Bas Jan Ader

Bas Jan Ader was born on this day in 1942. He disappeared at sea thirty-three years later. 

Bas Jan Ader | Kunstenaar - Artist

Bas Jan Ader

Kunstenaar - Artist

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Stichting Openbaar Kunstbezit, 1988

96 pp., 27 x 22 cm., softcover

Edition size unknown

An early monograph on the artist, whose small but striking body of work continues to resonate today, fifty years after his disappearance at sea. Edited by Paul Andriesse, the title - with text in Dutch and English - features colour and b&w illustrations, a biography, bibliography and list of works. 

Marion van Wijk | Let Go – Bas Jan Ader

Marion van Wijk

Let Go – Bas Jan Ader

Eindhoven, The Netherlands: Lecturis, 2015

192 pp., 17 x 24 cm., softcover

Edition size unknown

A Dutch-language account of Bas Jan Ader’s short life by artist/performer Marion van Wijk, who interviewed Ader’s friends and family, including his widow Mary Sue Andersen.

Bas Jan Ader | I’m too sad to tell you

Bas Jan Ader

I’m too sad to tell you

Los Angeles, USA: Meliksetian | Briggs, 2024

41.7 x 55.9 cm. [paper size], 36.5 x 50.8 cm. [image size]

Edition of 75 numbered copies [+ 10 APs]

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of Bas Jan Ader’s fateful voyage - where a performance work led to the artist’s disappearance/death at sea - his estate have released the first in a series of planned editioned works. 

Produced in collaboration with Meliksetian | Briggs, the photographic text work I’m too sad to tell you, from 1970, is a digital silver gelatin print on 350 gsm fiber-based paper, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the estate. 

I’m too sad to tell you is one of the defining images of ‘romantic conceptualism’. Released last December, the work is available for $1,975.00 USD, here. 

 

Bas Jan Ader

Bas Jan Ader was born on this day in April of 1942. 

Bas Jan Ader | Migrateurs

[Bas Jan Ader] 

Migrateurs 

Paris, France: Arc Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1994 

[unpaginated], 16 x 11 cm., softcover

Edition size unknown

An exhibition catalogue produced nineteen years after the artist disappeared at sea. 

Bas Jan Ader | Fall

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Bas Jan Ader

Fall

Los Angeles, USA: Self-published, 1970

[48] pp., 19 x 19 cm., softcover

Edition size unknown

An artist book with no text, Fall contains two photographic sequences, composed of 11 images each, from the artist's films Fall 1, Los Angeles, and Fall 2, Amsterdam. The former begins with Ader seated in a straight-backed chair on the roof of his house (the same site for a later work depicting his wardrobe) until he loses his balance, rolls down its slope and lands on the ground. The latter features the artist in one of his most arresting and recognizable actions:  a view from across a canal, of Ader on a bicycle riding down the street and then suddenly veering into the water with a large splash. Both films end abruptly at the moment of contact. 

G. Kloet | I’m Too Sad To Fuck You

G. Kloet
I’m Too Sad To Fuck You
Toronto, Canada: Self-published, 2018
9 x 5 cm.
Edition of 100

A business card conflation of Bas Jan Ader’s I’m Too Sad To Tell You postcard from 1970, and Adrian Piper’s My Calling Card #2, from 1986 (below).

Bas Jan Ader | Fall

Bas Jan Ader
Fall
Los Angeles, USA: Self-published, 1970
[48] pp., 19 x 19 cm., softcover
Edition size unknown


An artist book with no text, Fall contains two photographic sequences, composed of 11 images each, from the artist's films Fall 1, Los Angeles, and Fall 2, Amsterdam. The former begins with Ader seated in a straight-backed chair on the roof of his house and the latter sees the artist cycling into the canal in one of his most recognizable actions.

The rare title is available here, for US$ 1,518.04.

Last of the artist invitiations

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