Leon Keer is the master of optical illusion. The 'Dutch JR' plays with perspectives and creates a whole new world. One in which Snow White is stuck under a door. Or a world in which you unexpectedly enter a seventies living room. This is his first monograph. He allows the reader an exclusive look into his world and imagination. How does he work? And how does a wild idea develop into a gigantic 3D artwork?

Diamond jewelry has long been symbolic of political power and authority in Europe. This book focuses on the individuals who commissioned and wore extraordinarily precious diamond ornaments from the mid-14th century until the ‘democratization’ of diamonds that followed the opening of mines in South Africa in 1867. This enthralling story covers seven centuries of history, showing the way in which rulers such as Charles V of France, Queen Elizabeth I of Great Britain, Louis XIV of France and Catherine II of Russia used diamond jewelry to reinforce their power and authority. As works of art, these precious creations mirror the successive styles of each period – late Gothic naturalism, the culture of the Renaissance, Baroque splendour, Rococo elegance and the Imperial grandeur of the First and Second Napoleonic Empires. The recurring themes – religion, sentiment, heraldry, military glory, miniatures and cameo portraiture – are reinterpreted by each generation of jewelers. Like royal dress, diamond jewelry was worn to dazzle and impress – at weddings, coronations, christenings and state visits – and was presented as gifts reflecting princely generosity. Over the centuries, these displays proved remarkably successful as instruments of government, symbolizing the pride and glory of a nation. Arranged chronologically, Diamond Jewelry includes some legendary masterpieces of diamond jewelry. Written by an acknowledged expert, it offers an intriguing overview of one of the world’s most precious gems.

Reading Siva is an illustrated bibliography on the Hindu god Siva in the arts, crafts, coins, seals and inscriptions from South and Southeast Asia. It results from a century of ABIA bibliographic work and covers over 1500 academic publications since 1672. This scholarly and multi-disciplinary volume offers keyword-indexed annotations. The detailed indices on authors, geographic terms and subjects enable an easy search through the data. Links with the entries to resource repositories (such as JSTOR, Persee, Project MUSE, Academia.edu, ResearchGate and the Internet Archive) and links added to the sumptuous illustrations immediately take you to these resource sites.

Painter, draftsman and engraver, Pierre Lesieur (1922-2011) was one of the most influential French artists of the second half of the 20th century. Trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris - where he took lessons from Andre Lhote - and at the Academie de Montmartre, he had his first exhibition in 1952. Lesieur's paintings of the 1950s are characterised by the use of brightly coloured areas, in line with the work of Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard. In the 1960s, this research bordered on abstraction, particularly in still lifes and representations of objects. From the 1970s onwards, through his paintings and drawings, Lesieur took a particular interest in interiors, as well as in portraits and female nudes. Early in his career, Pierre Lesieur was recognised as an important artist. After his first personal exhibition in 1952, his work was regularly shown at the Coard Gallery in Paris. From the 1990s, Lesieur's notoriety became international, resulting in further exhibitions in Japan and the United States. Some of his works are now housed in major museums such as the Center Pompidou, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Hiroshima Museum. Text in English and French.

Since the nineties, Walter Van Beirendonck has been fascinated with masks. They change your identity, invoke a certain atmosphere and have an instant impact. Many artists, among whom are Andre Breton, Pablo Picasso and even Brueghel, have been influenced by them. Power Mask - The Power of Masks elaborates on the many different aspects of masks: the link between Western art and African masks, the supernatural aspect, rituals about masks, masks in fashion or as a fetish...Walter Van Beirendonck is "a truly engaged visionary and a passionate designer, artist and teacher." - Jurgi Persoons, fashion designer. "Walter Van Beirendonck succeeded where I have failed; he turned me into a muscle-man instantly. He is a true artist and there's not many of them around." - Bono, lead singer of U2. "Come along and take a ride into the crazy helter-skelter, inside-out, upside-down world of Walter Van Beirendonck. Colours and shapes reach psychedelic dimensions to charm and astound you." - Stephen Jones, milliner. This book accompanies an expo in the Wereldmuseum (World Museum) Rotterdam, from 1 September 2017 until 7 January 2018.

The art and science of audiovisual preservation and access has evolved at breakneck speed in the digital age. The Joint Technical Symposium (JTS) is organized by the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations and brings experts from around the world to learn of technologies and developments in the technical issues affecting the long-term survival and accessibility of audiovisual collections. This collection of essays is derived from presentations made at the 2016 JTS held in Singapore and presents an overview of the latest audiovisual preservation methods and techniques, archival best practices in media storage, as well as analog-to-digital conversion challenges and their solutions.

