Books by Yuval Etgar
Man Ray: Other Objects, 2023
Often considered as unique artworks, Man Ray’s original sculptures possibly never existed. They a... more Often considered as unique artworks, Man Ray’s original sculptures possibly never existed. They are often only known through the artist’s accounts in writing, conversations, or photographs. In place of these absent signifiers, however, Man Ray created alternative variations on multiples occasions throughout his career, under morphed titles, materials, and in various quantities. These he called ‘replicas’, ‘editions’, or ‘new originals’, depending on their appearance and production method.
This collection of essays, edited by Yuval Etgar, brings to light five new studies, each dedicated to a specific object, or group of objects by Man Ray and their evolution throughout the artist’s career. With contributions by David Campany, Peter Fischli, Alyce Mahon, Jennifer Mundy, and Margrethe Troensegaard, this book explores how inconsistency, difference, and originality was manifested in Man Ray’s process of artistic reproduction and multiplication.
Man Ray: Other Objects was published on the occasion of an exhibition at Luxembourg + Co., New York, in September 2023.
Softcover
96 pages
Publisher: Koenig Books
15.6 x 23.4 cm
Around the Corner: 7 Photographs by Günther Förg and 1 by Helmut Newton, 2022
Published to accompany the exhibition 'Around the Corner: 7 Photographs by Günther Förg and 1 by ... more Published to accompany the exhibition 'Around the Corner: 7 Photographs by Günther Förg and 1 by Helmut Newton' at the Bauhaus Foundation, Tel Aviv, this publication follows two unexpected observers of Tel Aviv’s Bauhaus heritage: Günther Förg (1952-2013) and Helmut Newton (1920-2004). Förg, on his part, visited Tel Aviv in 2001 and captured the Foundation’s building’s exterior in his typically dramatic photography style which is characterised by angular perspectives and the absence of human presence. Newton, however, visiting the city a decade earlier saw the modernist Tel Aviv as a vibrant city, mostly visible through the people that populate it and characterised by the improvised additions and changes that transformed the buildings' original designs. The publication contrasts Newton’s ephemeral image of Tel Aviv's urban landscape with Förg’s idealised vision of it as a reflection of the Bauhaus' school legacy.
Out of Order: The Collages of Louise Nevelson, 2022
'Out of Order: The Collages of Louise Nevelson' is the first comprehensive study dedicated exclus... more 'Out of Order: The Collages of Louise Nevelson' is the first comprehensive study dedicated exclusively to Louise Nevelson’s work in collage. The book, published as a collaboration between Fondazione Marconi and Mousse Publishing, takes as its point of departure a close material and technical examination of this body of work, before setting out to position the role of collage in the artist’s practice more broadly. The book consists of two main essays: the first by curator and art historian Yuval Etgar, who divides Nevelson’s output in collage into six main categories, linking these to parallel tendencies in collage during the 1950s and 1960s as well as to earlier examples in the history of this practice. The second essay, by technical art historian Pia Gottschaller, delves into Nevelson’s complex process of selecting object materials for her collages, and analyses her methods of working and treating these materials. The book includes more than 250 colour plates of collages by Nevelson from various collections worldwide.
Bad Manners: On the Creative Potentials of Modifying Other Artists' Work, 2022
Bad Manners is an original history of non-consensual collaboration between artists, from the firs... more Bad Manners is an original history of non-consensual collaboration between artists, from the first decades of the twentieth century to the present day. Narrated by artist Jake Chapman and art historian Yuval Etgar, this book takes the reader through a wealth of artworks and anecdotes involving cannibalistic acts of modification or alteration of another artist’s work, the hijacking of authorship through the addition of a signature, and occasions when the identities of artists or their creations are cast in doubt. Among the works in discussion are thanks(?) a drawing by Pablo Picasso signed as Henri Matisse, a coffee table executed by Martin Kippenberger using a painting by Gerhard Richter as its surface, and a performance by David Hammons documenting the artist urinating on a Richard Serra sculpture.
Published to accompany an exhibition of the same name at Luxembourg + Co., London, Bad Manners raises questions concerning the nature of artistic authorship, standards of collegial etiquette, plagiarism and ownership.
