One of four posters from Jenny Holzer and Peter Nadin's Living Series (1981); a public artwork produced for Lyon's Nouveau Musée, in tribute to Mondrian and Barnett Newman. For more, see number 8 below.

Harper's Books: September Selections

A monthly list of selections from our Harper's Books team, relating to post-War art, photography, and subculture. Click the links for additional images and purchasing options. To browse similar materials, visit our Chelsea bookshop at 504 West 22nd Street (Wednesday through Saturday, 11-6).

1. BARNEY, Matthew and Elizabeth Peyton

Matthew Barney, Elizabeth Peyton: Blood of Two (16 June 2009)

Athens: Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, 2009. First Edition. Quarto. An impressive artist's catalogue, produced for the inaugural installation at the Deste Foundation's new project space in Hydra, on the site of the island's former slaughterhouse. Over the course of six months, Matthew Barney and Elizabeth Peyton pursued their first collaboration, dreaming up a ritual space—and dramatic opening procession—centered around a glass coffin submerged into the sea for three months, filled with Peyton's pencil-and-blood drawings of animals and gods. Their project documented here through stunning exhibition photography, with a number of the photographs credited to Peyton herself; the images interspersed with a virtuosic essay from Angus Cook. Contents: [142] pages; text in both English and Greek sections. Some rubbing to edges of perfectbound wrappers, with shallow bump to top edge of textblock; close to near fine.

$250.00

2. BOURGEOIS, Louise

Point d'Ironie, No. 14

Paris: Agnès B., 1999. First Edition. Folio. For her contribution to Agnès B.'s Point d'Ironie series of artist's publications, Louise Bourgeois ruminates on the lost Bièvre river of her childhood, with a series of full-bleed archival photographs accompanied by a melancholic text: "But the river was gone. Only the trees that my father had planted along its edge remained as a witness." Edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist. Contents: [8] pages; full-bleed black-and-white images. Horizontal fold, with minimal handling; close to fine.

$150.00

3. DICKHOFF, Wilfried (curator) / Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Ed Ruscha, Rosemarie Trockel, Andy Warhol, et al.

What It Is (Exhibition Catalogue)

New York: Tony Shafrazi Gallery, 1986. First Edition. Quarto. An ambitious catalogue from German critic Wilfried Dickhoff, published on the occasion of his curated group show at Tony Shafrazi's Mercer Street gallery (Sep. 13 - Oct. 12, 1986). Contextualizing contemporary works from the likes of Armleder, Baechler, Basquiat, Condo, Haring, Mosset, Oehlen, Ruscha, Schnabel, Trockel, and Warhol, Dickhoff here assembles a montage of images, reviews, and artist's statements, alongside two translated texts from Gottfried Benn; seeking to articulate a style of the future. Contents: 60 glossy pages. Minor creasing to stapled wrappers, with bump to lower corner of front panel; close to near fine.

$350.00

4. DUNN, Cheryl

Bicycle Gangs of New York (with DVD)

New York: PUMA, 2004. First Edition. Narrow quarto. Photobook supplement to Cheryl Dunn's 2004 short film, Bicycle Gangs of New York, following a diverse range of activist groups at the height of the Critical Mass movement: e.g. Bicycle Cherries, Black Label, Chick Chack Messengers, Chunk 666, Denim Venom, Puerto Rican Schwinn Club, Recumbants, The Landlords, The L.E.S. Darkness, and the Unicyclist. Illustrated after full-bleed images, with some foldouts; includes DVD version of the film (24 minutes), cleverly tabbed to rear endpaper as bicycle wheel. A fine copy in illustrated boards.

$100.00

5. EGGLESTON, William

William Eggleston: Chromes (Signed)

Göttingen: Steidl, 2011. First Edition. Quarto. Three volumes. A key moment in Steidl's exploration of William Eggleston's career, Chromes assembles over 5000 Kodachrome and Ektachrome photographs, sourced from the same group of binders from which William Eggleston's Guide was first produced. This set SIGNED by Eggleston in black marker to title page of first volume (dated 2022). A fine set in cloth boards with color images affixed to front panels, in fine cloth slipcase.

