Shaheen Merali's oeuvre extends from large-scale installations to remapping colonial history through collages and batiks. Acutely aware of how popular culture acts as a carrier of social prejudice and invective, his work is exercised specifically by the racial and racist content of popular culture. Whether it's his series of life-size paper constructions of black celebrities or his use of flowerpots and toys to represent people of colour, Merali explores and questions the relationship between racist desire and disgust, between consumer goods and art fetishes, between the sweet icing of kitsch and brutal racist violence. Through his work, it becomes clear that the most trivial objects of amusement carry an inordinate wealth of history, knowledge and prejudice. "Blackpop" covers the last decade of his work while referring to earlier work of the 1980s, with an introduction by the artist, Dave Beech, and essays by art historian Jean Fisher, film historian Adrian Rifkin, and film-maker Hito Stereyl.

The Swami Vivekananda's speech to the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 is the centerpiece of Indian artist Jitish Kallat's new work, Public Notice 3. The installation went on view at the Art Institute of Chicago on September 11, 2010, exactly 108 years after Vivekananda delivered his groundbreaking address calling for an end to "bigotry and fanaticism." The text of the speech appears on the risers of the Art Institute of Chicago's Grand Staircase where it is illuminated in the five colors-red, orange, yellow, blue, and green-designated by the United States Homeland Security Advisory System to signify threat levels. This companion book, which documents the installation, is the first full-scale exploration of Kallat's work published by a North American institution. Along with an interview with the artist, essays contextualize Public Notice 3 within the space of the installation and evaluate Kallat's oeuvre within an international context. Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago Exhibition Schedule: The Art Institute of Chicago (09/11/10-09/11/11)