Softcover
64 pages
Publisher: Ridinghouse
ISBN: 978-1-909932-70-8
John Stezaker is one of the most distinguished voices in the history of image-based collage. Sinc... more John Stezaker is one of the most distinguished voices in the history of image-based collage. Since the 1970s Stezaker’s work has occupied a unique position in the face of radical changes in the economy of popular visual culture and its implications for the value of ‘found’ imagery in art. Faced with the post-conceptual crisis of the mid-1970s, Stezaker came to reject the prevailing tendency among his British contemporaries towards agitprop photomontage, promoted in the name of punk, anarchism and second-wave feminism. He also positioned himself at a distance from the North American Pictures Generation artists with whom he had a meaningful exchange during this period, and in whose narrative he remains something of a missing link to this day. Stezaker was gradually to become consumed by a different enquiry altogether – one that was, and remains, invested in the possibility of reviving the mechanically reproduced image and exploring its potentials as an outmoded visual currency that is shifting out of circulation in favour of new technologies and alternative modes of image distribution.
'John Stezaker: At the Edge of Pictures' forms the first monographic study to provide a historical account of Stezaker’s life and work. By taking the eventful decades of the 1970s and 1980s as its prism, Yuval Etgar offers a new reading of the artist’s practice as well as a mapping of collage and image appropriation strategies from this pivotal period.
This is the first anthology of writings dedicated to the history and theory of collage. The book ... more This is the first anthology of writings dedicated to the history and theory of collage. The book gathers together nineteen essays written by artists, theorists, and historians - all seek to define collage with reference to the notion of 'ends': the physical, historical, technological, or ideological extremities through which it operates and that distinguish it from other media.
The book includes essays by: Yuval Etgar, Herta Wescher, Christine Poggi, Clement Greenberg, Elza Adamowicz, Louis Aragon, Max Ernst, Hans Arp, Hannah Höch, Benjamin Buchloh, Brandon Taylor, John Stezaker, Groupe MU, Craig Owens, Douglas Crimp, Richard Prince, Sherrie Levine, Martha Rosler and Ali Smith.
Essays / articles by Yuval Etgar
Released in 1995, Telephones was the precursor to a lot of Christian Marclay's video collages, su... more Released in 1995, Telephones was the precursor to a lot of Christian Marclay's video collages, such as Video Quartet (2002), Crossfire (2007),
The Clock (2010), 48 War Movies (2019), Subtitled (2019) and Doors (2022). Scenes were sampled from movies rented at video stores in VHS format and edited into a seven-minute-long montage. The structure of the video is simple; the cut-up scenes follow the course of a phone conversation from beginning to end. This reveals a clash of technologies, behavioural patterns, sound effects and cultural references associated with audio and visual communication, expressed through various dramatic genres that characterise our collective memory of cinema.
Oddly enough, almost thirty years later, its relevance seems to have grown rather than diminished, largely because it emerged at the very moment that cell phones made their initial appearance into popular consumerist culture and digital technology was overtaking analogue film. In collaboration with Ivorypress, Marclay wanted to see how such a moving image work
could be translated into a book format. The fragmentary and chance quality, which is at the heart of any collage process, is exemplified here by allowing the reader to mix and match images. The present publication emerged out of a conversation between Marclay and Yuval Etgar, held during the 2020 lockdown — befittingly, over the phone.
Vitamin C+ Collage in Contemporary Art, 2023
"Collage, as it turns out, is synonym for trouble. It is a term tainted by a long history of illi... more "Collage, as it turns out, is synonym for trouble. It is a term tainted by a long history of illicit acts: cutting, tearing, stealing, covering up, pretending, and above all disrupting all expectations that things can be whole, and perfect, in one piece. Over the years, critics have offered various definitions for this term, hoping to discipline the word at least, if not the object itself. But still today consensus seems far from reach. Is collage a technical term to be recognized according to a set of materials or tools? Is it a strategy that can be applied based on conceptual principles? And should it be regarded as an historical object that belongs to a specific material and technological era?"
Max Ernst, 2022
This essay was written for the publication accompanying Max Ernst's retrospective exhibition at P... more This essay was written for the publication accompanying Max Ernst's retrospective exhibition at Palazzo Reale, Milan, in 2022 (curated by Martina Mazzotta and Jurgen Pech). The text provides an introduction to Ernst's unique methods of collage-making, particularly during the artist's most experimental period with this practice, between the years 1919-1934.
Simon Moretti: Abacus, 2022
Presented as a non-chronological visual essay, this publication surveys 10 years of collage works... more Presented as a non-chronological visual essay, this publication surveys 10 years of collage works by artist Simon Moretti. It includes text contributions from writer Craig Burnett, curator and art historian Yuval Etgar, novelists Deborah Levy and Chloe Aridjis, and a conversation with Andrew Durbin, editor-in-chief of frieze magazine.
