Joseph Beuys: Four Books in a Box

Culture

We live in a sterile age. Nothing reminds one of this fact like the work of the German artist Joseph Beuys. It is anything but sterile – dirt, earth, organic matter were at its center. Beuys wallowed in the dirt – it was his connection to the planet we were busy ruining, as he liked to remind us.

A new book, or rather four books in a box, called Four Books in a Box, published by Steidl, and out today, reminds us of this message. Prosaically called, the compendium is anything but prosaic. As an object it is also earthy. There is not a hint of gloss in its sturdy case, fabric covers, and mostly black and white pages. As the hand passes over the pages, one feels its presence, its thingness, its physical presence in the physical universe.

Paolo Roversi

Paolo Roversi: Portraits

Culture

If you find yourself in Paris in the next couple of weeks, make sure to stop by Galerie Camera Obscura to see the current exhibit of Italian photographer Paolo Roversi. This intimate show is a rare treat from an artist whose work is maddeningly hard to find in real life. He exhibits rarely, and he produces books even more rarely. The best access to his work in print is a smattering of fashion magazines, such as Another or Vogue Italia.

Goya: Drawings

Culture

It seems that in the current state of the world, books based on the many cancelled exhibitions take on a new importance, providing a glimpse into what sadly many of us are missing out on due to museum closures.

Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits

Culture

Reflection (Self-portrait), 1985. Oil on canvas, 55.9 x 55.3 cm. Private collection, on loan to the Irish Museum of Modern Art Self-portrait, c. 1956. Oil on canvas, 61 x 61 cm. Private collection Lucian Freud is undoubtedly one of great artists of the 20th Century. He was a master of portraiture, and along with the…