Solarizations

Anthony Pearson, Solarizations

Anthony Pearson, Solarizations
Hardcover, 72 pp., offset 1/1, 6.25 x 9.75 inches
Edition of 1000
ISBN 978-0-9768664-2-9
Published by Midway Contemporary Art

$25.00 ·

An essay by Tim Griffin and an interview between Anthony Pearson and John Rasmussen discuss Pearson’s unusual approach to photography, his solarization and lens flare pieces, and his process. Twenty plates give the reader a clear sense of this body of work.

Pearson’s work over the past few years has been an exploration of perceptual and historical aspects of photography and abstraction. Working in both chemical and electronic processes, Pearson has melded these photographic methods in a highly personal manner to suggest that the concerns of the analog and digital are not as disparate as supposed. His ongoing series of solarized, silver gelatin prints exploit elements of chance and variability through a highly controlled three-part process. Pearson begins by constructing tableaus of foil, spray-paint, and ripped paper through both additive and subtractive methods, alluding to precedents such as the décollage of the Nouveau Realistes. After photographing details of these drawings and constructions, the prints are then solarized in the darkroom during a process by which tonality of the image is inverted to varying degrees through a brief exposure to white light. While the small scale of these photographs could be read as referencing reproductive plates of gestural mid-century paintings, the unique nature of each photograph elaborates a highly personalized language that builds upon historical strains of abstraction.

Is It Really So Strange?

William E. Jones, Is It Really So Strange?

William E. Jones, Is It Really So Strange?
Softcover, 108 pp., offset 4/1, 9.5 x 12 inches
Edition of 1000
ISBN 0-9772347-1-1
Published by David Kordansky Gallery

out of print

Making the connection between The Smiths’ working-class, Manchester-raised, ethnic Irish experience and that of the sons and daughters of Latino immigrants in Los Angeles, Is It Really So Strange? is the companion book to William Jones’ documentary of the same name.

James Earl Scones

Darren Bader, James Earl Scones

Darren Bader, James Earl Scones
Softcover, 96 pp., offset 1/1, 6 x 9 inches
Edition of 1000, signed and numbered
Published by David Kordansky Gallery, Rivington Arms

$25.00 · out of stock

“In an art world vernacular, Darren Bader joins the pointed yet poetic, museumoligical interventions of Christopher D’Arcangelo to the cheesy, rank diaristic meditations of Dieter Roth. Punster and prankster, the demon spawn of Julia Child and David Markson, in a less highfalutin patois, he’s about the only guy I know who one-ups Don Novello’s great Lazlo Toth letters by signing his own name. Taking (so-called) institutional critique apart brick by gold-sanctioned brick, he’s critiquing the world and partying at the same time—Tom Cruise and NASA, stand warned. It’s about time someone tapped Al Qaeda as an aesthetic. James Earl Scones are my new favorite way to start the day.”

—Bruce Hainley