Genre Collection

Art & Photography

Visual inspiration spanning art history, architectural masterpieces, design theory, and visual culture.

Showing 50 curated titles
Cover of Nari Ward

Nari Ward

Nari Ward

The Jamaican-born, Harlem-based artist Nari Ward makes sculpture out of everyday objects that weave together culture, history, and personal narrative. His work often deals with social and historical themes such as slavery, oppression, and dislocation. He has participated in the Whitney Biennial, been Artist-in-Residence at the Walker Art Center and the Studio Museum in Harlem, and has received an NEA Grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship. This book presents new work made for an exhibition in Torino, Italy.

Cover of Solar futures

Solar futures

Marjan van Aubel

SOLAR FUTURES: How to Design a Post-Fossil World with the Sun' by solar designer Marjan van Aubel explores the future of solar energy. Solar energy needs a new narrative, one that says goodbye to old perspectives and only talks about efficiency and the payback time of blue solar panels. This publication illustrates what we need to know to transition from solar technology to solar design using everyday integrated aesthetic solutions. This publication is divided into three parts: the first part explains how we designed with the sun in the past, providing a visual timeline of the historical development of solar power. The second part discusses the present: Where are we now and what is solar design? It provides examples of innovative solar design in architecture, fashion, mobility and product design. Finally, the last part looks at the future and asks how we can ensure solar energy does not become the asbestos of the 21st century. Marjan van Aubel is an award-winning solar designer who brings solar energy into daily life and blends design and technology. Van Aubel's goal is to make solar power more accessible for everyone. She has created lasting change through solar design, integrating solar power seamlessly into the buildings and objects that surround us. Her most notable works are Sunne, Current Table, Power Plant and the roof of the Netherlands Pavilion at the World Expo 2020 in Dubai.

Cover of Book of plants

Book of plants

Anne Geene

The 'Book of Plants' is a eulogy on plants in all their appearances, a continuation of an oeuvre that is an expression of the remarkable beauty of the unremarkable. Anne Geene's quest for specimens with various types of appearances and deformations gives the book a teratological dimension. In her work, the photograph itself is rarely the focus. Taken out of context, the pictures are often no more than a registration of an inconspicuous fact. This means that her art is about collection, about the image in relation to other images and the ability to creates new ones by merging and arranging them. Enjoy an expedition through all of the botanical micro- and macrocosms

Cover of Le tatoueur

Le tatoueur

scénario: Matz

Chassé de Budapest, pour une raison inconnue, Zoli se cache désormais à Paris où il survit en pratiquant son art du tatouage. En dépit des précautions qu'il prend pour que personne ne puisse le découvrir, il rencontre Laszlo, un chauffeur de taxi mystérieux. D'origine hongroise lui-même, Laszlo confie à Zoli que les chauffeurs de taxi parisiens connaissent tout de la vie des gens... Et que le temps est venu de s'en servir, pour renverser l'ordre établi. Laszlo propose alors au tatoueur d'aider la fraternité des chauffeurs de taxi dans leur action révolutionnaire. Zoli n'aspire qu'à la discrétion et refuse. Mais la fraternité a besoin de lui... Et elle a tous les moyens de le convaincre...

Cover of Nemer

Nemer

Instituto Tomie Ohtake, 8 julho - 29 Agosto

Curated by Agnaldo Farias, the exhibition comprises about 50 watercolors -with unique characteristics: large dimensions and the use of black- by the mineiro artist, born in Ouro Preto (MG), in an overview of the recent works of the professor and creator of the Escola de Belas-Artes da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). José Alberto Nemer is a visual artist and PhD in Fine Arts from Université de Paris VIII who belonged to the generation of so-called mineiro designers (from Minas Gerais), and has established himself a sone of the most important exponets of the Brazilian art scene since the 1970s. "For some years now, the watercolors of José Alberto Nemer portray a confrontation between a constructive orientation and an organic impulse, a strugglehe has been perfecting to the complex resultsof today." --Page 69. Regarding the accompanying sheet There is a series of analogies of paintings and photography gathered here. Each set is composed of three small watercolors and one to three photographs, also made by the artist. No watercolor was inspired by a photo, nor the opposite. It is a playful exercise of one same look, whose records, in two different languages, are now exposed side by side. They evidence the occurrence and formal approximation of what the artist calls residual geometryʺ. Thus it is born in the studio or captured in the landscape of daily life.ʺ Page 64

Cover of A1 - The Great North Road

A1 - The Great North Road

Paul Graham

A1 - The Great North Road' was Paul Graham's first book, published in 1983. Despite the UK having a vibrant photographic scene at the time, there were only handful of monographic books - Chris Killip and Martin Parr had one each - and no dedicated publishers or distributors. Graham had to self-publish A1, but as the first colour book, it had a startling impact on British photography. Uniting the tradition of social documentary with the fresh approach of new colour, A1 - The Great North Road was transformative on photography in the UK and paved the way for a new generation of British colour photographers to emerge, from Nick Waplington to Anna Fox, Richard Billingham to Tom Wood.