$2500.00

6. GUYTON, Wade

The Undoing (Signed Artist's Book)

New York: Matthew Marks Gallery, 2021. Limited Edition. Small quarto. Artist's book from Wade Guyton, supplementing his exhibition at Matthew Marks, Los Angeles (May 22 - Aug. 14, 2021); from the first wave of post-lockdown exhibitions. On loose cardboard sheets (9.75 x 8 inches) printed on his studio's inkjet printer, Guyton here reproduces each of the 26 Covid-era paintings exhibited in the show; inventory codes stamped to versos. Colophon SIGNED by Guyton and numbered 008 of 440. Contents: 29 leaves, all housed in stapled cardstock box with printed titles. A fine copy.

$850.00

7. HERMS, George and Wallace Berman (designer)

George Herms Exhibition (Poster)

San Francisco: Batman Gallery, [1961]. Broadside print; red and black to newsprint sheet (19 x 13.75 inches). Exhibition poster for one of George Herms' first solo shows, at San Francisco's legendary Batman Gallery (May 3 - Jun. 3, 1961). Illustrated after a photograph of a shirtless Herms, with cop hat and glasses, standing beside his rubbish humanoid Hugo, The Aquarian (1961). Poster boldly-designed by Herms' associate in the West Coast assemblage movement, Wallace Berman. A remarkably fine copy; scarce, with 2 OCLC records located.

$1500.00

8. HOLZER, Jenny and Peter Nadin

Living Series (Set of 4 Screenprints)

Lyon, France: Le Nouveau Musée, 1981. Complete set of 4 screenprint posters (23.5 x 15.75 inches), issuing from Jenny Holzer's first European campaign. In collaboration with Peter Nadin—her colleague in The Offices—Holzer continued to explore the pseudo-authority of her Living cycle; combining her anxious texts with a rotating selection of Nadin's simplified drawings. This colorful series of four screenprints was pasted within the Press Room of Lyon's New Museum, as well as in the crowded streets of the city's election campaign; these French permutations of image/text differing from those published in the duo's artist's book Eating through Living (1981). This set preserved in remarkably fine condition. Scarce, with no OCLC records located.

$4500.00

9. JAFA, Arthur

Love is the Message, the Message is Death

New York: Gavin Brown's Enterprise, 2016. First Edition. Small quarto. Book adaptation of Arthur Jafa's seven minute video reflection on the 20th century Black experience, which premiered at Gavin Brown's Harlem gallery soon-after the 2016 Presidential election (Nov. 12 - Dec. 18, 2016). Illustrated after full-bleed photographs, with texts by Greg Tate and Christina Elizabeth Sharpe. A fine copy in boards.

$500.00

10. KUSAMA, Yayoi

Yayoi Kusama (Set of Green and Red Variants)

Tokyo: Sogetsu Art Museum / Committee of the Exhibition of Yayoi Kusama, 1992. First Edition. Quarto. Elaborate catalogue published on the occasion of Yayoi Kusama's 1992 retrospective held at Tokyo's Sogetsu Art Museum (Sep. 21 - Oct. 31) and the Niigata City Art Museum (Nov. 7 - Dec. 13); one of a number of exhibitions from the late 1980s and early 1990s that brought Kusama back to international attention, culminating in her landmark Japanese Pavilion at the 1993 Venice Biennale. The catalogue here present in both of its variant neon bindings, with boards bound in fuzzy green and red felt and reflective silver lettering. Thoroughly illustrated, mostly in color, with a series of critical texts in Japanese; one of which is translated into English ("The World of Kusama Yayoi: From the Obliteration to the Emancipation of Self"). Fine copies with loose errata sheet and corrections to photography credits (one printed, one manuscript); some wear to vintage acetate jackets.

