For nearly sixty years, Richard Artschwager (b. 1923) has undertaken an unrelenting investigation of art's ability to mediate contemporary experience and perception. Although his work, which includes sculpture, painting, prints, and drawing, is often characterized as having elements of Pop Art, Minimalism, and Conceptual Art, his practice defies easy categorization and his oeuvre is not entirely understood. In Richard Artschwager! the breadth of the artist's idealistic, diverse work, and unconventional materials, such as Formica, rubberized hair, and Celotex, is fully illustrated and explored for the first time. 
The four essays in this volume illuminate previously unaddressed aspects of Artschwager's work, including his response to life in the age of mechanical reproduction, the relationship of his work to mainstream art, and his recent work's connection with Post-Impressionism. These texts, along with new photographs, previously unpublished archival images, and details of his materials, offer a compelling new look at one of the most singular artists of the 20th century and why he remains a highly influential figure today.

Richard Artschwager!

Arts & Photography

Gross, Jennifer R.

History & Criticism

Whitney Museum of American Art

The Art of David Ireland: The Way Things Are

Widely recognized as one of the West Coast's most important and critically acclaimed practitioners of conceptual and installation art, David Ireland (born 1930) has taken the concept of art itself as one of his subjects. A self-described "post-discipline" artist, guided by Zen thought and postmodern aesthetics, Ireland moves fluidly from making small drawings to creating sculptures as large as houses. Freely incorporating anything within his conceptual or physical reach—dirt, concrete, wire, and other everyday materials—his work is subtle, puzzling, and witty, and consistently challenges traditional definitions of art. In this book accompanying the first full-scale retrospective of Ireland's work, curator and author Karen Tsujimoto provides an insightful overview of more than thirty years of the artist's accomplishments, from his drawings, sculptures, and site-specific installations to his remarkable series of architectural transformations, including his well-known house at 500 Capp Street in San Francisco. Chronicling Ireland's circuitous route to his calling, Tsujimoto explores how key life experiences have influenced his artistic perspective—from his early art-student days, through his years as an African importer and safari guide, to his long-standing interest in Eastern, and particularly Zen, philosophy and his deep connections with the San Francisco Bay Area conceptual art community. An illuminating essay by art historian and curator Jennifer R. Gross also considers Ireland's art in terms of historical materialism—assessing his use of neglected materials and artifacts as a process of cultural preservation.

Tsujimoto, Karen

University of California Press

Lee Mingwei's simple yet elegant installations provide a stage for interpersonal exchange around ordinary human events or activities -- admiring an object, making conversation, or writing a letter to a friend or family member. His past installations such as "The Dining Project "and "The Letter-Writing Project" are explored along with a recent project developed while an artist in residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum called "The Living Room." This installation creates a modern-day version of the salon life the museum's founder used to enliven her collection.In his essay, Lewis Hyde asks us to consider Isabella Gardner's intentions in creating a place that was her home as well as a public space for appreciating art. Lee's new installation reflecting his interest in Gardner's interaction with visitors to her museum at the turn of the century and his installations as exchanges between viewer and artist are explored in an essay by Jennifer Gross.

Lee Mingwei: The Living Room

Hyde, Lewis

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Lee, Mingwei

Humor & Entertainment

Isabella Stewart Gardner

Joan Bankemper

State of the Art: Small Schale (To 50 Kw Gas Producer Engine Systems)

Kaupp, A.

Tipi Workshop Books

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic explores the love of imaging he and photographer Abelardo Morell share as both strive to reveal the ordinary in their work.

Abelardo Morell: Face to Face: Photographs at the Gardner Museum

Simic, Charles

Morell, Abelardo

A contemporary glassblower's work merges the past with the present.

Josiah McElheny

Hickey, Dave

McElheny, Josiah

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Books by Gross, Jennifer R.