Cover of Dreamscapes & artificial architecture

Dreamscapes & artificial architecture

Robert Klanten and Elli Stuhler

Eine Reise durch traumähnliche Landschaften, unglaubliche Gebäude und fantastische Räume an der Grenze des Vorstellbaren.0Laut Oscar Wilde ist ?Fortschritt die Verwirklichung von Utopien?. Dreamscapes folgt seinem Weitblick und lädt seine Leser ein, Kulissen zu entdecken, die nicht von dieser Welt sind und die mit ihren Ideen den Weg in die Zukunft öffnen. Indem die Grenzen zwischen architektonischer Funktionalität und abstrakten künstlerischen Ausdrucksformen verschwimmen, offenbaren sich neue Visionen für Architektur, Design, Innenraumgestaltung und Bühnenbild. Das Buch präsentiert die Arbeiten führender Kreativer aus der ganzen Welt gemeinsam mit ihren Inspirationen und Zielen. Ideen, die von den Möglichkeiten digitaler Techniken wie Computeranimation und -grafik bestimmt sind und die eine neue inspirierende Richtung vorgeben, an der sich die Grenzen zwischen Realität und Fiktion auflösen.

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Vues sur mer

Denis-Michel Boëll, Jacqueline Duroc

L'oeuvre multiforme et inépuisable de Mathurin Méheut (1882-1958) est ici abordée sous l'angle maritime et en parallèle des oeuvres d'un autre grand artiste, Jean-Francis Auburtin (1866-1930), connu pour sa peinture impressionniste d'esprit symboliste. Comme Monet, Auburtin après avoir peint Belle-Île, s'attache aux bords de mer. Ses marines à contre-jour désignent un observateur aguerri. Sa persévérance à comprendre le paysage et les fluctuations de la lumière s'expriment dans l'élaboration de séries, procédé qu'il emprunte tout aussi bien à Monet qu'aux grands maîtres de l'estampe japonaise. À la façon d'un Hokusai français, Auburtin pratique la gouache et l'aquarelle en virtuose. Méheut est quant à lui sans conteste l'artiste breton le plus célébré et ses oeuvres sur la biodiversité marine (voir à ce sujet La biodiversité littorale selon Mathurin Méheut, Locus Solus, 2016), ses paysages côtiers, scènes de travail en bord de mer, ou ses grands décors marins font partie des chefs-d'oeuvre de l'histoire de l'art au XXe siècle. Le présent ouvrage revisite l'oeuvre de ces deux grands artistes à la lumière de 140 tableaux, gravures, décors et documents divers, pour une large part inédits ou rephotographiés, provenant des plus prestigieuses collections publiques et privées.

Cover of You're not as __ as you think

You're not as __ as you think

Marvin Böhm

In 2017, Marvin Böhm?s mother was diagnosed with cancer. From then on, he began to capture his private life with a camera ? led by his intuition. He had little interest in chronicling her suffering and illness: Böhm?s main goal was to ?carry on? and continue into the future. His incessant interaction with the resulting images soon turned into a sort of therapy. Even though his mother appears in the pictures again and again, his attention was drawn especially to familiar settings and objects, friends and commonplace occurrences. Above all, he considered these ordinary situations worthy of being recorded. His reflection on death revealed the small everyday moments that make life worth living. Joined together, these pictures provide a photographic diary: at times, it is difficult to decipher and almost abstract, then again it seems full of emotion and optimism. Owing to their stylized black-and-white contrasts, the photos convey an atmosphere that is deeply moving and oscillates somewhere between drama and gloom. And although they depict very intimate moments, the images express an almost universal experience.

Cover of El arte del antiguo Egipto y el arte Mesoamericano

El arte del antiguo Egipto y el arte Mesoamericano

Margarita Martínez del Sobral

The author raises the hypothesis, verified by the rigor of the corresponding research and analysis, that there was in Egypt and Mesoamerica an identical design system based on astronomical numerology, which allowed the sizing of architecture and art. It is shown in the studied works that both peoples followed precise astronomical and mathematical charges in search of the representation and correspondence of their works with astronomical and/or calendarical cycles. In these pages the reader will find mathematical calculations of the surfaces and volumes of monuments and important objects typical of those cultures that indicate cosmogonies and similar cultures that coincide in the explanation of their world despite the geographical and temporal distance that separates them. It is shown that no work of Art or Egyptian or Mesoamerican architecture was performed at random or left to improvisation, but following strict purposes of astronomical communication, mathematics, numerological and sacred, which could be summed up in the obsessive intention of both peoples to achieve life after death.

