Francis Alÿs explores urban landscapes, intertwining his fables with their social complexities. Through vivid imagery, like a Volkswagen Beetle climbing a hill, he conveys deeper meanings. Alÿs highlights the interplay between the poetic and the political, suggesting that art can transcend its immediate context.
Conversations in Postmodern Art and Culture
addresses the question of cultural marginalization - the process through which various groups are excluded from access to and participation in the dominant culture
Since its beginnings in Paris in the mid-19th century, the idea of bohemia, an urban community of artists and intellectuals living outside bourgeois norms, has been a potent trope of artistic identity. It was here that the notion of an unconventional, free-spirited life, precarious yet filled with idealism, was codified and romanticized. Bohemia: History of an Idea, 1950 – 2000 shows the continuities and differences between the scenes and subcultures of the second half of the twentieth century, when the mainstream began to appropriate and thereby erode a way of life predicated on its rejection. Nonetheless, as an alternative to conformity the bohemian idea has exerted an enduring fascination. Through works by 39 artists, including Alice Neel, PeterHujar, John Deakin, David Wojnarowicz, Ed van der Elsken, Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie, William Gedney, Libuše Jarcovjáková, Nan Goldin, Zhang Huan and Wolfgang Tillmans, the publication explores the diversity of expressions in various cities in Europe, North America and Asia and shows that the bohemian idea continues to galvanize and inspire. RUSSELL FERGUSON is a research professor at the University of California’s Art Department. During his tenure at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, he curated numerous exhibitions on culture and representation in contemporary art and photography.
Some Scenic Views—the title of Philipp Lachenmann's first monograph—reflects his work's camouflage strategy. Presenting 80 photographs of unspectacular views, the book reveals the process of hiding complex meaning behind a surface of normalcy. With a series of short texts, Russell Fergusson brings to the fore those hidden facts of historical, political, natural, or scientific nature. He thus reveals Lachenmann's photographs for what they truly are: conceptual artworks. This book inscribes itself in the German artist's body of works as a kind of picture novel rather than a monograph. * * The publication is part of the series of artists' projects edited by Christoph Keller.
Examines the world's most significant architects and structures
Od dob svého vzniku v Paříži v polovině 19. století představuje myšlenka bohémství vlivnou a přetrvávající součást umělecké identity. Ačkoliv měli lidé zabývající se uměním vždy pověst těch, kdo žijí mimo společenské normy, právě tehdy a na tomto místě byl tento životní styl poprvé přijat systematicky a zromantizován. Koncept bohémy se rychle ujal…
