Briony Fer

The figure of the artist remains a central subject of investigation for Vancouver artist Rodney Graham (born 1949), who is known for straddling many vocations simultaneously: painter, photographer, writer, philosopher, actor, psychologist, scientist and musician. This new monograph, published for Graham's exhibition at the BALTIC Centre in the UK, gathers works made between 1994 and 2017--in particular his photographic lightboxes and his musical production--that focus on the self-portrait. Graham shows himself starring in various fictional roles (artist, musician, actor, lighthouse keeper, paddler, reader). In her essay, Briony Fer observes that "as much as Graham makes pictures that cohere as mise-en-sc nes, and that operate self-reflexively to speculate on the very mechanics of the image, so it is impossible to keep all the allusions in check."

In this thorough critical appraisal, 20 specialists on modern art, art history, philosophy and religious studies examine the unique art, the cultural circumstances and art-historical positioning of Swedish abstractionist Hilma af Klint. Topics explored range from early abstract art and the impact of Darwinism to Goethe’s colour theory, as well as the importance of occult religious movements such as theosophy and anthroposophy that influenced the early modernists, and discussions of af Klint’s own personal diary notes and research. The book is based on the seminars that were held in conjunction with the exhibition Hilma af Klint: A Pioneer of Abstraction in 2013. This extremely successful exhibition attracted a record number of visitors to the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, after which it continued to the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum in Berlin and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.

A comprehensive volume devoted to the major Gabriel Orozco exhibition held in Mexico City. The first overview of Orozco's practice in Mexico in more than fifteen years, this major exhibition occupies the entirety of the Museo Jumex. Curated by Briony Fer, the exhibition takes a thematic approach to the artist's practice over the past thirty years. Each floor focuses on different aspects of Orozco's constantly evolving body of work, including relations of work and world, space and time, provisionality and process. This long-overdue publication will feature an essay by Fer and an in-depth conversation between the artist and Benjamin Buchloh, accompanied by illustrations of Orozco's masterpieces. The exhibition and publication aim to provide a comprehensive exploration of Orozco's artistic journey, highlighting key pieces from his diverse body of work, including sculptures, installations, and paintings. This initiative reflects Museo Jumex's commitment to showcasing contemporary art and fostering deeper engagement with influential artists like Orozco. Orozco's works have been included in the permanent collection of several museum institutions such as the P rez Art Museum; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Aspen Art Museum; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; San Jose Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Dallas Museum of Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Whitney Museum of American Art; Noguchi Museum; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Tate, London; and Museo Reina Sofia, Spain.

This book explores the works of one of Sweden’s most esteemed artists, Hilma af Klint, alongside others in her artistic circle – and examines their inspirational influence on contemporary artists working today. Swedish Ecstasy tells the story of renowned Swedish artist Hilma af Klint and her artistic circle as the country sought to reconcile religious beliefs with scientific advances at the turn of the 20th century. While Sweden has often been characterized as a Protestant nation of great engineers and entrepreneurs, the country’s spiritual life has long been governed by a less official current, visible in its art and literature. In the early 20th century, mysticism and esoteric speculation ran through the works of some of Sweden’s most important artistic and literary figures. This book explores these mystic visions and their meaning with this intellectual and spiritual milieu. Contemporary artists Cecilia Edefalk, Carsten Ho¨ller, Christine O¨dlund, Daniel Youssef, and Lars Olof Loeld contribute essays that show how these artworks continue to inspire today.

