POWER, DESIRE, SOCIAL JUSTICE, REPRESENTATION, BEAUTY, AND COMPASSION Widely considered to be one of the most influential American living artists, Carrie Mae Weems has developed a practice celebrated for her exploration of cultural identity, power dynamics, desire, intimacy and social justice through a body of work that challenges the prevailing representations of race, gender, and class. Defined by the use of photography, installation, film, performance and textile, her remarkably diverse and radical practice questions dominant ideologies and historical narratives created and disseminated within science, architecture, and mass media. Published in the context of her solo exhibitions at Barbican Art Gallery London and Kunstmuseum Basel, this book brings together a selection of Weems’ own writings, lectures, and conversations for the first time, providing personal insights into themes such as the consequences of power, artistic appropriation, music as inspiration, history-making, and the normative role of architecture.

Visualizing Hidden Structures in Art and Society In her artistic practice, Andrea Buttner combines art history with social and ethical issues. Since the early 2000s, she has been exploring a wide range of themes such as work, poverty, shame and care in monastic forms of coexistence, but also arts and crafts as a political field. Examining the ambivalent tension between aesthetics and ethics, the internationally renowned artist uses various conceptual methods. Best known for her large-scale woodcuts, Buttner has since used a variety of media, including etching, painting, photography and video installations, glass art and textiles. For her publications and exhibitions, Buttner composes her works thematically to create site-specific installations that can be experienced as gradually unfolding narratives.

Charmion von Wiegand started painting figuratively in 1926, when she received encouragement from her friend and painter, Joseph Stella. After being hired as an American reporter based in Soviet Moscow from 1929 to 1932, von Wiegand established herself as a preeminent art critic who embraced progressive ideas. She moved back to New York City in 1932 and became immersed in the avant-garde movement. Von Wiegand developed a close circle of friends including Hans Richter, Carl Holty, and John Graham. In 1941, when she met and befriended Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, she changed her painting style completely and was finally considered an artist in her own right. Highly influenced by his work, von Wiegand became interested in combining abstraction, Theosophy, and Eastern religions including her adoptive religion, Buddhism. The result was modern geometric abstract paintings that were imbued with Eastern imagery. This comprehensive volume on von Wiegand showcases gloriously illustrated works from all phases of her career. It also contains insightful essays and an array of previously unpublished material from the artist's archives, including correspondence with Mondrian.