Among these, Etgar's essay explores Moretti's longtime preoccupation with crosswords as a motif in his collage work, and delves into the role of crosswords within the history of collage.
The Emil Bührle Collection: History, Full Catalogue and 70 Masterpieces, 2021
Synopsis:
Paul Cezanne, Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and many others - between 1936 and 1956 the ... more Synopsis:
Paul Cezanne, Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and many others - between 1936 and 1956 the Swiss industrialist Emil Bührle (1890-1956) assembled an impressive collection around French Impressionism. As the owner of the largest weapons factory in the country he had close links to the historical events of the period from World War II to the Cold War.
Initially Emil Bührle acquired works almost exclusively in Switzerland; then, from 1951, an intensive second phase followed, which was greatly influenced by Bührle's business dealings with the United States. The publication illustrates the colourful history of the collection, which includes a total of 633 works, and examines its importance with regard to modernist art collections in Germany, Switzerland and the United States. The survey is complemented by contributions from a number of authors who present 70 masterpieces of the collection, from the old masters to Picasso.
My contribution:
My contribution to the book, titled Paul Cézanne: In Possession of Sightlines, revolves around six paintings: The Temptation of Saint Anthony (ca. 1870), Landscape (ca. 1879), Madame Cezanne with a Fan (1878/88), Self-Portrait with Palette (1890), and The Mont de Cengle (1904/06).
Publication Details:
Publisher: Hirmer Verlag
ISBN: 9783777437040
Number of pages: 472
Dimensions: 300 x 235 mm
Lost in Italy, 2021
Published on the occasion of ‘Lost in Italy’, an exhibition held at Luxembourg + Co. Gallery, Lon... more Published on the occasion of ‘Lost in Italy’, an exhibition held at Luxembourg + Co. Gallery, London, between May and July 2021, this catalogue explores the significant role played by Italy as an international artistic hub during the post-war decades of the 1950s and 60s, and its particular influence on European and North American artists of the time. The publication includes an essay by Yuval Etgar, titled 'The Elephant in the Room' and an interview between Alma Luxembourg and the curator of the exhibition Francesco Bonami. Works by Francis Bacon, Alberto Burri, Alexander Calder, Maurizio Cattelan, Marcel Duchamp, Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, Jannis Kounellis, Pino Pascali, Robert Rauschenberg, Man Ray, Piero Manzoni, Salvatore Scarpitta, Richard Serra and Cy Twombly.
Publisher: Luxembourg + Co
ISBN: 9781838441906
Number of pages: 79
Dimensions: 240 x 170 mm
Förg: from and against Modernism / With a Response by Fischli & Weiss, 2019
Förg: from and against Modernism, with a response by Fischli & Weiss is a proposition to revisit ... more Förg: from and against Modernism, with a response by Fischli & Weiss is a proposition to revisit the works of three pioneering art practitioners that renegotiated the terms of artistic production and media from the 1970s onwards, introducing a wide range of new artistic devices that continue to inform contemporary art practices as a mode of critical thinking. The implicit relationship that underlines the exhibition - 'from' and 'against' - accounts in part for the historical task assumed by these artists, but it also extends to the relationship between them, crossing over in some respects, opposing in others, and at times departing altogether. The discrepancies, however, are as informative as the similarities.
Cézanne at the Whitworth, 2019
This exhibition catalogue celebrates the extraordinary collection of drawings and prints by Paul ... more This exhibition catalogue celebrates the extraordinary collection of drawings and prints by Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) gifted to the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester by Ridinghouse founder, Karsten Schubert.
Yuval Etgar's interview with Karsten Schubert joins additional essays by scholars Richard Thomson, Richard Shone, Christopher Lloyd, and catalogue entries by Elizabeth Cowling, Rosalind McKever, Colin Wiggins and Edward Wouk.
Reconstructing Cezanne: Sequence and Process in Paul Cezanne’s Works on Paper, 2019
In this introduction to the catalogue of Luxembourg & Dayan's exhibition, 'Reconstructing Cezanne... more In this introduction to the catalogue of Luxembourg & Dayan's exhibition, 'Reconstructing Cezanne: Sequence and Process in Paul Cezanne’s Works on Paper' Etgar introduces the ground-breaking research of scholar Fabienne Ruppen into the work of one of Modernism’s greatest masters, based on close examination of the DNA makeup that constitutes the papers he used for his watercolours and drawings.
