This new collection of Richard Flood's written work from over the past 40 years reveals an original and rigorous connection to the world of ideas and beauty and the critical and aesthetic experience of our present times. Drawing from his broad knowledge of history, cinema, literature, poetry, design and architecture, Flood's writings combine the autobiographical with the theoretical, presenting an intimate understanding of renowned contemporary artists. Throughout many of the essays, Flood draws on personal correspondence between himself and the artist, including an annotated conversation with Paul Thek discussing his fabricated works of wax 'raw meat' facsimiles embedded in luxurious Plexiglas cases; four interviews with Robert Gober during the 1990s, offering vivid accounts of his sculptural and creative process; and a detailed description of a portrait sitting at Michael Landy's studio. Flood's significant essay on Arte Povera, co-authored with Frances Morris, is also reproduced, providing evidence of his ability to write in multiple ways.

This book brings together works from one of the most important private collections of modern and contemporary art, the D. Daskalopoulos Collection with key pieces from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Providing a new context for both collections, it specifically focuses on the theme of the body, investigating the many and varied approaches that artists have taken across several decades when dealing with this most fundamental of subjects. Highlighting the work of artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Louise Bourgeois, Joseph Beuys, Robert Gober, Matthew Barney, Marina Abramovic and Sarah Lucas, the publication documents the confrontations and dialogues staged between the two collections, and provides a rich insight into one of the most compelling and provocative themes in twentieth- and twenty-first century visual art.