From Bauhaus jewellery and West African textiles to contemporary portraiture and sculpture, this unique volume explores the rituals of making that underpin an artist's work. Accompanying an exhibition curated by the groundbreaking Nigerian-born British fashion designer Duro Olowu at Camden Art Centre, London, this book offers the opportunity to re-evaluate art and textiles from the nineteenth-century to the present. Olowu selects material by more than 60 artists from around the world, including rarely seen works by Anni Albers, Wangechi Mutu, Alice Neel, Chris Ofili and Irving Penn, and newer paintings by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. By setting up unexpected dialogues between historic and contemporary artists working in a myriad of media - textile, painting, sculpture, photography and collage - Olowu reveals a shared preoccupation with themes of gender, race, beauty, sexuality and the body. The volume includes an in-depth conversation between Olowu and artist Glenn Ligon, along with texts by Jennifer Higgie and Shanay Jhaveri, that together highlight the intricate layers of history and place that influence the making of art.

A comprehensive overview of more than two decades of Huma Bhabha's prolific and multidisciplinary output in sculpture, drawing, and photography Huma Bhabha (b. 1962 in Karachi) is known for sculptures depicting the human figure fashioned from materials ranging from clay, brick, and wood to Styrofoam, bronze, found objects, and construction materials. Such works reveal her myriad influences, including horror films, science fiction, ancient artifacts, religious reliquaries, and Neo-Expressionism. This handsome volume surveys over two decades of Bhabha's innovative sculptures, as well as her lesser-known but essential work in drawing, photography, and printmaking, all while considering her singular engagement with the human figure. Illustrated essays investigate the artist's prolific and multidisciplinary output, her historical and cultural reference points, and her frequent themes, such as war, colonialism, displacement, and the memory of home-in the artist's words, these are "eternal concerns" found across all cultures. A conversation between Bhabha and American artist Sterling Ruby offers an intimate point of entry into Bhabha's perspectives and artistic practice. Published in association with the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston Exhibition Schedule: Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (03/23/19-05/27/19)