full images of works and installation views in shades of lime green, chartreuse and shocking purple. Reveling in critical juxtapositions—Curry’s sculptures offer evocative reworkings of biomorphic imagery of the mid-century avant- garde; Hawkins’s collages, paintings and installations focus on voyeurism and the male form—both artists draw from high and low culture with equal zeal. Featured texts by Richard Hawkins and Stuart Krimko.

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Corporate Mentality

John Kelsey and Aleksandra Mir

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COSMIC LAUGHTER NO. 1

Timewave zero, then what?

Fabian Marti & Cristina Ricupero (Eds.)

The doomsday phenomenon of “2012” refers to eschatological beliefs predicting transformative events on December 21, 2012. By now, not only spiritual seekers have the conviction that something has to change. Still, there are different interpretations of the meaning of that specific date. Beyond the lunatic fringe views regarding the end of the world, a more constructive reading of the phenom- enon is found in New Age circles, claiming that 2012 might be the beginning of a higher consciousness in humanity upon the realization that, in fact, Western systems have not brought mass prosperity and fulfillment as once imagined. Texts by Gary Lachman and Ana Teixeira Pinto.

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ROBERT COUTELAS

I seek the small golden hand

Yoko Mori, Kayo Matsuoka & Machi Ishima (Eds.)

It is hard not to be moved by the raw, poignant images crafted by “outsider” artist Robert Coutelas (Paris, 1930–1985). Though trained as a stonemason and painter, Coutelas quickly rejected the art world of the 1960s, electing to live and work in poverty. He painted in gouache and oils on discarded pieces of cardboard and created ceramic works from clay collected in the city and fired in his potbelly stove. This detailed monograph presents over 160 images plus three insightful essays capturing the man’s artistic process and yearning for the life of the medieval craftsman and art popular of the streets of Paris. His whimsical, humorous and sometimes melancholy works flow from literal to mythical in paintings such as My Ancestors, suggesting medieval religious paintings and his cartes, a kind of tarot deck of signs and mystical references. Only after his death was Coutelas discovered, first among academics, then within the inner art worlds of Paris and Japan and last the US, where his work is found in museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. Contributions by Mariko Kishi-Molia (Executor of the Coutelas estate), Toshiyuki Horie (Novelist and specialist in French literature), Hiroshi Sugito (Artist), and Kayo Matsuoka (Curator, Museé Bernard Buffet).

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KEITH COVENTRY

Deontological Pictures

Ingrid Swenson & Doro Globus (Eds.)

Keith Coventry is known for works which co-opt philosophical or art-theoretical positions as a way of testing and questioning the boundaries of such ideas. His new work, The Deontological Pictures, is an extension of this approach. These variations of black paintings—some much darker and others with undulations of lighter grays and browns—are produced by slavishly following a set of rules which, to the artist’s mind, safeguards against any wayward aesthetic or ethical judgment having taken place. Each work is made by adding black pigment to rainwater collected from Coventry’s leaky roof, then brushed onto the jute with a broom. The work is left to dry flat on the floor, and the material is then stretched and framed. A compact catalog featuring 15 never- before-seen paintings plus a text on deontology by Nick Zangwill and artist interview by Michael Bracewell.

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CRAIG KAUFFMAN

A Comprehensive Survey, 1957-1980

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CREATIVES IN JAPAN

This book is a unprecedented doorway into the contemporary Japanese creative scene: the staff of the hyper-connected Japanese magazine QUOTATION introduces the crème de la crème of that nation’s creative producers from an array of media to the rest of the world. Editor-in-chief Toru Hachiga says it doesn’t matter if the person, place or product is famous, just that it’s worthy. Examples include JAN, a “creative unit” in the fixed-gear bike and skateboard scene; limArt, a Tokyo shop specializing in used visual books and vintage furniture; and Earthscape, which aims to change society through public sculpture. All entries are listed here by category, and described in short essays in English and Japanese. A must for anyone who’s looking for the cutting edge.

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MARTIN CREED

Matthia Löke & Jürgen Tabor (Eds.)

Maverick London-based Scottish artist Martin Creed (b. 1968) has spent the past twenty years subverting the fine lines between art and life, art and silliness, and art and provocation. Melding Conceptual Art smarts and Minimalist literal-mindedness in his videos, paintings and sculptures, Creed undermines the preciousness, skill and aloofness of art. This new monograph is not large but it is extensive enough to document the six site-specific installations currently at the Kunsthalle Vogelman, including essays by Anouchka Grose and Matthia L.bke, and an interview with the artist by Beate Ermacora. Awarded the Turner Prize in 2001 for a piece consisting of regularly switching a light on and off in a room, Martin Creed’s playful but rigorous work challenges the viewer to engage with art, space and the world in general. When asked why he made art, Creed answered, “To make myself feel better.” His current turn at the Park Avenue Armory, NY (2016)—a kind of extended happening—must be making him feel very good indeed.

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THE CRIME WAS ALMOST PERFECT

Cristina Ricupero, Defne Ayas & Amira Gad (Eds.)

Like any good detective story, art history is filled with enigmas, myths and riddles. In his notorious essay, “On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts” (1827), Thomas De Quincey analyzed murder from an aesthetic point of view. The exhibition The Crime Was Also Perfect invokes the spirits of the modern crime genre, transforming the rooms and streets of Rotterdam into “crime scenes.” Over 40 artists are featured in the show and catalog including Kader Attia, Monica Bonvicini, Jason Dodge, Dora García, Karl Holmqvist, Pierre Huyghe, Raymond Pettibon, Jim Shaw and more. This publication also examines theoretical, philosophical and aesthetic aspects of the genre. Cultural critic Tom Morton, novelist Astrid Trotzig, architectural theorist Michael Zinganel and curator Alexandra Midal contribute new writings, alongside Karl Marx’s classic essay “The Productivity of Crime.”

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