Lena Fritsch

This well-designed publication features new photographs by London-based artist Bettina von Zwehl (b.1971 in Munich). Following her graduation from the Royal College of Art in 1999, von Zwehl has completed high-profile residencies and had solo exhibitions at museums around the world, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, Freud Museum, Holburne Museum, and the New York Historical Society Museum. During a residency in Oxford, von Zwehl researched the Ashmolean’s founding collections and the many narratives embedded within the historical objects. This served as inspiration for a unique Wunderkammer book and exhibition that seamlessly transition between still-life, portraiture, monumental and miniature elements, as well as non-art objects and specimens from natural history collections. The artist's aim is to rekindle wonder and curiosity as critical tools for exploring new ideas and unique practices, expanding the boundaries of the photographic medium.

A lively introduction to the life and work of Alberto Giacometti, whose unique style and innovative vision make him one of the most significant and internationally acclaimed sculptors of the post-war era. Alberto Giacometti (1901–66) is best known for his elongated, wraithlike sculptures. Instantly recognisable and inescapably associated with the existentialist despair of his time, these unusual figures presented a vulnerable image of humanity in which a generation traumatised by the war recognised itself, but they also continue to remain intensely meaningful to contemporary society today. This book is a key introduction to the life and work of Giacometti. It follows the story of his artistic evolution, from his first sketchbooks and paintings inspired by his father’s colourful post-impressionist style to his formative experience with death that shaped his obsession with the subject throughout his career. Exploring the artist’s move towards curious surrealist compositions and the emergence of his mature style, it celebrates the enduring power of one of the most internationally acclaimed sculptors of the post-war era.

An accessible and visually rich study of Japanese photography since 1945 by an experienced curator specializing in Japanese art and culture. From the severity of post-war Realism to the diversity and technical ingenuity of the present, via movements and groups such as Vivo in the 1960s and ‘girls’ photography’ in the 1990s, this visually bold and richly volume traces the development of Japanese photography since 1945. Interleaved are new interviews with some of the most influential practitioners in photographic history, from Moriyama Daido to Araki Nobuyoshi and Kawauchi Rinko. Lena Fritsch writes with imagination and clarity, interrogating a cross-section of photographic movements and works against the vivid, shifting backdrop of Japanese social, cultural and political history. The result is both an accessible introduction and an illuminating work of analysis for general readers and aficionados alike.

Pio Abad’s artistic practice is concerned with the personal and political entanglements of objects. His wide-ranging body of work, encompassing drawing, painting, textiles, installation and text, mines alternative or repressed historical events and offers counternarratives that draw out threads of complicity between incidents, ideologies and people. Deeply informed by unfolding events in the Philippines, where the artist was born and raised, his work emanates from a family narrative woven into the nation’s story. Abad’s parents were at the forefront of the anti-dictatorship struggle in the Philippines during the 1970s and 80s and it is the need to remember this history that has shaped the foundations of his work. This beautifully designed book accompanies the Ashmolean Museum's second exhibition of its new Ashmolean NOW series, featuring the work of Pio Abad. Abad’s artistic practice is concerned with the personal and political entanglements of objects. His wide-ranging body of work, which includes drawing, painting, installation, textiles and text, mines alternative or repressed historical events, offering counternarratives. Abad's new works link narratives found in the Museum's collections and Oxford with his personal life in the UK and Philippines, where the artist was born and raised. The book features a new text by Abad and contributions by art historical experts including Dan Hicks.

The book will coincide with the first Ashmolean NOW exhibition in Gallery 8, opening in July 2023. The Ashmolean NOW Program features exciting works by prominent early to mid-career artists based in the UK, seeking to attract new audiences interested in contemporary art. Artists who have established international reputations and emerging artists whose international status is anticipated with a strong degree of confidence are approached pro-actively. In addition to exhibiting their existing works, all artists are invited to create at least one new work as a response to the museum and/or its collections. This first exhibition presents two linked solo shows: paintings/drawings by Flora Yukhnovich, and paintings/drawings by Daniel Crews-Chubb. The double-sided style of the book will mirror the exhibition concept, while presenting itself as a unique, well designed object that has a life beyond the exhibition.

Inhaltlich unver nderte Neuauflage. Die fotografische Serie Self-portrait as Actress (1996) pr sentiert den im Westen als "Appropriation Artist" gefeierten japanischen K nstler Yasumasa Morimura in der Verkleidung ber hmter Filmschauspielerinnen. Die Selbstinszenierungen kontrastieren mit dem g ngigen Sch nheitsideal des Kinos und hinterfragen die traditionelle Opposition von "Frau als Bild" versus "Mann als Blick". Die in den Werken visualisierte Identit t ist sowohl in kultureller als auch geschlechtlicher Hinsicht hybrid. Lena Fritsch gibt einf hrend einen kurzen berblick ber die Kunstszene in Japan und Morimuras Werk. Sie analysiert drei Werke der Actress-Serie und vergleicht diese mit ihren filmischen bzw. fotografischen Vorlagen. Auf welche Weise inszeniert sich Morimura als Filmstar und inwiefern ver ndert er die zitierten Bilder? Die Autorin erkl rt Parallelen und Besonderheiten der Fotografien in Hinblick auf die westliche und japanische Kulturgeschichte. Auf den Bildanalysen aufbauend stellt sie differenzierte berlegungen zur Identit t an und setzt diese in Beziehung zu postmodernen ebenso wie traditionell japanischen Theorien. Das Buch richtet sich an Kunsthistoriker, Japanologen und alle, die sich f r Identit tsfragen in unserer globalisierten Gegenwart interessieren.