Artists and their Books

Tom Marioni | Beer, Art and Philosophy: A Memoir

Tom Marioni
Beer, Art and Philosophy: A Memoir
San Francisco, USA: Crown Point Press, 2003
223 pp., 8.5 x 6.5", softcover


From an amazon review by Marioni's son:

The Act of Drinking Beer with my Dad is the Highest Form of Art September 10, 2007
By Reno Marioni
Format:Paperback
As a young kid, I grew up in my dad's studio. I remember various refrigerators with the "FREE BEER" sign on them and his weekly wednesday gathering of friends drinking beer in his studio or at the old San Francisco Breen's Bar on his turf corner at 3rd and Mission. Years later, I would see his refrigerator and a wall of empty anchor steam beer bottles lined up at the SFMOMA and would bring a humorous smile to my face--thinking my dad is the only person I know who could transform beer drinking into art--beer art. Although I am biased, I love my dad's work. There is always a puzzle, a natural beauty and a bit of humor in every one of his works.

My father's book takes a look at the development and history of conceptual art in the 1960's until now through his eyes and his experiences. Many of his ideas and art were very advanced for his time and are very relevant today. If you want to get another perspective on conceptual art, read my dad's book....and have a nice cold beer ready.

disclaimer: my dad did not ask me to write this :-)

Martin Kippenberger | Gedichte

Martin Kippenberger & Albert Oehlen
GEDICHTE
Berlin, Germany: Rainer Verlag, 1984
72 pp., 15 x 10 cm, softcover.
Edition of 1000, followed by a second edition of 600

Top: Kippenberger and Oehlen in 1987, aboard a bus after the opening of the show, Easily the applause vanishes, reading from the book.






Martin Kippenberger
Untitled (Gedichte)
1991. Watercolor, ink, and pencil on paper, 42.5 x 55.9 cm.
Collection: MoMA, NYC, The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection Gift.

Dan Graham's New Jersey

Dan Graham
Dan Graham's New Jersey
New York City, USA /Zurich, Switerzland: Columbia University GSAPP / Lars Müller Publishers, 2012
191 pp., 26.5 x 19.5 cm., cloth boards

Exhibition catalogue published following an exhibition held at the Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery, Graduate School of Arts and Architecture (GSAPP), Columbia University, February 26 - March 23, 2007. Includes essays by Mark Wigley and Mark Wasiuta and an interview between Graham and Wasiuta.

"This publication presents new photographs by Dan Graham together with original photographs from the Homes for America series. The new images exhibit stark similarities to the old pictures, as they were taken in the same locations, the same deserts of suburban streets and housing that Graham photographed in the sixties. Creating a fascinating, multilayered reference system of repetitions and differences, both spatially as well as temporally, it raises questions about architecture and public space and their function in society." - The publisher

AA Bronson | Tick-Tock

AA Bronson
Tick-Tock
Ghent, Belgium: Imschoot Uitgevers, 2006
52 pp., 21 x 14.8 cm, softcover
Edition of 1000 copies (+ 30 signed and numbered hardcover)

Color reproductions the flags of each of the 45 countries of subSaharan Africa printed on perforated which can be cut to reveal AIDS statistics for each country.

Jeff Koons | Hulk Elvis

Jeff Koons
Hulk Elvis
New York City, USA/London, UK: Gagosian Gallery & Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 2009.
140 pp., 28 x 30 cm., embossed illustrated boards

Exhibition catalogue for Koons' 2007 Gagosian show of the same name. Designed by Base Design, the book includes an essay by Scott Rothkopf and an interview with the artist by Hans Ulrich Obrist. Copies on ABE sell for anywhere between $30 and $100, with signed copies offered between $1200 and $1800 (for signatures accompanied by a fast sketch on the title page).

Marcel Dzama | Even the Ghost of the Past

Marcel Dzama
Even the Ghost of the Past
New York City, USA: Steidl David Zwirner, 2008
244 pp., 27 x 21 cm., hardcover

Published on the occasion of Dzama's fifth solo exhibition at David Zwirner, Even the Ghost of the Past features drawings, sculptures, dioramas, and filmworks. Designed by Matthew Polhamus with the artist, the title comprises two books bound together with alternating spines, with an accompanying DVD of short films. It also features an interview by Spike Jonze and additional text by Cameron Shaw.

Kenneth Goldsmith | Soliloquy

Kenneth Goldsmith
Soliloquy
New York City, USA: Granary Books, 2001
489 pages, 8 1/4" x 5 1/2", softcover
Edition of 1500


Kenneth Goldsmith
Soliloquy
New York City, USA: Editions Bravin Post Lee, 1997
281 pp., 29 x 22 cm., softcover
Edition 50 signed and numbered copies



"Soliloquy is an unedited document of every word I spoke during the week of April 15-21, 1996, from the moment I woke up Monday morning to the moment I went to sleep on Sunday night. To accomplish this, I wore a hidden voice-activated tape recorder. I transcribed Soliloquy during the summer of 1996 at the Chateau Bionnay in Lacenas, France, during a residency there. It took 8 weeks, working 8 hours a day. Soliloquy was first realized as a gallery exhibition at Bravin Post Lee in Soho during April of 1997. Subsequently, the gallery published the text in a limited edition of 50. In the fall of 2001, Granary Books published a trade edition of the text." - Kenneth Goldsmith

The trade version is now also out-of-print and is typically listed between $50 and $180, but still available here for $21, here. The web version is available here and reviews of the book can be found here.


"If every word spoken in New York City daily were somehow to materialize as a snowflake, each day there would be a blizzard." —Kenneth Goldsmith.

David Shrigley | Red Book

David Shrigley
Red Book
London, England: Redstone Press/Chronicle, 2009
240 pp., 22 x 15 cm., softcover

Available here, for $20.00.

Joseph Beuys | American Hare Sugar

Joseph Beuys
Amerikanischer Hasenzucker (American Hare Sugar)
Heidelberg, Germany: Edition Staeck, 1974
6 x 11 x 9 cm
Edition of 40 signed and numbered copies.

Rubber stamped packet of sugar in cardboard box with cotton wadding.

Sorry

Beck | Song Reader

Beck has just announced that his forthcoming album, his 12th, will be titled Song Reader and will feature 20 new songs, including "Do We? We Do" and "Don't Act Like Your Heart Isn't Hard". It is slated for release in December. However, the album will only be issued as sheet music. There will be no recorded component to the release - no CD or vinyl, and no MP3s.

"Song Reader is an experiment in what an album can be at the end of 2012 — an alternative that enlists the listener in the tone of every track, and that’s as visually absorbing as a dozen gatefold LPs put together," according to publishers McSweeney's.

I'd personally prefer the sheet music to be released straight, without visual accompaniment, but given McSweeney's lavish approach to publishing, visual embellishment was inevitable. The 108 pages of music will come in a carrying case and new artwork has been commissioned to illustrate each song. The artists include Marcel Dzama (whose work was used for the cover of Guero) and Leanne Shapton.