This text is the exhibition book that accompanies the film installation and solo exhibition of Childhood's End shown at the Norwich Gallery, Norwich School of Art and Design, in 2000. The book includes interviews with David Cross and Matthew Cornford about the genesis, preparation and filming of the project. The project involved a skille dpiolet and an expensive fighter jet drawing a crude flawed untenable political statement in the sky.

The installation "Upper Room" comes from over three years of exploration into the concepts of image, self-worth and beauty. It has been an incredible journey producing the work. For many of the women who took part it has been a road into self-evaluation and liberation. The dialogue that is contained within the piece tells the story of this and is flooded with the excitement and enthusiasm that had been part of the collaboration required to produce the piece. There is of course, the darker side of self-doubt and hurt that seem to go hand-in-hand with the consideration of self-image. Upper Room, explores the concepts of beauty, self-worth and faith. The work is a song to challenge the prevailing voice of many contemporary attitudes towards women and body image. It is intended to empower women to believe in who they are and all that they have been given in God. It is a celebration that could just as easily be titled "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made." Deborah works full time from her art studio in the beautiful Stowe Gardens, in Buckingham. She has used her work within the church context for many years helping other to access their faith through creativity and artistic engagement.

The autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini was started in the year 1558 at the age of 58 and ended abruptly just before his last trip to Pisa around the year 1563 when Cellini was approximately 63 years old. The memoirs give a detailed account of his singular career, as well as his loves, hatreds, passions, and delights, written in an energetic, direct, and racy style.

"A beautiful, intricate meditation on creativity and discovery, on fire and rebirth." --Elizabeth Gilbert

Awestruck at the sight of a Grinling Gibbons carving in a London church, David Esterly chose to dedicate his life to woodcarving--its physical rhythms, intricate beauty, and intellectual demands. Forty years later, he is the foremost practitioner of Gibbons's forgotten technique, which revolutionized ornamental sculpture in the late 1600s with its spectacular cascades of flowers, fruits, and foliage.

After a disastrous fire at Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace, Esterly was asked to replace the Gibbons masterpiece destroyed by the flames. It turned out to be the most challenging year in Esterly's life, forcing him to question his abilities and delve deeply into what it means to make a thing well. Written with a philosopher's intellect and a poet's grace, "The Lost Carving" explores the connection between creativity and physical work and illuminates the passionate pursuit of a vocation that unites head and hand and heart.

A classic tale retold for 21st century London. A tale of love and tragedy, indulgence and excess. Having wowed audiences at Kilburn's Cock Tavern in a record-breaking, sell-out six-month run, Soho Theatre takes on opera for the very first time as Puccini's "La Boheme" is retold for contemporary Soho with a talented, classically trained young cast.

"Yellow Future" examines the emergence and popularity of techno-oriental representations in Hollywood cinema since the 1980s, focusing on the ways East Asian peoples and places have become linked with technology to produce a collective fantasy of East Asia as the future. Jane Chi Hyun Park demonstrates how this fantasy is sustained through imagery, iconography, and performance that conflate East Asia with technology, constituting what Park calls oriental style.
Park provides a genealogy of oriental style through contextualized readings of popular films-from the multicultural city in "Blade Runner "and the Japanese American mentor in "The Karate Kid" to the Afro-Asian reworking of the buddy genre in "Rush Hour "and the mixed-race hero in "The Matrix." Throughout these analyses Park shows how references to the Orient have marked important changes in American popular attitudes toward East Asia in the past thirty years, from abjection to celebration, invisibility to hypervisibility.
Unlike other investigations of racial imagery in Hollywood, "Yellow Future "centers on how the Asiatic is transformed into and performed as style in the backdrop of these movies and discusses the significance of this conditional visibility for representations of racial difference.

A clear, practical introduction to sculpture, filled with instructions and ideas for projects that will guide and inspire students and teachers alike. Originally published in 1929, this remastered edition draws upon the author's twenty years of teaching experience. Illustrated examples demonstrate working techniques for clay, plaster, stone and bronze, whilst the history of sculpture is introduced through a range of masterpieces reaching back to classical times. From delicate natural forms to the challenges of the human figure, Modelling and Sculpture will help your most creative ideas take shape.

