Featuring essays and short fiction by a range of contemporary writers, punk musicians and cultural critics, as well as writings by Yoshitomo Nara himself, the cult artist's book Nothing Ever Happens--available through D.A.P. for the first time--examines both Nara's work and the subjects it addresses. Readers are invited into a world where emotions are not expected to be filtered, make-believe is not equated with lunacy and the world is both fantastic and terrifying. One of the most important and best-loved Japanese contemporary artists, Nara distinctively transcends a national style to offer a universal psychological narrative of childhood. In this beautifully designed book with cool paper changes and pitch-perfect image selection, Nara's work is paired with writings by Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, writer Dave Eggers, Deborah Harry (Blondie), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) and others of equally interesting stature.

Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever Happens

Chambers, Kristin

Arts & Photography

Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland

Counterfactual history is the subject of this catalogue from Ilya Kabakov, a leading figure in installation art and arguably the most important living Russian artist, who often collaborates with his wife, Emilia. Here, through the artwork of three fictitious Russians, including one named Ilya Kabakov, the artist imagines an alternative outcome to the Soviet experiment, one that embraces the populist spirit and idealized subjects of socialist realism and the utopian symbolism of abstraction. In the exhibition The Teacher and the Student: Charles Rosenthal and Ilya Kabakov," two imaginary characters confront art historical and museological tropes: the model of the provincial artist; the nature of the museum retrospective; and the epoch of the avant garde. The catalogue function wryly as history lesson, morality tale, social critique and personal homage for an artist who has witnessed the failed utopian experiment of the Soviet Union, both as citizens and emigres.

Ilya/Emilia Kabakov: An Alternative History Of Art

Individual Artists

A leading artist of her generation, Sam Taylor-Wood came to prominence in the mid-1990s as one of the YBAs (Young British Artists), alongside such artists as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, who were quickly propelled to celebrity status for their provocative and sensational works. Taylor-Wood has since become renowned for deftly manipulating the signature media of our age--photography, film and video--into compelling psychological portraits that tap into the ethos of our times. Documenting the artist's first major solo museum exhibition in the United States, this catalogue illustrates and discusses a selection of her most significant works from the mid-1990s to the present. Key pieces include the film "Hysteria" (1997), which portrays a woman's tumultuous descent from exhilaration to psychic disintegration; a selection from the 2002-2004 Crying Men photographs, which depict male film stars in moments of sorrow and introspection; "David" (2004), an hour-long video portrait of soccer icon David Beckham, sleeping; and the 2004 Self Portrait Suspended series. This volume provides an overview of the artist's work of the last 10 years, with commentary on Taylor-Wood's exploration of such themes as the inner psyche, vulnerability--both emotional and physical--suspended states of being and the aspiration to transcend human limits.

Sam Taylor-Wood

Linda Nochlin

Barbara, London

Margo A. Crutchfield

Other Media

Amanda Ross-Ho

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