Cover of Formbildung und Formbegriff

Formbildung und Formbegriff

Markus Klammer [and 3 others] (Hg

Die Bildtheorie hat sich jüngst dem Begriff der Form zugewandt. Der interdisziplinäre Band verfolgt das Ziel, den vielfältigen Zusammenhängen von Form und Bild nachzugehen und ihre historischen, theoretischen und methodischen Voraussetzungen zu beleuchten. 0Das semantische Feld von Formbildung und Formbegriff umreisst einen Gegenstandsbereich, der eine doppelte Herangehensweise nahelegt: eine Untersuchung der theoretischen Implikationen von Formbegriffen der Moderne einerseits und eine historische Analyse spezifischer künstlerischer Positionen andererseits. Hat doch die Bildung konkreter Formen Auswirkungen auf deren begriffliche Reflexion. Der Terminus 'Form' bedeutet ebenso emphatisch Grundform, auf das Wesentliche reduzierte Form, wie er die konkrete anschauliche Form in ihrer Gewordenheit, sinnlichen Fülle und Einbettung in kulturelle und kommunikative Zusammenhänge meint.

Cover of La spatialisation du dessin dans l'art américain des années 1960 et 1970

La spatialisation du dessin dans l'art américain des années 1960 et 1970

Laurence Schmidlin

À la fin des années 1960, le dessin fit l'objet d'un développement singulier qui s'observa en particulier aux États-Unis. Les artistes américains diversifièrent considérablement ses formes en l'adaptant à l'échelle architecturale jusqu'à le matérialiser dans le volume, sous une forme plastique. Ils ajustèrent ses dimensions et parfois ses techniques, l'exécutant sur des supports tels que le mur, le sol ou la surface terrestre, et ils portèrent leur attention sur sa dimension processuelle. Cette expansion spatiale, dite spatialisation, fut le fruit de différents facteurs, dont le rejet du pictocentrisme moderniste, le nivellement de la hiérarchie entre les médiums et l'avènement de nouvelles valeurs comme le primat du concept. Ce livre est consacré à ce phénomène du dessin qui, quittant le support du papier, accéda à la troisième dimension. Il pose son extension physique comme la conséquence de son intermédialité en particulier avec la performance et la sculpture, dans un cadre où les arts visuels étaient appelés de manière générale à se déployer dans l'espace. Au moyen d'un plan tripartite? discours, pratique artistiques et approches institutionnelles? et à l'appui de nombreuses sources primaires, cette enquête minutieuse vise à inscrire le dessin au cœur même des débats qui animèrent la scène américaine, à montrer la place centrale qu'il occupa en tant que ressource? technique, expressive, esthétique, conceptuelle? dans les pratiques artistiques des années 1960 et 1970, et à établir le contexte qui rendit possible sa transformation.

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Les peintures murales du palais de Tell Ahmar

Ariane Thomas

Témoignages longtemps inespérés et uniques à ce jour, les peintures de Tell Ahmar sont parmi les plus anciennes peintures conservées au musée du Louvre. Il y a plus de deux mille cinq cents ans, elles couvraient les murs d'un palais royal édifié dans les provinces occidentales de l'empire assyrien, sur le site de Tell Ahmar en Syrie actuelle. Les kilomètres de peintures qui y étaient miraculeusement conservées ont révélé un extraordinaire décor où se déployaient des scènes de guerre, de chasse ou d'audiences royales, fourmillant de détails et de mouvements. Le musée du Louvre conserve des fragments originaux de ces superbes peintures dont le reste a depuis disparu, hormis quelques vestiges au musée national d'Alep.

Cover of Tell el-Burak I

Tell el-Burak I

Jens Kamlah and Hélène Sader

A Unique Monumental Building dating to the early part of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1900-1700BCE) was uncovered at the southern Lebanese coast by the joint Lebanese-German excavation project at Tell el-Burak. The impressive architecture of the building was exposed in eight excavation sites during the years 2001-2011. Inside the largest room of the Monumental Building (room 10) the excavations broat to light the discovery of the Middle Bronze Age mural paintings in situ on lime plaster covering the inner faces of the mud-brick walls. This volume consists of all excavation results concerning the Middle Bronze Age at Tell el-Burak (area 1 and area 2). It furthermore includes an introduction to the joint Lebanese-German excavation project, chapters relating to the site, and the final publication of the excavated remains of the Mamluk-Ottoman periods in area 1.

Cover of Celebrating the marvellous surrealism in architecture

Celebrating the marvellous surrealism in architecture

guest-edited by Neil Spiller

We are entering a new era of architecture that is technologically enhanced, virtual and synthetic. Contemporary architects operate in a creative environment that is both real and digital; mixed, augmented and hybridised. This world consists of ecstasies, fears, fetishisms and phantoms, processes and spatiality that can best be described as Surrealist. Though too long dormant, Surrealism has been a significant cultural force in modern architecture. Founded by poet Andre Breton in Paris in 1924 as an artistic, intellectual and literary movement, architects such as Le Corbusier, Diller + Scofidio, Bernard Tschumi and John Hejduk realized its evocative powers to propel them to 'starchitect' status. Rem Koolhaas most famously illustrated Delirious New York (1978) with Madelon Vriesendorp's compelling Surrealist images. Architects are now reviving the power of Surrealism to inspire and explore the ramifications of advanced technology. Architects' studios in practices and schools are becoming places where nothing is forbidden. Architectural languages and theories are 'mashed' together, approaches are permissively appropriated, and styles are not mutually exclusive. Projects are polemic, postmodern and surreally media savvy. Today's architects must compose space that operates across the spatial spectrum. Surrealism, with its multiple readings of the city, its collage semiotics, its extruded forms and artificial landscapes, is an ideal source for contemporary architectural inspiration.

