Pharrell Isms

An essential, inspiring collection of quotations about creativity, social justice, and more from musician, producer, artist, and designer Pharrell Williams Rising to global fame with his hit single “Happy,” Pharrell Williams has influenced every corner of music, from cowriting and producing the monumental track “Alright” with Kendrick Lamar to composing music for the Academy Award–winning film Hidden Figures. But his work also extends to fashion, design, and the visual arts, and he has collaborated with leading artists and designers, including Takashi Murakami, Daniel Arsham, and Comme des Garçons. Gathered from interviews and other sources, this compelling and provocative collection of quotations offers new insights into the personality and creative process of one of today’s most exciting and intriguing artists. Select quotations from the book: Self-awareness is a muscle that needs exercise. It needs a regimen. You’ve got to continue to reinvent yourself today, all the while thinking about tomorrow. Music is the key, the skeleton key that’s opened every door for me. There is no humanity without education. There is no education without demand. The only way to make life better for yourself, the only true and lasting way, is to make life better for others.

"A collection of quotations from the influential contemporary Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat"--

A collection of fascinating and provocative quotations from the world-renowned performance artist Marina Abramović is arguably the most important and influential performance artist of our time. For decades, she has broken boundaries in iconic works such as The Artist Is Present (2010), where she sat in silence across from members of the public at the Museum of Modern Art for up to eight hours a day for three months, and Rhythm 0 (1974), a six-hour performance in which she stood next to a table holding seventy-two objects, including a scalpel and a loaded gun, and a sign suggesting audience members could do to her whatever they wanted. Gathered from interviews, lectures, writings, and other sources, Abramović-isms is a unique collection of quotations that offers a window into the mind of this iconic trailblazer. “Artists have to be free human beings. They have to have the complete freedom to express their ideas with no restrictions.” “Our body is an absolute replica of the Universe, and this is why I took to studying myself—by studying myself, I can understand everything else and everybody else.” “Beauty doesn’t have a definition. What is important is what moves you.” “Don’t ever call me the grandmother of performance art. Just call me a warrior.”

A collection of compelling quotations from JR—the renowned French photographer, street artist, and activist JR is perhaps best known for taking portraits of regular people, reproducing the images at a monumental scale, and pasting them on the sides of buildings in the subjects’ neighborhoods. Among his many other notable projects are a gigantic photo of a child peering over the top of the barrier at the US-Mexico border and an enormous mural of inmates that covers the ground of an outdoor exercise yard at a California prison. Collected from interviews, writings, and other sources, JR-isms is an inspiring and thought-provoking collection of quotations from the exciting artist and activist, whose work reaches far beyond the traditional art world, from the streets of New York to the suburbs of Paris and the favelas of Brazil. “I was writing my names on walls to say ‘I exist,’ then I started pasting pictures of people with their names to say they exist.” “Art is not supposed to change the world. It can offer a new perspective, a new look, break down the walls we build between us, and humanize the ‘other.’ ” “I always make sure in my art that I even confront my own perspective.” “You know what they say, that the criminal always goes back to the crime scene? It works the same for the artist. When you do something in the street, you come back to see how people approach it. No one knows it’s you, but you’re right there.”

A beautifully illustrated and designed book of the important Pop artist’s previously unpublished working studies This book sheds new light on the fascinating working processes of American Pop artist James Rosenquist. Using the techniques of billboard painting and the visual language of advertising, Rosenquist’s paintings explore consumer culture, politics, war, and other themes through startling juxtapositions of powerful imagery, including of cars, women, celebrities, food, appliances, a fighter jet, and the mushroom cloud of an atomic bomb. James Rosenquist: Collages, Drawings, and Paintings in Process presents previously unpublished preparatory work by the artist—quick sketches to capture ideas, detailed studies, color keys, source materials, and photographs—alongside the iconic paintings that resulted.

"A collection of quotes from pioneering feminist artist Judy Chicago"--

The work of renowned contemporary artist Daniel Arsham blurs the lines between art, architecture, archeology, and design. In his distinctive style, he takes ancient art works and objects from twentieth-century pop culture and casts sculptures of them in geological materials such as quartz or volcanic ash, colliding past, present, and future in haunted yet playful visions that prompt viewers to question their everyday surroundings. Gathered from interviews and other sources, Arsham-isms is a collection of lively, thought-provoking, and memorable quotations from this exciting young creative talent on a wide range of subjects-including art, architecture, film, design, pop culture, the art world, and what it means to be a globally recognized artist today.

Pharrell Williams is one-half of the Neptunes, a successful producing team in music. The Neptunes have received a Source Award, Billboard Music Award, and Grammy Award for their talents as producers. His career has evolved into record label management, fashion design, and even acting. This book gives readers an insight into his life.