Friday Favorite : Amalia Pica

It’s Friday! This week’s Friday Favorite post is on an exhibition catalog by the incredible London- based Argentinian artist, Amalia Pica. We’ve been fans of Pica’s work for awhile so when we heard about this publication coming out we couldn’t wait to get our hands on it. 

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The book began with her first major solo museum show, Amalia Pica at the MCA, where approximately fifteen of her most significant works from the last seven years, in addition to new commissions, were exhibited in the United States for the first time.

DSC_0257Incorporating simple everyday objects and celebratory signifiers of celebration such as fiesta lights, flags and banners, confetti, rainbows, photocopies, lightbulbs, drinking glasses, beer bottles and cardboard Pica’s work is optimistic, colorful, poetic and beautiful.

Pica’s work is directly dealing with that the translation of symbolic language and motivated by how meaning is created and deciphered between the artist and the viewer. 

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With a similar creative energy curators João Ribas of MIT List Visual Arts Center, and Julie Rodrigues Widholm of the MCA came together to spearhead the publication with the goal of giving an in-depth look at the last ten years of Pica’s work. During this time Pica worked in close collaborative dialogue for the design and editorial process. The result is a strong visual and text based overview of her  drawings, sculptures, large-scale photographic prints, slide projections, live performances and installations.

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With 112 colorful pages,  foldout sections, radius-cut board cover with foil-blocked buckram spine and a yellow transparent PVC dust jacket the publication exudes a high level of visual, conceptual and textural stimulation. The design feels synonymous with Pica’s work, and makes for an enjoyable way to experience Pica’s work. Even the transparent greenish-yellow PVC dust jacket mimics Pica’s use of coloured gels within her work.

All in all this is a fun, interesting publication, and a perfect overview for those interested in learning more about Pica’s work. Highly recommended. 

Available for $30 in the & Pens Press online store here.

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Amalia Pica
Project: Exhibition catalogue
Publisher: MCA Chicago, Artbook | DAP
Format: 203.2 × 254 mm (8 × 10 in)
112 pages with foldout sections
Radius-cut board cover with foil-blocked buckram spine, yellow transparent PVC dust jacket
Curators: João Ribas (MIT List), Julie Rodrigues Widholm (MCA Chicago)
Director of Publications: Kate Steinmann
Editors: Lisa Meyerowitz, Molly Zimmerman-Feeley
Designers: James Goggin, Scott Reinhard
Printing: Die Keure, Bruges

Friday Favorite : Lee Yanor

Well , here we are, the first Friday of our first week of being open. In celebration of all the great new publication we’d like to share we decided to start “Friday Favorite” a weekly post featuring a new publication we are excited about. For this week’s post we are featuring a stunning new publication by Isralie photo and video artist Lee Yanor.

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In 2010 when Director and Artistic Director Pia Forsgren invited Yanor to The Jewish Theatre in Stockholm with the intention of introducing her work to the Swedish art scene, inspiration for creating a new piece in the form of a book emerged from her residency. Forsgren worked on the publication with award-winning Art Director Anders Wester, and in turn the book received a design award by Svensk Bokkonst.

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Within this 472 page book is a wide range of Yanor’s photos, emulsions, holograms and documentation of three video works: “Cloud 9,” “Small Songs” and the film Coffee with Pina, about the grande dame of postwar Europe, choreographer Pina Bausch. Accompanying the images is a thoughtful collection of texts by curator Varda Steinlauf, Madelaine Levy, editor in chief of Bon Magazine, poet Paul Celan, Pia Forsgren, Lee Yanor and others. 

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The result captures a literal and visual poetic flow of her works, leading you from page to page as if taking part in a choreographed dance in the form of printed matter. Even the newsprint-like quality of the paper adds to the ephemeral feel of the book.  A must read and see, available here.

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Lee Yanor, Publication date: July 2013
Editor: Pia Forsgren, Anders Wester and Lina Österman
Art Direction and design: Anders Wester and Fredrik Axell
Production: The Jewish Theatre

Stay tuned for next week’s Friday Favorite!