Book Reports

The self-described “perceptual artist” James Turrell has been creating immersive, color-rich experiences for more than „ y years. Published in concert with Turrell’s 2018 exhibition at Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden, Germany, this sweeping review of his oeuvre provides insight into the process and intentions of one of the most important artists working today. A 2013 conversation between Michael Govan, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Turrell is especially illuminating.

The future of contemporary art is now, according to this book by high-profile curator Omar Kholeif. This is a primer on emerging and soon-to-be- influential contemporary artists, from Theaster Gates to Heather Phillipson and Trevor Paglan.

British curator Michael Petry explores our relationship with text and books as a method to gain information and as a medium in contemporary art. The Word Is Art is a delightful exploration that makes a parallel between the ever-evolving nature of language and the changing landscape of the art of our time.

One of the most notable architects working across the globe, Santiago Calatrava publishes his sketches and inspirations for the first time, offering an inside look at the process behind projects such as the Oculus station at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City.

The first monograph published of Vivian Maier, the prolific Chicago photographer whose work was undiscovered until the contents of her storage space were auctioned off and her images subsequently went viral in 2009. Maier captured everyday scenes to build an extraordinary body of work.

A pioneer in the pop art scene of the 1960s, Jim Dine was part of the seminal survey New Painting of Common Objects at the Pasadena Art Museum in 1962 along with Ed Ruscha, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol. His work is largely influenced by ordinary objects. Tools is a collection of Dine’s photographs of hardware and tools in and out of his studio. The work is nostalgic for the time Dine spent growing up in and eventually working at his grandfather’s hardware store in Ohio.

Arguably the most important figure in the pop art movement is Bridget Riley. Her large-scale paintings, with their brain-bending use of lines and color theory, have mesmerized arts patrons since her public debut in the mid-1960s. For the first time, all of her known paintings—more than 600 works—have been compiled in this expansive five-volume collection.