Cover of Elegy landscapes

Elegy landscapes

Stanley Plumly

"Following his 'obsessive, intricate, intimate, and brilliant' (Washington Post) work in Posthumous Keats and The Immortal Evening, renowned poet Stanley Plumly further explores immortality in art through the work of two impressive landscape artists: John Constable and J.M.W. Turner. How is it that this disparate pair will come to be regarded as Britain's supreme landscape painters, precursors to Impressionism and Modernism? How did each painter's life influence his work? Seeking the transcendent aesthetic awe of the sublime and reeling from personal tragedy, these talented painters portrayed the terrible beauty of the natural world from an intimate, close-up perspective. Plumly studies the paintings against the pull of the artists' lives, probing how each finds the sublime in different, though connected, worlds. At once a meditation on the difficulties in achieving truly immortal works of art and an exploration of the relationship between artist and artwork, Elegy Landscapes takes a wide-angle look at the philosophy of the sublime"--

Cover of Eyewitness to World War II

Eyewitness to World War II

[edited by] Neil Kagan, Stephen G. Hyslop

Personal writings and recollections of Roosevelt, Hitler, and Patton, as well as letters composed by soldiers at battle and diaries of women serving in the military at home, present an absorbing narrative that tells the entire history of the war from several perspectives.

Cover of Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave

Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave

Joanna Gaines

Joanna Gaines walks you through how to create a home that reflects your family's story, analyzing room by room how to blend farmhouse, modern, rustic, and traditional design into comfortable living environments.

Cover of Life along the Hudson

Life along the Hudson

written and photographed by Pieter Estersohn

This scenic stretch of estates along the Hudson offers some of the finest examples of American architecture and landscape design. The edition's thirty-five featured homes were designed in a range of styles by notable architects Stanford White, A. J. Davis, Calvert Vaux, Warren and Wetmore, and more. All pair exquisite interiors with expansive lush lawns and riverfront views. Formerly country homes for eighteenth-century landed gentry and nineteenth-century industrialists--Astors, Chanlers, Chapmans, Delanos, Roosevelts--they include Dutch colonial cottages and grand Gothic Revival, Federal, Georgian, and Beaux-Arts residences. Constructed on land owned by the influential Livingston family, who settled in the area in the late seventeenth century, many have been restored to their former splendor by the original owners' descendants as well as recent leaders of New York City industry and the arts, including Richard Jenrette and Brice Marden.

Cover of Me, myselfie, & I

Me, myselfie, & I

Jamie Lee Curtis

When her mom becomes obsessed with selfies, a little girl takes matters into her own hands in this charming and topical picture book, that is sure to appeal to today's millennial parents.

Cover of Anna Maria Maiolino

Anna Maria Maiolino

organized by Helen Molesworth and Bryan Barcena

Born in Calabria, Italy, in 1942, Anna Maria Maiolino is one of the leading artists of her generation. Her work reflects the major cultural and political realities of postwar Europe and South America as well as issues of patriarchy, feminism, and immigration. This book presents her prints, drawings, sculpture, photography, video, and performance pieces. From her early woodcuts, which spoke directly to the tense political atmosphere of her adopted country of Brazil, to her introspective works on paper-every aspect of Maiolino's incredibly diverse and accomplished career is presented in exquisite illustrations and with a series of informed and provocative essays. Exhibition: The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, United States (04.08.-27.11.2017).

Cover of Detective Nosegoode and the museum robbery

Detective Nosegoode and the museum robbery

Marian Orłoń

A famous picture is in danger of being stolen, the headquarters of the Circle of the Aficionados of Checkers has been robbed and an elusive pickpocket strikes at the celebrations to mark the hundredth anniversary of the founding of Lower Limewood. This small town seems to have attracted quite a number of thieves - a good job they can count the brilliant Detective Nosegoode and his faithful Cody among their residents.

Cover of Engineering the Taj Mahal

Engineering the Taj Mahal

Laura K. Murray

"The Taj Mahal, a majestic mausoleum in India, continues to amaze visitors with its beauty nearly 400 years after its construction. Engineering the Taj Mahal discusses the emperor behind the famous structure, the precise engineering used by the designers, and the ways in which India is preserving the mausoleum so that it can continue to impress future generations. Easy-to-read text, vivid images, and helpful back matter give readers a clear look at this subject."--Amazon.com.

