Upholstered pieces of furniture are familiar to all of us as more or less constant companions of everyday life. Upholstery is comfortable, it conveys security and promises comfort, it has a specific design, asserts or creates status and tells a (hi)story. We rarely consider its interior. At the same time, a view into the hidden content of chairs and armchairs is a journey into secrets, into lashed and sprung constructions that prove to be unknown masterpieces of craftsmanship. Deep-Seated. The Secret Art of Upholstery explores furniture and its interiors and explains why upholstery is always also a part of cultural and social history. With contributions by Thomas Andersch, Maximilian Busch, Cordula Fink, Thomas Rudi, Stefanie Seeberg, Thomas Schriefers, Xenia Schurmann, and a foreword by Olaf Thormann. Text in English and German.

In 2008 and 2013 the GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts in Leipzig presented two representative inventory publications under the title Vessel / Sculpture. German and International Ceramics since 1946, which attracted great interest from across the globe and were regarded as standard reference works. This third volume continues the series, against a backdrop of a renewed and extensive increase of modern studio ceramics in the museum's collection. As in the previous publications, the objects in the book enter into aesthetic dialogues, thus facilitating interesting perspectives in the development of artistic ceramics up to the present day. In doing so it becomes clear how ceramic objects are developing from a servient-functional gesture into ever consistent autonomous artworks yet without necessarily losing the vessel theme. Its multitude of current artists' biographies and illustrations of makers' marks make this a highly recommendable reference work. Text in English and German.

Jewellery art is a small but easily discernible voice amid the great choir that is the art scene. It has been the impetus for innovation and a seismograph for current discourse within the applied arts for several decades. Now, for the first time, the GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts is presenting its holdings of modern jewellery, ranging from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. Analysed and assembled, it provides insights into the multifaceted oeuvres of around 180 jewellery artists from around the world. The collection is broadly representative of the international developments in jewellery art and as such it especially grants a special view of the approaches from GDR before the unification. Images by 11 photographers from Leipzig show just how varied and versatile the perception of jewellery on a person can be. Text in English and German.

Analogue photography is enjoying a revival. Whereas digital photography is predominantly used for documentary and everyday purposes, its analogue counterpart is becoming increasingly popular as an artistic and experimental medium. This catalogue showcases the wide variety of contemporary trends in analogue photography as exemplified by individual and serial works, as well as photographic installations. Produced by 24 artists from German-speaking countries, the works are grouped into four thematic sections that illustrate different facets of this art form, all with a distinct focus on the material and experimental uses of light, chemical ingredients, and technique. The publication highlights contemporary takes on photograms, chemigrams, and lumen printing, which all hark back to the early days of photography. Silver daguerreotypes and ambrotypes of modern-day sceneries create a disturbing anachronistic effect. Yet other artists employ very different forms of photography that go beyond simple cameras. The catalogue also includes artistic positions that blur the boundaries between analogue and digital photography, e.g., by interacting with artificial intelligence, collaborating with digital machines, and transposing digital images into analogue pictures. The show includes work by: Sylvia Ballhause, Eun Sun Cho, Günter Derleth, Jana Dillo, Tine Edel, Alexander Gehring, Spiros Hadjidjanos, Alexander Kadow, Georgia Krawiec, Martin Kreitl, Antje Kröger, Ute Lindner, Lilly Lulay, Harald Mairböck, Florian Merkel, Falk Messerschmidt, Elisabeth Moritz, Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Helena Petersen, René Schäffer, Karoline Schneider, Regina Stiegeler, Claus Stolz, Ria Wank. Text in English and German.

For centuries ceramics have been a central feature of Chinese art and culture. They were employed in everyday life and served as both ritualistic and funerary objects. Dr Heribert Meurer's pre-eminent collection of 174 high-quality pieces dating from 1050 BCE to AD 1280 - which up until now has remained unpublished - offers an impressive panorama of the artefacts' roles, as well as the vessel forms and techniques of early Chinese ceramic art, complemented by over 30 objects from the GRASSI Museum Leipzig, where the collection was endowed in 2017. The focal points of the collection are the ceramics of the Tang and Song dynasties. Examples of the popular Sancai (tricolour) lead glaze, Celadon porcelain from Yueyao, Yaozhou and Longquan and Changsha ware, so-called Jian black porcelain from Jianyang Prefecture and Quingbai ware from the southern kiln sites of the Song era illustrate the wealth, diversity, high quality and exceptional appeal of early Chinese ceramics. Text in German.