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From time immemorial have the natural elements determined and influenced man's thinking and expression of his being in the world. They stood at the center of Greek philosophy and led to the rise of early atomic theory. They lost the status of being the 'root' of everything existing, i.e. matter in its most basic form, only during the Enlightenment's chemical re-structuring of the universe. Nonetheless in terms of their physical presence the elements remain at the forefront of our encounter with...

"Subverting Modernism: Cass Corridor Revisited 1966-1980" is an exhibition catalog created to accompany a show of the same title to be held at Eastern Michigan University in the spring of 2013. In decline since the 1950s, the Cass Corridor, an area near Wayne State University in Detroit, witnessed an intense efflorescence of artistic activity in the late 1960s and the 1970s. Conventional wisdom has held that these Cass Corridor artists, as they have come to be called, were essentially "urban exp...

When the inscription "Made by Nathan Lumbard Apl 20th 1800" was found in the late 1980s on a chest of drawers, the identity of an unknown craftsman suddenly surfaced. Crafting Excellence introduces the striking achievements of cabinetmaker Nathan Lumbard (1777 1847) and a small group of craftsmen associated with him. Working initially in the village of Sturbridge, Massachusetts, these artisans fashioned an array of objects that rank among the most colorful and creative of Federal America. Recent...

Sculpture 21st seeks to determine positions on sculpture of the twenty-first century based on selected examples. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, several of the most important contemporary sculptors exhibited their works in alternating presentations. Key works or groups of works by Tino Sehgal, Antony Gormley, Monika Sosnowska, Erwin Wurm, and Eija-Liisa Ahtila took up a place in the transparent glass hall of the museum. All of them, al...

An innovative study of the relationship between Andrea Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini, two masters of the Italian Renaissance Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431-1506) and Giovanni Bellini (active c. 1459; died 1516) each produced groundbreaking paintings, marked by pictorial and technical innovations, that are among the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance. Exploring the fruitful dynamic between Mantegna's inventive compositional approach and interest in classical antiquity and Bellini's passion for...

For more than 100 years, Vancouver has been home to a vibrant and thriving Cantonese opera scene. As a performance art carried out by transient troupes, it is an ephemeral medium that rarely leaves a trace in the historic records. However, an extraordinary treasure trove of early 20th-century Cantonese opera costumes, props, and stage dressings made its way to the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, BC. In the first book-length study of this little known collection, April Liu retraces the ardu...

Pride, greed, jealousy, anger, lust, gluttony, sloth: ever since the sixth century A.D., when Pope Gregory designated these vices the seven deadly sins, they have served as a kind of moral index for the Christian world. Many people have attempted to avoid sullying themselves with the sins, while others have indulged to the fullest. Artists, too, from the Middle Ages to the present day, have engaged with this most-wanted list of wrongdoing in a variety of ways, and "Lust and Vice" brings together...

The history of post-revolutionary political parties is told through the photographic archives of the group Tercerunquinto. This book analyses of the use of public murals as spaces for political party propaganda and the way in which murals become an economic opportunity for the inhabitants of Mexico's marginalised areas. Text in English and Spanish. Contents: Restoration of a Mural Painting by Taiyana Pimentel; Preface, José Woldenberg; Petrified Memory by Sergio Raúl Arroyo; Images of Restorat...

Art Basel in Miami Beach, the international art show in Florida, is the American sister-event of Art Basel in Switzerland, the most important annual art fair in the world. The accompanying catalogue, with around 330 color illustrations, is a valuable tool for understanding current art trends and the prevailing international art market.

Flying Carpets catalogues the exhibition of the same name that took place at the French Academy in Rome, Villa Medici. The book includes an extensive collection of images that document the exhibition as well as insightful introductions by Eric de Chassey, director of the French Academy in Rome and Oliver Michelon, Director of the Musee des Abattoirs of Toulouse and a critical essay by the author, Philippe-Alain Michaud. While modern tradition maintains that the carpet was used as a paradigm for...

An engaging and sumptuously designed examination of the influence and impact of Buddhism on art in North America from the post-war period to the present. In Buddhist teaching, the concept of being in the present moment refers to a practice of living mindfully with full awareness of the world, including an awareness of the consequences of one's actions. It is a state of active presence combined with profound peace and joyful appreciation, each cumulatively embracing the potential of the eternal...