'There's something about the Whiteknights area that makes people stay here.' - From the Foreword by Fiona Talkington, BBC Radio 3 Presenter and long-term resident Two hundred years ago, the aptly named 'Southern Hill' that rises steeply from the edge of the river plain south of Reading was part of Whitley and largely farmland. However, its vistas, fresh air and proximity to the town led prominent Victorians to invest in and develop the area and their contributions have shaped it into the 'village within a town' that it is today. Schools, the University, hotels and a care home now occupy many of the sites originally owned by the town's famous industrialists and their elegant homes have been co-opted for community use which gives the area its unique aura of egalitarian refinement. Celebrated in the annual walking tour of artists' studios, the creative heart of the district beats stronger than ever and this book brings together 28 artists to respond in their own way and their own medium to the place we call 'Whiteknights'. And to give context to the artwork, local historians paint a fascinating picture of the Whiteknights estate that became the University campus, the buildings, the streets and the people who lived here. This joint venture from the Whiteknights Studio Trail, celebrating 20 years, and Two Rivers Press, publishing in the area for 25 years, pays tribute to the heritage we are privileged to be part of.

Food has always been a favourite subject of the world's artists, from still-lifes by Matisse and Picasso to the works of Claes Oldenberg and Andy Warhol. But how do artists eat? The Modern Art Cookbook provides a window into how both great and lesser-known modern artists, writers and poets ate, cooked, depicted and wrote about food. A cornucopia of life in the kitchen and in the studio throughout the twentieth century and beyond, the book explores a wide-ranging panoply of artworks of food, cooking and eating from Europe and the Americas - from the early moderns through the Impressionists, Symbolists, Cubists, Futurists and Surrealists up to today's art - as well as writing about food from contemporary novelists, writers and poets. Beautifully illustrated and often surprising, this new paperback edition is a joyous guide to the art of food.

Swiss artist HR Giger (1940-2014) is most famous for his creation of the space monster in Ridley Scott's 1979 horror sci-fi film Alien, which earned him an Oscar. In retrospect, this was just one of the most popular expressions of Giger's biomechanical arsenal of creatures, which consistently merged hybrids of human and machine into images of haunting power and dark psychedelia. The visions drew on demons of the past, harking back as far as Giger's earliest childhood fears as well as evoking mythologies for the future. Above all, they gave expression to the collective fears and fantasies of his age: fear of the atom, of pollution and wasted resources, and of a future in which our bodies depend on machines for survival. From surrealist dream landscapes created with a spray gun and stencils to album cover designs, from guillotine-like sculptures to self-designed bars, Giger personally guides us through his multi-faceted universe in this definitive introduction to a master of horror. Detailed reproductions and designs and a foreword by Timothy Leary complement Giger's intimate autobiographical texts. About the series Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features: a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance a concise biography approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

Louis de Carmontelle was an eighteenth-century French draftsman, painter, and garden designer. In 1783, he began painting a series of panoramas on translucent paper that, when cranked through a backlit viewing box gave viewers the experience of journeying through beautiful landscapes.Drawing from both museum and private collections, Carmontelle's "Landscape Transparencies", re-creates the original viewing experience by leading the reader through a series of full-colour scenes and two stunning panoramic gatefolds, and in the process offers a lively analysis of eighteenth-century life and a rare glimpse into the very beginnings of the moving image.