The catalogue itself also includes a foreword by Walter Feilschenfeldt, and a comprehensive essay on paper affinities in the work of Paul Cezanne by Fabienne Ruppen
Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage, 2019
Edited by Patrick Elliott, Senior Curator of Modern Art at the Scottish National Galleries in Edi... more Edited by Patrick Elliott, Senior Curator of Modern Art at the Scottish National Galleries in Edinburgh, 'Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage' was published on the occasion of the largest exhibition survey ever dedicated to the practice of collage-making, exploring examples of cut and paste practices from the 17th century to the present.
Yuval Etgar's essay in this publication, titled 'On Edge: Collage Tactics and Terminology', is an attempt to map a broad range of terms and techniques employed by collage artists of the twentieth century. Other essays include Freya Gowrley's 'Collage Before Modernism' and Patrick Elliott's 'Collage Over the Centuries'
René Magritte (Or: The Rule of Metaphor), 2018
Published by Luxembourg & Dayan on the occasion of the exhibition 'René Magritte (Or: The Rule of... more Published by Luxembourg & Dayan on the occasion of the exhibition 'René Magritte (Or: The Rule of Metaphor)' this publication focuses on the three years Magritte spent in Paris between 1927-1930. The publication includes a reprint of Friedrich Nietzsche's essay 'On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense', a curatorial essay by Yuval Etgar indicating the conceptual framework of the exhibition, as well as detailed notes on the works on display.
Exhibitions by Yuval Etgar
In this experimental performance piece by Liz Magic Laser, visitors were invited to attend the li... more In this experimental performance piece by Liz Magic Laser, visitors were invited to attend the live installation process of an art exhibition as it took place in real time, following a group of technicians, artists and curators as they unpack, examine, and position a display of sculptures, paintings and videos. As the installation unfolded, unexpected interactions among the crew began to take place as the art handlers shared personal anecdotes and invited the audience to assist the installation, animating the artworks in the process. Using a live-feed from the gallery’s eight surveillance cameras as a method of documentation, the video remained installed following the event and throughout the remainder of the exhibition.
With works and contributions by Sophie Becker, Mimi Chiahemen, Lygia Clark, Gino De Dominicis, Liz Magic Laser, David Levine, Eric Magnuson, Esperanza Mayobre, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg and Shane Stock.
Out of Order: The Collages of Louise Nevelson, 2022
This is the first major survey exhibition of Louise Nevelson’s collages. The show was organised w... more This is the first major survey exhibition of Louise Nevelson’s collages. The show was organised with the support of the Louise Nevelson Foundation, marking the 60th anniversary of Nevelson’s representation of the United States at the 31st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 1962.
Louise Nevelson’s legacy in the fields of sculpture and collage-making has long been associated with her ability to transform the traditional environment of the home from a symbol of feminine sensibility, domestication and intimate scale to a monumental expression of creative freedom. In her quest to achieve this, however, Nevelson also pioneered a new, ecological approach to art-making, according to which every element of the home is used for the creation of her work. From the larger, three-dimensional parts of old furniture that the artist acquired in bulk, to smaller and often more perishable items such as cardboard, paper, woodcut rejects and doorknobs, Nevelson’s choice of materials was a clear expression of a ‘waste not’ ideology. Her process began with the homes whose contents she procured, continued with its recycling in the form of sculpture, and ended with the obsessive making of her most valued thinking tools – collages – using an extraordinary range of materials from her own home and studio.
But as the exhibition OUT OF ORDER argues through a close examination of her collages, Nevelson’s fundamental mode of art-making was not disorganised as her all-inclusive aesthetic might suggest. She developed distinct groups of works relying on specific materials, strategies and formal questions that preoccupied her. As she herself declared on more than one occasion, ‘The way I think is collage.’ This project therefore sets out to establish new grounds for debate, scholarship and analysis of Nevelson’s work in collage, and in effect also in sculpture, by following the proposition of collage historian Yuval Etgar to divide Nevelson’s collages according to certain key attributes. These rely on material composition and technical approach, and include categories such as ‘containers’, ‘use of spray paint’, ‘torn papers’, ‘offcuts’ and the inclusion of ‘utility objects’, thereby inviting visitors and readers to explore the spectrum of creative potential that Nevelson recovered from the debris of everyday life.
