Cover of Phaidon's Pawel Althamer Collector’s Edition
A limited edition series of uniquely bound albums featuring the works of two of Poland's most acclaimed contemporary artists comes out this spring from one of the world's major art book publishers, celebrating Althamer's otherwordly commentary on community relations in a global context and Sasnal's poppy illustration style
The publication of the Pawel Althamer Collector’s Edition comes with a monographic work of art created for Phaidon by the artist himself. The limited run of 50 copies features a signed book of interviews, photographs and essays on the artist written by leading figures of the art world, along with original sculpture signed and dated by the artist. Phaidon's publication of these limited-edition monographic works sets Althamer and Sasnal among the ranks of such artists as Luc Tuymans, Elliott Erwitt and Tacita Dean.
Paweł Althamer (born1967 in Warsaw) was originally trained as a sculptor but his work has since evolved to encompass the social aspects of community in a global world, putting the focus on his own body and experiences, and on other people, rather than objects. Althamer’s work consists of directing real-life actions performed by amateurs, not professional artists or actors. For Motion Pictures (2000) Althamer choreographed actors to perform everyday actions in a public square (greeting a friend, feeding pigeons) at the same time every day for three weeks. Viewers, if they didn't know what to look for, could not know whether they had seen the artwork at all. His works have been featured in solo exhibitions at museums such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris (2006), Modern Art Oxford (2009) and Deutsche Guggenheim (2011).The sculpture Nomo from Mars draws from Althamer's Common Task project, which takes residents from the impoverished Bródno district of Warsaw on a cosmopolitan world tour of cities and galleries across Europe, Africa and the Americas. Althamer's work is highly collaborative, based on breaking clichés and engaging society across many levels of status and stability. Referencing the alienation manifested in images of space travelers, the brass figurine also takes its cue from tribal masks like those worn by the Dogon from Mali, whom the Common Task group visited during their travels.
The book features texts by Suzanne Cotter, Guggenheim Foundation curator for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project, Roman Kurzmeyer, curator and art historian based in Switzerland and Adam Szymczyk, director of Kunsthalle Basel and co-curator of the 5th Berlin Biennial (2008), also one of the ten curators of Phaidon’s Creamier (2010). The book is also available as a paperback edition from the same publisher. A recent Publisher's Weekly article on the market for art books in a troubled economy quoted Charlotte Hundley, manager of the 3,500-square-foot Phaidon flagship in New York, who singled out the exclusive edition as one of the most highly anticipated releases of the season, retailing at a price of $1,200 (£800).
Cover of Phaidon's Wilhelm Sasnal Collector’s Edition
The Wilhelm Sasnal Collector’s Edition is dedicated to one of the world's premier painters and illustrators of the 21st century. The specially-bound album, signed and numbered by Sasnal, is accompanied by a linotype on paper print by the artist. Sasnal has referred to himself on some occasion as a "realist painter" as he draws all his subjects from the world around him, even with regard to some of his more abstract forms. His work is rooted in personal experience, communication media, images taken from books or via the Internet, music and even his personal life, creating expressive images which leave lasting impressions. His painting and films are a varied and free play on styles, modes of representation, techniques and means which always remain true to a traditional base, like oil on canvas for his paintings and the movie camera for his films. A strong sense of history and personal memory emerges from his painting which cross over and blend in his works.
The collection takes its cue from a quote by the artist: "There are no rules, just things that intrigue me". This motto is clear in the illustrations, comics, paintings and films he has made over the years, blending Pop, photorealism, abstraction, minimalism and photorealism to describe both banal and enchanted details of day-to-day reality.
According to the publisher, the special edition book features a collection of over 100 illustrations, accompanied by artist's writings and interviews. It traces the artist's development from his early days as a student through to his more mature and introspective works. Interviews delve into the artist’s decision to employ politically charged themes in many of his works while essays focus on several key work such as the series of paintings Maus (2001), inspired by the award winning graphic novel by Art Spiegelman. Contributors to the edition include Dominic Eichler, an art critic, artist, musician and curator based in Berlin and contributing editor at Frieze and Andrzej Przywara, curator, critic, art historian and president of the Foksal Gallery Foundation, as well as critic, curator and Frieze co-editor Jörg Heiser. The collector's edition retails for (£ 500). Last year Phaidon released the book as a paperback in anticipation of the artist's solo show at London's Whitechapel gallery.
Wilhelm Sasnal (born 1971 in Tarnów) is a painter, illustrator and comic strip artist. He is a co-founder of the now-defunct Ładnie art group and today associated with the Foksal Gallery Foundation in Warsaw. He was awarded the Vincent Van Gogh Prize in 2006 and was an artist in residence at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, where he had a solo exhibition in 2005. He has had solo shows in Warsaw, Zurich, Munich, Antwerp and London.
Currently both artists are showing their works at the 2012 edition of Art Basel. See more information via the link at the bottom of the page.
- Paweł Alhamer Special Edition
Signed and numbered by Paweł Althamer
Hardback
290 × 250 mm (11 3/8 x 9 7/8 inches)
160 pp
130 colour, 20 black and white illustrations
ISBN-13: 9780714864037
Book comes with brass statue with polychrome finish signed and numbered by Paweł Althamer
Size: 145 × 36 × 31 mm (5 3/4 × 1 1/4 × 1 3/8 inches)
Box: 56 × 83 × 188 mm (2 1/4 x 3 1/4 x 7 3/8 inches)
Produced in 2011 in an edition of 50
- Wilhelm Sasnal Special Edition
Signed and numbered by Wilhelm Sasnal
290 × 250 mm (11 3/8 x 9 7/8 inches)
160 pp
180 colour illustrations
ISBN-13: 9780714864686
Book comes with a linotype on paper by the artist signed and numbered by Wilhelm Sasnal
Print size: 550 x 450 mm (21 5/8 x 17 3/4 inches)
Image size: 410 x 360 mm (16 1/8 x 14 1/8 inches)
Print folder: 600 x 500 mm (25 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches)
Printed in 2011 in an edition of 100 plus 5 artist's proofs
Author: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: Press release