Cover of Félix Vallotton

Félix Vallotton

Rudolf Koella

Mit dem Bild 'Le bain au soir d?été' überwindet Félix Vallotton (1865-1925) den tonigen Realismus seines Frühwerks und bekennt sich zum farbigen Synthetismus der Nabis-Phase. Thematisch schliesst er sich mit der Szene der Badenden an die Tradition an und lässt eine Nähe zu Puvis de Chavannes oder gar zu Lucas Cranach erkennen. Gleichzeitig findet er mit diesem Werk auch die Zugehörigkeit zur eigenen Zeit und darüber hinaus zum unverkennbar eigenen Ausdruck. Das grossformatige Werk, das am Pariser Salon des Indépendants zu sehen war, löste einen Skandal aus. Nicht das Thema selbst erregte Anstoss, sondern die stilistische Formulierung und Zuspitzung der Motive: die karikierenden Frisuren und Gesichtszüge der einzelnen Frauen und ihre ausladenden Körperformen, die aller ästhetischen Ideale entbehrten. In diesen Bildsetzungen glaubte man bewusste Attacken des Künstlers auf die damalige Gesellschaft zu erkennen. Verunsichernd wirkte auch die thematische Rätselhaftigkeit des Werks. Eben diese ikonographische Offenheit, die Vallottons Bildwelt auszeichnet, hält sein Werk bis heute spannend. 0'Le bain au soir d?été' befindet sich heute in der Dauerausstellung des Kunsthaus Zürich.

Cover of Gerhard Richter

Gerhard Richter

Hubertus Butin

The phrase "unique pieces in series" seems to be contradictory at first sight. For how can something that only exists once be present several times? But some of Gerhard Richter's editions embody this particular principle of uniqueness in series. In paintings, photographic works, prints, and drawings, Richter has developed the possibility to vary individual copies in their appearance. The entire set of an edition thus consists of unicultural variants whose difference is intended. Probably no other artist has made this design concept into a fundamental method of their art in such a fascinatingly diverse way. Die Formulierung "Unikate in Serie" scheint auf den ersten Blick in sich widersprüchlich zu sein. Denn wie kann etwas, was nur einmal vorhanden sein soll, mehrfach vorliegen? Doch manche von Gerhard Richters Auflagenwerken verkörpern dieses besondere Prinzip der Einzigartigkeit in Serie. In Malerei-Editionen, Foto­arbeiten, Druckgrafiken, Zeichnungen und Multiples hat Richter die Möglichkeit entwickelt, im Rahmen der ­jeweils gleichen Produktionsweise einzelne Exemplare in ihrer Erscheinung zu variieren. Die gesamte Auflage einer Edition besteht somit aus unikatären Varianten, deren Unterschiedlichkeit intendiert ist. Wohl kein an­derer Künstler hat dieses gestalterische Konzept auf so faszinierend vielfältige Weise zu einer grund­sätz­lichen Methode seiner Kunst gemacht.

Cover of Get it together!

Get it together!

Orlando Soria

"After getting his start years ago on HGTV, Orlando Soria has made his way to the upper strata of the blogosphere with Hommemaker, his blog about home decor, art, style, and life. His distinctive voice-funny, confessional, and honest-has made him the Dan Savage of millennial homemaking. Now he brings together his most original, endearing, and irreverent advice in one gorgeous book that will help readers out of all kinds of tight spots-whether it's throwing a dinner party when you're broke, hanging art like a gallery owner, or preparing your home for an unwanted guest. In sections on interior style, design, Homme Life, DIY, and general life lessons, Orlando offers advice on topics such as How to Make Non-Garbagey Flower Arrangements and How to Deal with a Soul-Sucking Breakup. He helps readers problem solve, avoid rookie mistakes, and choose a wall color that won't make them puke. Photographer Zeke Ruelas's stunning images accompany Orlando's tips on designing for dudes, making your own coffee table, and decorating a kid's room. Whether you're short on cash or have money to burn, Orlando's unique and highly contagious take on life will inspire, comfort, and reassure you that anyone can Get It Together!"--

Cover of Le triomphe de l'artiste

Le triomphe de l'artiste

Tzvetan Todorov

Le discours soviétique officiel décrit progressivement la réalité du pays en termes qui ne correspondent pas à l'expérience commune, comme si les mots pouvaient créer les choses. L'importance de cette doctrine dépasse de loin le domaine esthétique, elle représente à l'état pur l'un des traits dominants de la société soviétique sous Staline car elle consacre le règne universel du mensonge". A la fois connaisseur de l'Union soviétique et grand penseur des oeuvres d'art, Tzvetan Todorov a souhaité éclairer les rapports idéologiques entre ceux qu'il nomme les "artistes créateurs" et le pouvoir politique à partir de la révolution d'Octobre.0Comment les artistes ont-ils annoncé la révolution ? Comment ont-ils ensuite obéi ou échappé au réalisme socialiste désireux d'annihiler toute création ? Todorov explore le destin d'artistes phares, Maïakovski, Pasternak, Boulgakov ou Mandelstam, et s'attarde sur le parcours singulier du peintre Kasimir Malevitch, dont la pluralité des voies artistiques fait écho à l'intensité de son engagement. Le Triomphe de l'artiste, c'est finalement le pouvoir de l'art sur celui qui veut sa mort.

