Contemporary Review

An invaluable sourcebook for both enthusiastic beginners and experienced calligraphers who wish to let their imaginations run free

A veteran art critic helps us make sense of modern and contemporary art The landscape of contemporary art has changed dramatically during the last hundred years: from Malevich's 1915 painting of a single black square and Duchamp's 1917 signed porcelain urinal to Jackson Pollock's midcentury "drip" paintings; Chris Burden's "Shoot" (1971), in which the artist was voluntarily shot in the arm with a rifle; Urs Fischer's "You" (2007), a giant hole dug in the floor of a New York gallery; and the conceptual and performance art of today's Ai Weiwei and Marina Abramovic. The shifts have left the art-viewing public (understandably) perplexed. In The Art of Looking, renowned art critic Lance Esplund demonstrates that works of modern and contemporary art are not as indecipherable as they might seem. With patience, insight, and wit, Esplund guides us through the last century of art and empowers us to approach and appreciate it with new eyes. Eager to democratize genres that can feel inaccessible, Esplund encourages viewers to trust their own taste, guts, and common sense. The Art of Looking will open the eyes of viewers who think that recent art is obtuse, nonsensical, and irrelevant, as well as the eyes of those who believe that the art of the past has nothing to say to our present.

Illuminates the craftsmanship and ingenuity of contemporary craft watchmaking. The advent of quartz technology had a huge effect on traditional watchmaking. In Switzerland, in the 1970s, tens of thousands lost their jobs in the watch industry, and for a time it looked as if a 500-year-long tradition of skills would be lost forever. Today, against the odds, artist craftsmen have triumphantly brought about the renaissance of the mechanical handmade watch. The aesthetic agenda is being set by a group of remarkable independents. This book tells their story, and it is beautifully illustrated with hundreds of examples of their virtuoso work. Here is George Daniels, who systematically set out to surpass the skills of the most celebrated watchmaker of all time, Abraham Louis Breguet. Daniels, the world’s most renowned watchmaker, has even improved upon those eighteenth-century skills by inventing a lever escapement requiring no lubrication. Svend Andersen (Denmark), Vincent Calabrese (Italy), Alain Silberstein and Vianney Halter (France), Aniceto Jiménez Pita (Spain), Marco Lang (Germany), Philippe Dufour, Antoine Preziuso, and Franck Muller (Switzerland), and Roger Smith (England) are among the other participants. In addition to the major interviews, other craftsmen and workshops from Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Holland, Finland, Ireland, and Hungary are introduced and illustrated.

A user-friendly reference for English-language readers who are eager to explore contemporary fiction from around the world. Profiling hundreds of titles and authors from 1945 to today, with an emphasis on fiction published in the past two decades, this guide introduces the styles, trends, and genres of the world's literatures, from Scandinavian crime thrillers and cutting-edge Chinese works to Latin American narco-fiction and award-winning French novels. The book's critical selection of titles defines the arc of a country's literary development. Entries illuminate the fiction of individual nations, cultures, and peoples, while concise biographies sketch the careers of noteworthy authors. Compiled by M. A. Orthofer, an avid book reviewer and the founder of the literary review site the Complete Review, this reference is perfect for readers who wish to expand their reading choices and knowledge of contemporary world fiction. “A bird's-eye view of titles and authors from everywhere―a book overfull with reminders of why we love to read international fiction. Keep it close by.”—Robert Con Davis-Udiano, executive director, World Literature Today “M. A. Orthofer has done more to bring literature in translation to America than perhaps any other individual. [This book] will introduce more new worlds to you than any other book on the market.”—Tyler Cowen, George Mason University “A relaxed, riverine guide through the main currents of international writing, with sections for more than a hundred countries on six continents.”—Karan Mahajan, Page-Turner blog, The New Yorker

Find endless inspiration with this photo guide to embroidery stitches. Discover the 120 hand-embroidery stitches that every embroiderer should have in their stitching arsenal, with clear, step-by-step photos you can come back to time and again! Contemporary needlework teacher Sharon Boggon’s forward-thinking ideas will help you view hand embroidery through a vibrant new lens. Beginners and seasoned embroiderers will gain the confidence to create new patterns by playing with the stitches—manipulating the height and width, making asymmetrical loops, stacking up designs, or filling multiple rows with the same stitch. With so many creative variations and the author’s gorgeous samplers, you’ll be inspired to incorporate new techniques in your own crazy quilts and modern projects. Essential guide to surface embroidery! 120 contemporary stitches, including left-hand stitches, with step-by-step photos See how tiny tweaks to each stitch can take your needlework to unexpected places Play up the possibilities with modern fill patterns, asymmetry, luscious texture, and crazy quilting