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Books by Yuval Etgar
This collection of essays, edited by Yuval Etgar, brings to light five new studies, each dedicated to a specific object, or group of objects by Man Ray and their evolution throughout the artist’s career. With contributions by David Campany, Peter Fischli, Alyce Mahon, Jennifer Mundy, and Margrethe Troensegaard, this book explores how inconsistency, difference, and originality was manifested in Man Ray’s process of artistic reproduction and multiplication.
Man Ray: Other Objects was published on the occasion of an exhibition at Luxembourg + Co., New York, in September 2023.
Softcover
96 pages
Publisher: Koenig Books
15.6 x 23.4 cm
Published to accompany an exhibition of the same name at Luxembourg + Co., London, Bad Manners raises questions concerning the nature of artistic authorship, standards of collegial etiquette, plagiarism and ownership.
Softcover
64 pages
Publisher: Ridinghouse
ISBN: 978-1-909932-70-8
'John Stezaker: At the Edge of Pictures' forms the first monographic study to provide a historical account of Stezaker’s life and work. By taking the eventful decades of the 1970s and 1980s as its prism, Yuval Etgar offers a new reading of the artist’s practice as well as a mapping of collage and image appropriation strategies from this pivotal period.
The book includes essays by: Yuval Etgar, Herta Wescher, Christine Poggi, Clement Greenberg, Elza Adamowicz, Louis Aragon, Max Ernst, Hans Arp, Hannah Höch, Benjamin Buchloh, Brandon Taylor, John Stezaker, Groupe MU, Craig Owens, Douglas Crimp, Richard Prince, Sherrie Levine, Martha Rosler and Ali Smith.
Essays / articles by Yuval Etgar
The Clock (2010), 48 War Movies (2019), Subtitled (2019) and Doors (2022). Scenes were sampled from movies rented at video stores in VHS format and edited into a seven-minute-long montage. The structure of the video is simple; the cut-up scenes follow the course of a phone conversation from beginning to end. This reveals a clash of technologies, behavioural patterns, sound effects and cultural references associated with audio and visual communication, expressed through various dramatic genres that characterise our collective memory of cinema.
Oddly enough, almost thirty years later, its relevance seems to have grown rather than diminished, largely because it emerged at the very moment that cell phones made their initial appearance into popular consumerist culture and digital technology was overtaking analogue film. In collaboration with Ivorypress, Marclay wanted to see how such a moving image work
could be translated into a book format. The fragmentary and chance quality, which is at the heart of any collage process, is exemplified here by allowing the reader to mix and match images. The present publication emerged out of a conversation between Marclay and Yuval Etgar, held during the 2020 lockdown — befittingly, over the phone.
Among these, Etgar's essay explores Moretti's longtime preoccupation with crosswords as a motif in his collage work, and delves into the role of crosswords within the history of collage.
Paul Cezanne, Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and many others - between 1936 and 1956 the Swiss industrialist Emil Bührle (1890-1956) assembled an impressive collection around French Impressionism. As the owner of the largest weapons factory in the country he had close links to the historical events of the period from World War II to the Cold War.
Initially Emil Bührle acquired works almost exclusively in Switzerland; then, from 1951, an intensive second phase followed, which was greatly influenced by Bührle's business dealings with the United States. The publication illustrates the colourful history of the collection, which includes a total of 633 works, and examines its importance with regard to modernist art collections in Germany, Switzerland and the United States. The survey is complemented by contributions from a number of authors who present 70 masterpieces of the collection, from the old masters to Picasso.
My contribution:
My contribution to the book, titled Paul Cézanne: In Possession of Sightlines, revolves around six paintings: The Temptation of Saint Anthony (ca. 1870), Landscape (ca. 1879), Madame Cezanne with a Fan (1878/88), Self-Portrait with Palette (1890), and The Mont de Cengle (1904/06).
Publication Details:
Publisher: Hirmer Verlag
ISBN: 9783777437040
Number of pages: 472
Dimensions: 300 x 235 mm
Publisher: Luxembourg + Co
ISBN: 9781838441906
Number of pages: 79
Dimensions: 240 x 170 mm
Yuval Etgar's interview with Karsten Schubert joins additional essays by scholars Richard Thomson, Richard Shone, Christopher Lloyd, and catalogue entries by Elizabeth Cowling, Rosalind McKever, Colin Wiggins and Edward Wouk.