Cover of Losing an enemy

Losing an enemy

Parsi, Trita

The definitive book on Obama's historic nuclear deal with Iran from the author of the Foreign Affairs Best Book on the Middle East in 2012. This timely book focuses on President Obama's deeply considered strategy toward Iran's nuclear program and reveals how the historic agreement of 2015 broke the persistent stalemate in negotiations that had blocked earlier efforts. The deal accomplished two major feats in one stroke: it averted the threat of war with Iran and prevented the possibility of an Iranian nuclear bomb. Trita Parsi, a Middle East foreign policy expert who advised the Obama White House throughout the talks and had access to decision-makers and diplomats on the U.S. and Iranian sides alike, examines every facet of a triumph that could become as important and consequential as Nixon's rapprochement with China. Drawing from more than seventy-five in-depth interviews with key decision-makers, including Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, this is the first authoritative account of President Obama's signature foreign policy achievement.

Cover of Love and vandalism

Love and vandalism

Laurie Boyle Crompton

"Rory has a secret: she's the vandal who paints graffiti lions all over her town. When Hayes, a former screwup on the path to recovery, catches her in the act, Rory is sure she's busted. Instead he makes her a deal: if she tells him about her graffiti, he won't turn her in. As the two grow closer, the police efforts to find the vandal ramp up, and Rory is forced to confront a secret she still can't bring herself to face"--

Cover of Mosques

Mosques

foreword by Prince Amyn Aga Khan

One of the most important and authoritative books to celebrate mosque architecture and Islamic design, featuring many newly commissioned photographs. Mosques reflect some of the greatest architectural achievements - their spiritual purpose gives them a profound and often mystical beauty. This visually striking volume illustrates the development of basic mosque strucutral and decorative elements with over sixty examples. Venerated mosques such as the Great Mosque of Córdoba, the Imam Mosque of Isfahan, and Instanbul's Süleymaniye Mosque, as well as Doha's innovative Abu al-Qabib Mosque, are featured in magnificent detail. Mosques: Splendors of Islam showcases mosques from Europe, the Indian subcontinent, North America, North Africa and the sub-Sahara, the Middle East, and Russia and the Caucasus. It spans from their earliest origins in Mecca and Medina to contemporary masterpieces, highlighting major stylistic transformations as illustrated in the mosques of some of Islam's great dynasties - the Umayyads, the Abbasids, the Mamluks, the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals. The inclusion of dynamic new structures provides an insight into the vitality of current mosque design. Original and archival photographs offer exterior and interior views as well as images of adjacent gardens and fountains that grace these sanctuaries. Essays by prominent architecture and design authorities also address such topics as the iconographic and decorative elements of the mosque. Descriptions of their calligraphy and tilework, as well as furnishings and illumination, enhance this volume. -- from dust jacket.

Cover of Native art now!

Native art now!

Veronica Passalacqua and Kate Morris

The exhibition features 39 iconic works of Native art that the museum acquired primarily through its Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, including installations, paintings, prints, sculptures and glass and fabric art. Visually compelling works from artists Truman Lowe, Allan Houser, Kay WalkingStick, Meryl McMaster and Nicholas Galanin among others are included

Cover of Sewn animal heads

Sewn animal heads

Vanessa Mooncie

"No animals will be harmed in creating these magnificent trophies! With these delightful fabric animal head projects you can have all the impact of these beautiful beasts without any fur flying. The 15 stunning projects include a ravishing rabbit, a marvelous moose, a fabulous fox and an elegant elephant."--Publisher.

Cover of The Chalk Man

The Chalk Man

C.J. Tudor

"Narrated by 'Eddie' who receives a chalk drawing of a stick figure that hurtles him back to an innocent childhood game 30 years before which went terribly, terribly wrong. As history begins to repeat itself, it seems the game was never really over" --

Cover of The Mistress

The Mistress

Danielle Steel

"A dazzling contemporary novel that interweaves the lives of a Russian mistress and the young French painter who falls in love with her. Set in the South of France, London, and Paris, a gorgeous, innocent mistress of a Russian oligarch gradually finds independence via her own efforts and through her friendship with the artist son of a world-renowned painter and his devoted muse/now restaurateur mother, reminiscent of Picasso and La Colombe D'or in St-Paul-de-Vence. A glamorous, elegant story that will resonate with Steel's audience, with an element of intrigue that will keep readers turning the pages"--

Cover of The art of confession

The art of confession

Chrisopher Grobe

"The Art of Confession tells the history of this cultural shift and of the movement it created in American art: confessionalism. Like realism or romanticism, confessionalism began in one art form, but soon pervaded them all: poetry and comedy in the 1950s and '60s, performance art in the '70s, theater in the '80s, television in the '90s, and online video and social media in the 2000s. Everywhere confessionalism went, it stood against autobiography, the art of the closed book. Instead of just publishing, these artists performed--with, around, and against the text of their lives." --

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The curse of Einstein's pencil

written and

Bea Garcia is looking for a new best friend, and she almost has one the smartest girl in school, Judith Einstein. So when Einstein asks Bea to be her partner in the upcoming school geography contest, Bea is thrilled ... at first. Schoolwork comes so easily to Einstein that Bea thinks the secret might be Einstein's special pencil. But when Bea takes Einstein's pencil home, it's not quite what she expected.

