Kuzma Vostrikov And Ajuan Song

Kuzma Vostrikov and Ajuan Song's Absolutely Augmented Reality takes as its subject the intersection of fine art, photography, and the idea of authorship through a series of richly saturated, theatrical, and symbolic images that use costume, character, and allegory to create a sense of exploration and melancholic intrigue. In this dream world of strange and alluring portraiture, the viewer is delighted by a host of archetypal images, hybrid creatures, surreal motifs, and canonical postures, as well as inversions of iconic art historic references. Appealing to fine art, design, and photography fans alike, this new book features some one hundred color images from Vostrikov and Song's previously unpublished collaborative work. Alongside the photographs it features a brief introductory text by art historian Rosa J. H. Berland and critical essays by art critic Anthony Haden-Guest and Lilly Wei, as well as two interviews with the artists conducted by Iona Whittaker and Arnau Salvadó.

Art Kane was one of the most profoundly influential photographers of the 20th century. A bold visionary, his work explored a number of genres - fashion, editorial, celebrity portraiture, travel and nudes with an unrelenting and innovative eye. Like his contemporaries, Guy Bourdin (1928-1991) and Helmut Newton (1924-2004), Kane developed a style that didn't shy away from strong colour, eroticism and surreal humour.

Anthony Haden-Guest's cunning cartoons seethe in a mashup of audacious hilarity, and sublime social commentary amidst the dangers of masked manners, the undoing of civilization and its self-absorption. They infiltrate, disrupt, subvert the chatty miscalculations, the prescribed power in words, the casual conversation unleashed to hell-bent mercy and LOL. These series of comics joyfully corrupt the display of bitchy, dismissive formalities, the brazen encounters of style and substance, whether strangers, lovers, friends or foes. There is an urgent uproar in these caricatures as they interpret for us the daily sarcasm and undermining that deprive us of our dignity and grace. The cartoons act as a truth to tyrants, authority a-holes, caressing and cherishing personal interference interactions with the choice weapon of wit. AHG gives permission for the vulnerability and influence of humor, not laughing at us, but to get us laughing together as an intimate gesture. The cartoons engage the double entendres of consciousness as a creative declaration of agency, to undo cruelty, with the humanity of laughter and parody, ultimately to free us of the perils of words. Brilliant indeed. -Karen Finley Anthony Haden-Guest Anthony Haden-Guest is a writer, reporter, cartoonist, and sporadic performer. He was born in Paris, grew up in London but is long settled in New York. As a journalist he has covered wars, the art world and the celebrity culture and his books include Bad Dreams, True Colors: The Real Life of the Art World (Grove Atlantic) and The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco and the Culture of the Night (Morrow).

“One of the most joyous and clear-eyed approaches to playing a character that I have ever read...I was already in awe of his performance; now I’m in awe of his humanity and attention to detail, and willingness to share the hard work and magic that goes into it.” —Lin-Manuel Miranda, from his Foreword Hamilton and Me is a unique, behind-the-scenes account of preparing for, rehearsing and performing in one of the most important cultural phenomena of our time. When Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking musical Hamilton opened in London’s West End in December 2017, it was as huge a hit as it had been in its original production off and on Broadway. Lauded by critics and audiences alike, the show would go on to win a record-equaling seven Olivier Awards—including Best Actor in a Musical for Giles Terera, for his portrayal of Aaron Burr. For Terera, though, his journey as Burr had begun more than a year earlier, with his first audition in New York, and continuing through extensive research and preparation, intense rehearsals, previews, and finally opening night itself. Throughout this time he kept a journal, recording his experiences of the production and the process of creating his award-winning performance. This book, Hamilton and Me, is that journal. It is also deeply personal, as Terera reflects on experiences from his life that he drew on to shape his acclaimed portrayal. Illustrated with photographs and featuring an exclusive foreword by Lin-Manuel Miranda, this book is essential reading for all fans of Hamilton—offering fresh, first-hand insights into the music and characters they know and love so well—and for aspiring and current performers or students, and anyone who wants to discover what it really felt like to be in the room where it happened.

Rivington School: 80s New York Underground documents the work of the Rivington School group of artists that emerged during the turbulent 1980s in the heart of the Lower East Side. The book explores the underground scene that formed around the Rivington School, taking its name from an abandoned public school building on Rivington Street. Here, like-minded street artists, sculptors, performers, set about to create works that refuted and challenged an increasingly commercialised art world. Situated across the road from the school, the No Se No social club--also run by Rivington School founder "Cowboy" Ray Kelly--acted as a meeting and performance space for many of the artists involved, such as Kembra Pfahler, Dragan Ilic, Arleen Schloss, Taylor Mead, Michael Carter, Jack Waters and Phoebe Legere, and was where the renowned "99 NIGHTS" of performance took place in 1983, documented every night by the photographer Toyo Tsuchiya for exhibition the following day. The School was also the origin of the guerrilla sculpture space the Rivington Sculpture Garden, which opened in 1985 and was destroyed more than once by the city authorities. Its construction/destruction is documented in the super-8 film ANTI CREDO by Monty Cantsin aka Istvan Kantor. Formed in a vacant lot next to the No Se No club, the evolving collective space was the site of the massive, welded metal junk sculpture that the group has become known for. The Rivington School gave rise to a number of highly regarded artists, including EF Higgins III, Ray Kelly, David Mora Catlett, Shalom Neuman, Toyo Tsuchiya, Istvan Kantor, Linus Coraggio, Paolo Buggiani, Tovey Halek, Jack Vengrow, Ken Hiratsuka, Gloria McLean, FA-Q (Kevin Wendall), Geoff "Gizmo" Gilmore, Julius Klein, JIM C, Angela Idealism and Peter Missing.

Explore sixty of London's most surprising, secret and fascinating places.

Men to Avoid in Art and Life pairs classical fine art with modern captions that epitomize the spirit of mansplaining. This hilarious book perfectly captures those relatable moments when a man explains to a woman a subject about which he knows considerably less than she does. Situations include men sharing keen insight on the female anatomy, an eloquent defense of catcalling, or offering sage advice about horseback riding to the woman who owns the horse. • These less qualified men of antiquity dish out mediocrity as if it's pure genius • For the women who have endured overbearing men over the centuries • Written with hilariously painful accuracy "Now, when you're riding a horse, you need to make sure to keep a good grip on the reins." "These are my horses." Through cringe-induced empathy, this timeless gift book of shared experiences unites women across history in one of the most powerful forms of resistance: laughter. • Started as a Twitter thread and quickly gained widespread popularity. • Makes a perfect book for women and feminists with a wry sense of humor, millennials, anyone who loves memes and Internet humor, as well as history and art buffs. • You'll love this book if you love books like Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit, Milk and Vine: Inspirational Quotes from Classic Vines by Emily Beck, and Awards For Good Boys: Tales Of Dating, Double Standards, And Doom by Shelby Lorman.