The catalogue itself also includes a foreword by Walter Feilschenfeldt, and a comprehensive essay on paper affinities in the work of Paul Cezanne by Fabienne Ruppen
Yuval Etgar's essay in this publication, titled 'On Edge: Collage Tactics and Terminology', is an attempt to map a broad range of terms and techniques employed by collage artists of the twentieth century. Other essays include Freya Gowrley's 'Collage Before Modernism' and Patrick Elliott's 'Collage Over the Centuries'
Exhibitions by Yuval Etgar
With works and contributions by Sophie Becker, Mimi Chiahemen, Lygia Clark, Gino De Dominicis, Liz Magic Laser, David Levine, Eric Magnuson, Esperanza Mayobre, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg and Shane Stock.
Louise Nevelson’s legacy in the fields of sculpture and collage-making has long been associated with her ability to transform the traditional environment of the home from a symbol of feminine sensibility, domestication and intimate scale to a monumental expression of creative freedom. In her quest to achieve this, however, Nevelson also pioneered a new, ecological approach to art-making, according to which every element of the home is used for the creation of her work. From the larger, three-dimensional parts of old furniture that the artist acquired in bulk, to smaller and often more perishable items such as cardboard, paper, woodcut rejects and doorknobs, Nevelson’s choice of materials was a clear expression of a ‘waste not’ ideology. Her process began with the homes whose contents she procured, continued with its recycling in the form of sculpture, and ended with the obsessive making of her most valued thinking tools – collages – using an extraordinary range of materials from her own home and studio.
But as the exhibition OUT OF ORDER argues through a close examination of her collages, Nevelson’s fundamental mode of art-making was not disorganised as her all-inclusive aesthetic might suggest. She developed distinct groups of works relying on specific materials, strategies and formal questions that preoccupied her. As she herself declared on more than one occasion, ‘The way I think is collage.’ This project therefore sets out to establish new grounds for debate, scholarship and analysis of Nevelson’s work in collage, and in effect also in sculpture, by following the proposition of collage historian Yuval Etgar to divide Nevelson’s collages according to certain key attributes. These rely on material composition and technical approach, and include categories such as ‘containers’, ‘use of spray paint’, ‘torn papers’, ‘offcuts’ and the inclusion of ‘utility objects’, thereby inviting visitors and readers to explore the spectrum of creative potential that Nevelson recovered from the debris of everyday life.
This collection of essays, edited by Yuval Etgar, brings to light five new studies, each dedicated to a specific object, or group of objects by Man Ray and their evolution throughout the artist’s career. With contributions by David Campany, Peter Fischli, Alyce Mahon, Jennifer Mundy, and Margrethe Troensegaard, this book explores how inconsistency, difference, and originality was manifested in Man Ray’s process of artistic reproduction and multiplication.
Man Ray: Other Objects was published on the occasion of an exhibition at Luxembourg + Co., New York, in September 2023.
Softcover
96 pages
Publisher: Koenig Books
15.6 x 23.4 cm
Published to accompany an exhibition of the same name at Luxembourg + Co., London, Bad Manners raises questions concerning the nature of artistic authorship, standards of collegial etiquette, plagiarism and ownership.
Softcover
64 pages
Publisher: Ridinghouse
ISBN: 978-1-909932-70-8
'John Stezaker: At the Edge of Pictures' forms the first monographic study to provide a historical account of Stezaker’s life and work. By taking the eventful decades of the 1970s and 1980s as its prism, Yuval Etgar offers a new reading of the artist’s practice as well as a mapping of collage and image appropriation strategies from this pivotal period.
The book includes essays by: Yuval Etgar, Herta Wescher, Christine Poggi, Clement Greenberg, Elza Adamowicz, Louis Aragon, Max Ernst, Hans Arp, Hannah Höch, Benjamin Buchloh, Brandon Taylor, John Stezaker, Groupe MU, Craig Owens, Douglas Crimp, Richard Prince, Sherrie Levine, Martha Rosler and Ali Smith.
The Clock (2010), 48 War Movies (2019), Subtitled (2019) and Doors (2022). Scenes were sampled from movies rented at video stores in VHS format and edited into a seven-minute-long montage. The structure of the video is simple; the cut-up scenes follow the course of a phone conversation from beginning to end. This reveals a clash of technologies, behavioural patterns, sound effects and cultural references associated with audio and visual communication, expressed through various dramatic genres that characterise our collective memory of cinema.