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The hero's closet

Gillian Conahan

"This essential handbook offers detailed, step-by-step instructions that cover the basics of sewing costumes (which often require skills not found in standard sewing guides) to help even the most novice sewists create the costumes of their dreams. A skilled crafter and avid cosplayer, Gillian Conahan walks readers through finding inspiration online and through their fandom; shares insight into translating character art into real-world garments; and offers advice on pattern selection, alterations, fabrics, and embellishment techniques. The book also features 11 original step-by-step basic patterns--such as jumpsuits, jackets, and pants. It then suggests ideas for mixing and matching these basics to create costumes of all styles, including superheroes, pirates, elves, school girls, and adventurers"--Provided by publisher.

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The man who designed the future

B. Alexandra Szerlip

"Norman Bel Geddes designed everything from Broadway sets to Chrysler cars; from the first all-weather stadium to Futurama, the prescient 1939 World's Fair exhibit that would go down as the most popular of all time. In The Man Who Designed the Future, B. Alexandra Szerlip tells the astonishing story of a 9th grade dropout with a Midwestern twang who presided over a seismic shift in American culture--a moment in which entertainment became immersive, people became consumers, and the country came to look the way it does today"--

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The recording machine

Joshua Shannon

A revealing look at the irrevocable change in art during the 1960s and its relationship to the modern culture of fact This refreshing and erudite book offers a new understanding of the transformation of photography and the visual arts around 1968. Author Joshua Shannon reveals an oddly stringent realism in the period, tracing artists' rejection of essential truths in favor of surface appearances. Dubbing this tendency factualism, Shannon illuminates not only the Cold War's preoccupation with data but also the rise of a pervasive culture of fact. Focusing on the United States and West Germany, where photodocumentary traditions intersected with 1960s politics, Shannon investigates a broad variety of art, ranging from conceptual photography and earthworks to photorealist painting and abstraction. He looks closely at art by Bernd and Hilla Becher, Robert Bechtle, Vija Celmins, Douglas Huebler, Gerhard Richter, and others. These artists explored fact's role as a modern paradigm for talking, thinking, and knowing. Their art, Shannon concludes, helps to explain both the ambivalent anti-humanism of today's avant-garde art and our own culture of fact.

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The subversive art of Zelda Fitzgerald

Deborah Pike

"Known as an icon of the Jazz Age, a flamboyant socialite, and the mad wife of F. Scott, Zelda Fitzgerald has inspired studies of her life and work which focus on her earlier years, and on the myth of the glorious-but-doomed woman. As an unprecedented study of the totality Zelda Fitzgerald's creative work, this book makes an important contribution to the history of women's art with new perspectives on women and modernity, plagiarism, creative partnership, and the nature of mental illness. Zelda Fitzgerald's creative output was astonishing, considering the conditions under which she lived, and the brevity of her life: she wrote dozens of short stories, several journalistic pieces, a play, two novels, hundreds of letters, kept diaries and produced hundreds of artworks. Employing a new mode of literary analysis that draws upon critics, theorists, and historians to situate her work in its context, The Subversive Art of Zelda Fitzgerald rehabilitates the literary and artistic status of Zelda Fitzgerald by reassessing her life and writings in the light of archival sources. Such materials include medical and psychiatric documents; her unpublished novel; an artistic and spiritual diary; and over one hundred letters written from asylums.While much of her writing can be read as a tactical response to her husband's injunctions against her creativity, it can also be read as brilliant work in its own right. Far from imitating Scott's style, Zelda Fitzgerald's artistic output is vibrantly alive and utterly her own" -- Dust jacket.

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What is the Bible?

Rob Bell

In 'Love Wins,' Rob Bell confronted the troubling questions that many people of faith were afraid to ask about heaven, hell, fate, and faith. Using the same inquisitive approach, he now turns to our most sacred book, providing insights and answers that make clear why the Bible is so revered and what makes it truly inspiring and essential to our lives. Rob takes us deep into actual passages to reveal the humanity behind the Scriptures. You cannot get to the holy without going through the human, Rob tells us. When considering a passage, we shouldn't ask "Why did God say..." To get to the heart of the Bible's meaning, we should be asking: "What's the story that's unfolding here and why did people find it important to tell it? What was it that moved them to record these words? What was happening in the world at that time? What does this passage/story/poem/verse/book tell us about how people understood who they were and who God was at that time?" In asking these questions, Rob goes beyond the one-dimensional question of "is it true?" to reveal the Bible's authentic transformative power. Rob addresses the concerns of all those who see the Bible as God's Word but are troubled by the ethical dilemmas, errors, and inconsistencies in Scripture. With What Is the Bible?, he recaptures the Good Book's magic and reaffirms its power and inspiration to shape and inspire our lives today.