$1500.00

11. LEITER, Saul

Early Color

Göttingen: Steidl, 2006. First Edition. Square octavo. Lush reproductions of Saul Leiter's masterful street photography (1948-1960); introduced by essay from Martin Harrison, with special focus on the technical and formal challenges of early color photography. Handful of pencil annotations recording relevant auction results, else a near fine copy in red cloth boards, in fine photo-illustrated jacket.

$350.00

12. MARDEN, Brice / Lehman Brothers (sponsor)

Plane Image: A Brice Marden Retrospective (with Lehman Bros. Bookplate)

New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2007. First Edition. Quarto. An impressive monograph published on the occasion of MoMA's Brice Marden retrospective (Oct. 29, 2006 - Jan. 15, 2007), curated by Gary Garrels. Illustrated with 172 color plates, accompanied by texts from Michael Duffy, Garrels, Carol Mancusi-Ungaro, Brenda Richardson, and Richard Schiff. This copy with silver Lehman Brothers gift-plate affixed to front endpaper; the investment bank being the lead sponsor for the exhibition, less than two years before its infamous 2008 bankruptcy. A fine copy in blind-stamped cloth boards, in near fine illustrated jacket.

$250.00

13. MORRISROE, Mark

Untitled [Nude Portraits of Pat]

[Paris, circa 1981]. A pair of Polaroid photographs (4.25 x 3.25 inches) from Mark Morrisroe, each stamped to verso with Estate stamps (unsigned), with inventory numbers inscribed in pencil (597 and 602, respectively). The model here almost certainly being Pat Hearn, during her 1981 residency in Paris; three images from the same shoot are published in Ringier's monograph on Morrisroe (p. 288), with the model identified as Pat, while a 1985 collage by Morrisroe incorporates a similar image with the Man Ray-inspired inscription: "Pat as Kiki, Fall 81, Paris." Save for wear typical of Morrisroe's Polaroids, this set well preserved; near fine.

$8500.00

14. NAUMAN, Bruce and Rudolph Burckhardt

From Hand to Mouth (Gallery Photograph)

New York: Leo Castelli, 1967. Gelatin silver print (10 x 7.25 inches). Gallery photograph issuing from Rudy Burckhardt's commercial practice, documenting Bruce Nauman's wax sculpture From Hand to Mouth (1967). Photographer's hand-stamp to verso, along with typescript labels from both Leo Castelli and the Whitney Museum, where the work was exhibited during their early Nauman survey (Mar. 30 - May 13, 1973), on loan from Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Helman. The work is now part of the Hirshhorn collection; seldom represented as well as Burkhardt's effort here. Minor scuffing to verso, with slightest bump to upper corner; near fine.

$850.00

15. TWOMBLY, Cy / Heiner Bastian (editor)

Cy Twombly: Zeichnungen, 1953-1973

Berlin: Propyläen, 1973. First Edition. Quarto. One of the more elusive Cy Twombly publications, faithfully documenting his early works on paper (1953-1973). With an introductory text from Heiner Bastian, a selected bibliography, and color reproductions of ninety works, arranged in chronological order. Text in German. A near fine copy in gray cloth boards. Illustrated jacket with typical toning to margins, and some peeling to laminate at bottom of front panel; close to near fine. An overall pleasing copy, with original cardstock slipcase.

$1250.00

16. WOJNAROWICZ, David, Richard Kern, et al.

Dumb Fucker #4

New York: H.A. Products / Montanaprinnerz, 1981. First Edition. Octavo. The first of three issues of the newly-titled Dumb Fucker zine, which numerically followed three volumes of The Valium Addict. Editing and layout from Richard Kern, with No Wave contributions from Kern, Ronnie Burk, Tom Turner, and a short story by David Wojnarowicz, recounting a sexual encounter in an East Village park, interrupted by a police officer. Contents: [44] pages; stapled self-wrappers. Some rusting to staples, from which the covers have come loose; an otherwise sharp copy of this uncommon Downtown zine.

$500.00

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