Oddly enough, almost thirty years later, its relevance seems to have grown rather than diminished, largely because it emerged at the very moment that cell phones made their initial appearance into popular consumerist culture and digital technology was overtaking analogue film. In collaboration with Ivorypress, Marclay wanted to see how such a moving image work
could be translated into a book format. The fragmentary and chance quality, which is at the heart of any collage process, is exemplified here by allowing the reader to mix and match images. The present publication emerged out of a conversation between Marclay and Yuval Etgar, held during the 2020 lockdown — befittingly, over the phone.
Among these, Etgar's essay explores Moretti's longtime preoccupation with crosswords as a motif in his collage work, and delves into the role of crosswords within the history of collage.
Paul Cezanne, Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and many others - between 1936 and 1956 the Swiss industrialist Emil Bührle (1890-1956) assembled an impressive collection around French Impressionism. As the owner of the largest weapons factory in the country he had close links to the historical events of the period from World War II to the Cold War.
Initially Emil Bührle acquired works almost exclusively in Switzerland; then, from 1951, an intensive second phase followed, which was greatly influenced by Bührle's business dealings with the United States. The publication illustrates the colourful history of the collection, which includes a total of 633 works, and examines its importance with regard to modernist art collections in Germany, Switzerland and the United States. The survey is complemented by contributions from a number of authors who present 70 masterpieces of the collection, from the old masters to Picasso.
My contribution:
My contribution to the book, titled Paul Cézanne: In Possession of Sightlines, revolves around six paintings: The Temptation of Saint Anthony (ca. 1870), Landscape (ca. 1879), Madame Cezanne with a Fan (1878/88), Self-Portrait with Palette (1890), and The Mont de Cengle (1904/06).
Publication Details:
Publisher: Hirmer Verlag
ISBN: 9783777437040
Number of pages: 472
Dimensions: 300 x 235 mm
Publisher: Luxembourg + Co
ISBN: 9781838441906
Number of pages: 79
Dimensions: 240 x 170 mm
Yuval Etgar's interview with Karsten Schubert joins additional essays by scholars Richard Thomson, Richard Shone, Christopher Lloyd, and catalogue entries by Elizabeth Cowling, Rosalind McKever, Colin Wiggins and Edward Wouk.
The catalogue itself also includes a foreword by Walter Feilschenfeldt, and a comprehensive essay on paper affinities in the work of Paul Cezanne by Fabienne Ruppen
Yuval Etgar's essay in this publication, titled 'On Edge: Collage Tactics and Terminology', is an attempt to map a broad range of terms and techniques employed by collage artists of the twentieth century. Other essays include Freya Gowrley's 'Collage Before Modernism' and Patrick Elliott's 'Collage Over the Centuries'
With works and contributions by Sophie Becker, Mimi Chiahemen, Lygia Clark, Gino De Dominicis, Liz Magic Laser, David Levine, Eric Magnuson, Esperanza Mayobre, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg and Shane Stock.
Louise Nevelson’s legacy in the fields of sculpture and collage-making has long been associated with her ability to transform the traditional environment of the home from a symbol of feminine sensibility, domestication and intimate scale to a monumental expression of creative freedom. In her quest to achieve this, however, Nevelson also pioneered a new, ecological approach to art-making, according to which every element of the home is used for the creation of her work. From the larger, three-dimensional parts of old furniture that the artist acquired in bulk, to smaller and often more perishable items such as cardboard, paper, woodcut rejects and doorknobs, Nevelson’s choice of materials was a clear expression of a ‘waste not’ ideology. Her process began with the homes whose contents she procured, continued with its recycling in the form of sculpture, and ended with the obsessive making of her most valued thinking tools – collages – using an extraordinary range of materials from her own home and studio.
But as the exhibition OUT OF ORDER argues through a close examination of her collages, Nevelson’s fundamental mode of art-making was not disorganised as her all-inclusive aesthetic might suggest. She developed distinct groups of works relying on specific materials, strategies and formal questions that preoccupied her. As she herself declared on more than one occasion, ‘The way I think is collage.’ This project therefore sets out to establish new grounds for debate, scholarship and analysis of Nevelson’s work in collage, and in effect also in sculpture, by following the proposition of collage historian Yuval Etgar to divide Nevelson’s collages according to certain key attributes. These rely on material composition and technical approach, and include categories such as ‘containers’, ‘use of spray paint’, ‘torn papers’, ‘offcuts’ and the inclusion of ‘utility objects’, thereby inviting visitors and readers to explore the spectrum of creative potential that Nevelson recovered from the debris of everyday life.