An unprecedented look at the little-known paintings from Louise Bourgeois’s early years in New York that laid the groundwork for her sculptural practice “The catalog Louise Bourgeois: Paintings, and the revelatory exhibition, . . . were overseen by Clare Davies, who has commissioned an insightful essay from the art historian Briony Fer. But there’s another bonus: Beyond the paintings in the show, the catalog reproduces around 25 more, meaning that three-quarters of Bourgeois’s contribution to modern painting can now be seen in one place.”—Roberta Smith, New York Times, “Best Art Books of 2022” Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) is celebrated today for her sculptures. Less known are the paintings she produced between her arrival in New York in 1938 and her turn to three-dimensional media in 1949. Crucial to her artistic practice, these early works—the focus of this groundbreaking publication—show how Bourgeois evolved her deeply personal artistic lexicon, and how the themes and motifs she explored in her paintings coalesced into symbols of her sculptural practice. Informed by new archival research and the artist’s extensive diaries, Louise Bourgeois: Paintings explores Bourgeois’s relationship to the New York art world of the 1940s and her development of a unique pictorial language, adding a key element to our understanding of this crucial artist’s career. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (April 11–August 7, 2022) New Orleans Museum of Art (September 8, 2022–January 8, 2023)

I den mest uttömmande boken om Hilma af Klint som hittills getts ut, skriver 20 specialister inom modern konst, konsthistoria, idéhistoria och religionshistoria utifrån sin unika utgångspunkt och ger sin syn på af Klints konstnärskap. Ämnena rör sig från tidig abstrakt konst och inflytandet av Darwin och Goethes färglära till betydelsen av ockulta religiösa rörelser som teosofi och antroposofi, som även influerade de tidiga modernisterna. Här finns också inslag från Hilma af Klints personliga anteckningar och efterforskningar. Boken baseras på det seminarium som hölls i samband med den häpnadsväckande framgångsrika utställningen Hilma af Klint A Pioneer of Abstraction på Moderna Museet i Stockholm 2013. Detta är en nyutgåva som innehåller ett nyskrivet bidrag av Kurt Almqvist, Hilma af Klints hemliga lära, budskap och livsåskådning, utifrån tidigare ej nyttjat källmaterial. Det bearbetar en del av historien som tidigare inte behandlats närmare: bakgrunden till Hilma af Klints lära och livsåskådning, samt utvecklingen efter hennes död 1944 och fram till bildandet av Stiftelsen Hilma af Klints verk 1972, och om den ende arvtagaren till Hilma af Klints verk, dess skapare och ende donator, antroposofen Viceamiral Erik af Klint (1901-1981). Boken har ett efterord av Daniel Birnbaum.

Volymen Att se är att inse presenterar sju serier av verk av den framstående konstnären Hilma af Klint. Dessa verk skapades under den första halvan av år 1920 och är de sista målningar af Klint gjorde innan hon övergick till akvarell och började måla i den säregna stil som lärdes ut av Rudolf Steiner och hans lärjungar. Denna antologi baseras på seminariet som hölls vid Goethe-Institut London i samband med utställningen Hilma af Klint: Painting the Unseen, som ägde rum på Serpentine Galleries under våren 2016.

The catalogue to accompany a major solo presentation of the work of the influential New York-based artist Mary Heilmann, her first in a public institution in the UK in 15 years. Born in California in 1940, Heilmann studied ceramics and poetry before moving to New York in 1968 and taking up painting. A pioneer of infusing abstract painting with influences from craft traditions and popular culture (especially rock music and California’s beach culture), Heilmann is one of the most important yet still underrecognised artists working today. This publication explores Heilmann’s approach to abstraction from two distinct but interrelated perspectives: the formal and the personal. The personal is reflected in the title Looking at Pictures, named after a section in the artist’s memoir The All Night Movie (1999), in which she writes, `Each of my paintings can be seen as an autobiographical marker’, clearly represented here through works that relate to moments in the artist’s friendships, memories of places where she has lived or spent time and her love of music and film. The juxtaposing formal aspect of her work is also explored, most evidently in her early paintings of grids and squares rendered in primary colours and in works that are based on architectural or interior planes, such as doors and mirrors. As well as new essays by Lydia Yee (Chief Curator, Whitechapel Gallery) and Briony Fer (Professor of History of Art, University College London), and writings by the artist on key works, the publication will feature 100 beautiful full-colour illustrations of paintings, works on paper, furniture and ceramics from Heilmann’s five-decade career.