ANDY GOLDSWORTHY: TOUCHING NATURE DESCRIPTION

A new and revised edition of our best-selling book on Andy Goldsworthy. A completely rewritten exploration of the sculptor, updated to include recent works such as Night Path (2002) and Chalk Stones (2003) in Sussex, Three Cairns (2002) on the American East and West coasts, Stone Houses (2004) and Garden of Stones (2003) in Gotham, Passage (2005) in London, and Slate Domes (2005) in Washington, DC.

Known as a land, earth, nature or environmental artist, Andy Goldsworthy works with(in) nature. He uses natural materials in natural shapes and forms often set in natural contexts (but also in cities, towns, parks, sculpture parks, and many spaces created or adapted by people). FROM THE INTRODUCTION

In the 1990s, Andy Goldsworthy s art began to rise in popularity: the glossy coffee table book Stone became a bestseller (bear in mind it was then priced at $55). In 1994 Goldsworthy took over some West End galleries with a large one-man show. In 1995 he was part of an intriguing group show at the British Museum (Time Machine), creating sculptures, along with Richard Deacon, Peter Randall-Page and others, in amongst the monumental statuary of the famous Egyptian Hall. Also in 1995, Goldsworthy designed a set of Royal Mail stamps (and again in 2003). Digne in France became an increasingly important Goldsworthy location, with shows in 1995, 1997 and 2000). Prestigious commissions occurred in the US from the mid-1990s onwards. For instance: the giant Wall at Storm King Art Center in 1998; the Three Cairns on the East and West Coasts and Iowa in 2001-02; the stone houses at the Metropolitan Museum in Gotham in 2004; the monument to the Holocaust (also in New York) in 2003; and the slate domes in Washington, DC in 2005. Goldsworthy continues to work in countries such as Japan, Australia, Holland, Canada, North America and France (with France and the US becoming primary centres of Goldsworthy activity), but his home ground of Dumfriesshire in Scotland remains (at) the heart of his work.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

William Malpas has written books on Richard Long and land art, as well as three books on Andy Goldsworthy, including the forthcoming Andy Goldsworthy In America. Malpas s books on Richard Long and Andy Goldsworthy are the only full-length studies of these artists available.

By the late Bronze Age the Irish had become masters in metalworking anf the range of objects produced was in stark contrast to those of the earlie Bronze Age. This study presents a comprehensive analysis and reconstruction of late Bronze Age metalworking practices through artefactual evidence and also experimental work and ethnography. Simon O Faolain's research draws on evidence of raw metal/ingots, clay crucible remains, moulds, wooden templates, metalworking equipment as well as the finished objects themselves, and archaeological evience for sites associated with metal production or associated ritual activities. (A catalogue of metalworking sites is given at the back.) Particular attention is paid to the production of late Bronze Age swords. All the evidence is then summarised and placed within the context of metalworking practices, technology, the organisation of production and late Bronze Age society,

The ancient Mesoamerican city of Izapa in Chiapas, Mexico, is renowned for its extensive collection of elaborate stone stelae and altars, which were carved during the Late Preclassic period (300 BC-AD 250). Many of these monuments depict kings garbed in the costume and persona of a bird, a well-known avian deity who had great significance for the Maya and other cultures in adjacent regions. This Izapan style of carving and kingly representation appears at numerous sites across the Pacific slope and piedmont of Mexico and Guatemala, making it possible to trace political and economic corridors of communication during the Late Preclassic period.

In this book, Julia Guernsey offers a masterful art historical analysis of the Izapan style monuments and their integral role in developing and communicating the institution of divine kingship. She looks specifically at how rulers expressed political authority by erecting monuments that recorded their performance of rituals in which they communicated with the supernatural realm in the persona of the avian deity. She also considers how rulers used the monuments to structure their built environment and create spaces for ritual and politically charged performances. Setting her discussion in a broader context, Guernsey also considers how the Izapan style monuments helped to motivate and structure some of the dramatic, pan-regional developments of the Late Preclassic period, including the forging of a codified language of divine kingship. This pioneering investigation, which links monumental art to the matrices of political, economic, and supernatural exchange, offers an important new understanding of a region, time period, and group of monuments that played a key role in the history of Mesoamerica and continue to intrigue scholars within the field of Mesoamerican studies.

With the aim of building up a much-needed reference collection for the determination of ancient production methods for cast bronze artefacts, a series of experiments were carried out at the University of Sheffield. This volume publishes the methodology and results of these experiments where bronze flat axes were cast using three types of moulds - sand, clay and bronze - under controlled conditions and were cooled using different techniques. The microstructure, malleability and behaviour of the copper alloy elements during melting and casting were then compared. A study with important implications for ancient production methods of cast bronze artefacts.