Takashi Murakami (b. 1962), one of contemporary art s most widely recognized exponents, receives a long-awaited critical consideration in this important volume. Accompanying the first retrospective exhibition devoted solely to Murakami s paintings, this book traces Murakami s career from his earliest training to his current studio practice. Where other books address the commercial aspects of Murakami s work, this is the first serious survey of his work as a painter. Through essays and illustrations many previously unpublished it explores the artist s relationship to the tradition of Japanese painting and his facility in straddling high and low, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, commercial and high art. New texts address Murakami s output in the context of postwar Japan, situating the artist in relation to folklore, traditional Japanese painting, the Tokyo art scene in the 1980s and 1990s, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. This richly illustrated volume also includes a detailed biography and exhibition history. Takashi Murakami is a true essential for collectors and fans alike.

A beautifully produced, comprehensive examination of acclaimed American artist Sarah Sze's painting practice Since the late 1990s, Sarah Sze has developed a signature visual language that challenges the static nature of art with a dynamic body of work spanning sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, video and installation. In recent years, Sze has returned to painting, the medium in which she was first trained. Comprising constellations of painted and collaged elements, her expansive abstract landscapes explore a visual world that is constantly evolving, degrading, and generating new ways of seeing. This book, created in close collaboration with Sze, is the first monograph devoted to her painting practice.

Alfredo Jaar's immersive site-specific installation in the Chilean pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale, Venezia Venezia is a call to examine how today's culture, composed of increasingly complex global networks, can be adequately represented on a world stage.This publication features essays by 18 prominent, international authors from different fields of work and thought, including political and philosophical thinkers, critics, theorists, art historians and curators. Their contributions consider Venezia Venezia in its critical context, as well d recent global developments and the volatile conditions of contemporary art practice.