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Adding value to libraries, archives, and museums

Joseph R. Matthews

"This book explains the concept of adding value and shows staff at libraries and other organizations why they need to take steps now to ensure they are adding new value to their communities--whether it be a local town or neighborhood, a faculty and student body, or a school"--

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Archaeoastronomy

Giulio Magli

This book provides the first complete, easy to read, up-to-date account of the fascinating discipline of archaeoastronomy, in which the relationship between ancient constructions and the sky is studied in order to gain a better understanding of the ideas of the architects of the past and of their religious and symbolic worlds. The book is divided into three sections, the first of which explores the past relations between astronomy and people, power, the afterworld, architecture, and landscape. The fundamentals of archaeoastronomy are then addressed in detail, with coverage of the celestial coordinates; the apparent motion of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets; observation of celestial bodies at the horizon; the use of astronomical software in archaeoastronomy; and current methods for making and analyzing measurements. The final section reviews what archaeoastronomy can now tell us about the nature and purpose of such sites and structures as Stonehenge, the Pyramids of Giza, Chichen Itza, the Campus Martius, and the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento. In addition, a set of exercises is provided that can be performed using non-commercial free software, e.g., Google Earth or Stellarium, and will equip readers to conduct their own research. Readers will find the book an ideal introduction to what has become a wide-ranging multidisciplinary science. -- Back cover.

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Beetle

Adam Dodd

"From ancient Egyptian deities to German automobiles, beetles have left an indelible mark on human cultures around the world. Comprising more than 350,000 species, beetles are among the most prolific animals on Earth, even if we rarely give them a second thought. In this book Adam Dodd explores the world of the beetle and its sometimes astounding and bizarre intersections with the world of the human being. Beetle relates this resilient insect's emergence from the 'Great Dying' extinction event some 250 million years ago, showing how it became a permanent fixture in the natural world, thriving in the inhabitation of niches. Inspiring early occult beliefs and religious myths, the beetle also finds its way into art, folklore, literature and science. Dodd uncovers the beetle's ongoing place in the aesthetic appreciation of nature, and shows how knowledge of beetle anatomy is assisting the development of cutting-edge cybernetics, blurring the boundary between science and fiction.--"Provided by publisher.

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Between thought and the treetops

Mark Peters

"This three part novel roams the wildernesses of Manitoba and Minnesota during the 1960s. Young Archie, having grown up without a father, stumbles through his teenage years and is given direction by his unusual Uncle Emil. One-eyed Emil, having survived an explosion, near death in the recapture of the Philippines, and the recent loss of his wife, has not lost his sense of humor. While on their canoe journey to an unnamed Manitoba lake, the building of Emil's cabin, and Emil's hike through the Boundary Waters while Archie is in Vietnam, Emil occasionally sidetracks onto tales he has only recently made up. His encounter with Elvis, the true story of Moses, the extinction of the dinosaurs; nothing is off limits for Emil: "While I was reading I got to thinking about what it would have been like if the stories had been about real animals instead of toy ones. You know, Pooh as a grizzly, eight foot tall, three inch claws and teeth like razors. I don't think his little pig buddy would have lasted very long ... ""--Amazon.com

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Doug Aitken

organized by Philippe Vergne

Accompanying the artists first full-scale survey exhibition, this generously illustrated book explores Doug Aitkens work across mediums, disciplines, and themes. From photography to architecture, and from video to spoken word, Doug Aitken has delved into a variety of art forms to create a provocative body of work. This volume surveys the full scope and depth of Aitkens work: sound pieces, sculpture, architectural experiments, land art and happenings, which embrace a collaborative spirit across disciplines and beyond walls, to re-imagine the nature of what a work of art can be. Interspersed with hundreds of color illustrations, the books essays examine the plethora of ideas the artist tackles from environmental decay to the end of linear time and explain how and why Aitken challenges many artistic barriers.

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Downs House II

Christopher Macdonald

presents an original and comprehensive overview of the home that local architect Barry Downs built for himself in West Vancouver. This house of modest proportions presents the key and formative qualities that have come to represent a West Coast Modern idiom in architecture.

Cover of For Us Humans

For Us Humans

Steve Rzasa

Hey. My name's Caz Fortel. I'm thirty, good-looking, and a great liar. In fact, that's my job: to lie to people who steal works of art, and get the goods back. Then one day I get the big call from the FBI: a million bucks, to recover a stolen statue with huge cultural value. Downside: the partner they assign me has an unhealthy interest in Jesus, an interest I've tried really hard to erase from my life. Also, that partner is an alien with four arms and a tremendous sense of smell. Welcome to 2016. See, the Panstellar Consociation is the boss now, of all the Earth and everything that goes on in the solar system. Aliens showed up fifteen years ago and made us a deal: join us as a protectorate and we'll swap you tech secrets, pay you real well. All so they could set up a warp tunnel in orbit. It's their statue. They want the whole job kept quiet. Or Earth could be in very, very big trouble.

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Louise and Andie

Kelly Light

Louise loves art more than anything. Imagine her delight when a new neighbor, Andie, moves in and she loves art too! It s the best day ever. But liking the same thing doesn t always mean you agree on it. Can they overcome their creative differences?