'At the Edge of Pictures: John Stezaker, Works 1975-1990' featured loans from various public and private collections including the Tate collection, London, and the Rubell Museum Collection, Florida.
From an early stage in his career, Günther Förg established himself as a critic of Modernism’s weighty legacy, dedicating his practice to the difficulty of producing art in its aftermath. Förg’s works from the mid 1970s onwards, particularly his wall paintings and compositions on lead panels, are characterised by large geometric colour surfaces applied as thin or washed layers of paint (in oil or acrylic). Their formal arrangement is reminiscent of a purist, modernist vocabulary that applies to the realm of painting as well as interior design, architecture and even urban planning, but questions the textured and gestural approach towards these realms that characterised Förg’s Modernist predecessors.
A number of conceptual and formal concerns in Förg’s practice overlap with those of his Swiss contemporaries Peter Fischli & David Weiss. Each in their own way is interested in architectural history and motivated by a sense of scepticism concerning the authority of the modernist grid and its restrictive legacy. However, while Förg is invested in an inquiry of modernism’s expression within the realm of so-called high art, Fischli and Weiss are known for their particular interest in the combination rearrangement, or otherwise manipulation of everyday objects and situations, transforming them into innovative and unexpected artefacts in a variety of media. In the case of their photographic series Siedlungen / Agglomeration from 1992, the Swiss duo set out to explore the common architectural and urban landscapes that formed Switzerland’s post-war suburb towns. Familiar yet anonymous, the large residential, commercial or municipal buildings that populate the post-war periphery reveal how Modernism’s pioneering ideas have been reinterpreted over time and reduced to mere templates for contractors and local authorities to follow.
The exhibition from and against Modernism reveals unexpected formal, as well as ideological, similarities between the works of Förg and those of Fischli & Weiss. Yet it also confronts us as viewers with the different forms in which their critique of Modernism’s legacy takes form. As such, the exhibition’s title too stands in opposition to the common, all-encompassing term ‘Post-modernism’, which assumes the termination of one historical period for the sake of an imagined, cohesive, and liberated aftermath.
This exhibition explored Magritte’s reciprocal exchange between images and words, highlighting his ability to set up unresolved situations where the viewer is encouraged to participate in the process of decoding the message, are fundamental to the understanding of a wide tendency in contemporary art practices to lend the authorial agency to the viewer.
The title chosen for the exhibition, The Ends of Collage, refers both literally and metaphorically to the place where collage fulfils its calling — at the ends or edges of pictures and fragments, where separate worlds come together or break apart from one another. It also suggests an historical paradigm, where collage is considered as a medium that existed in the so called ‘age of mechanical reproduction’ and has now been overcome by the new logic of the digital age.
The title chosen for the exhibition, The Ends of Collage, refers both literally and metaphorically to the place where collage fulfils its calling — at the ends or edges of pictures and fragments, where separate worlds come together or break apart from one another. It also suggests an historical paradigm, where collage is considered as a medium that existed in the so called ‘age of mechanical reproduction’ and has now been overcome by the new logic of the digital age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3I1oqUZ_BA
Synopsis:
The introduction of collage to modern art shortly after the turn of the twentieth century revolutionised both the material and conceptual conditions for art making henceforth. But while collage initially emerged as a way to break the rules of traditional painting and monolithic sculpture, the term itself soon became the subject of debate and controversy, raising questions about its role as mediator between popular visual culture and high art. And indeed, by the mid 1970s, collage had transformed from a defined artistic practice to a sweeping visual dialect that extends across disciplines; doing so at the risk of undermining its potency as an artistic strategy.
This lecture sets out to explore several of the physical, ideological and historical extremities of collage through the prism of four artworks by Max Ernst, René Magritte, John Stezaker and Sherrie Levine. Operating in two pivotal moments in the history of collage (Ernst and Magritte in the 1920s, Levine and Stezaker in the 1970s) each one of these artists attempted to redefine the limits of collage by replacing material and technical questions such as 'what collages should look like?', or 'what they are made of?', with a strategic approach centred on what collages do?
5 June 2023 at Luxembourg + Co., London, on the occasion of the exhibition Balthus: Under the Surface.
the modes by which each of them retreated in their own way from Modernism’s utopian discourse to reclaim the relevance of simple, everyday materials as the basis of their artistic sensibility. The conversation was held on the occasion of the exhibition Sublime Hardware, curated by Francesco Bonami at Luxembourg & Dayan in 2018