Bøker i Agrarian Studies-serien

Living in the region between the Lubudi and Kasai rivers in south central Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Luluwa people are known for their elaborately carved male and female figure sculptures, masks, and decorative arts. Constantine Petridis draws on first-hand accounts of numerous explorers, missionaries, colonial servants, anthropologists, and art historians who visited the region between the 1880s and the 1970s, to comprehensively situate the Luluwa's ornate art in its original environment of production and use. Through a close study of published and unpublished sources as well as museum objects and archival photographs, this book sheds new light on the historical context of one of central Africa's most spectacular artistic legacies, whose creation presumably dates back to the second half of the 19th century. >Distributed for Mercatorfonds

Jorn + Munch is the first publication to examine the enduring impact Edvard Munch (1863-1944) had on Asger Jorn (1914-1973). In Munch's later works, Danish artist Jorn discovered an artist with a direct, spontaneous, and raw form of expression. Already influenced by surrealism's unprompted painting style, Jorn was naturally drawn to Munch's similarly unbridled compositions. In particular, Jorn was interested in Munch's use of intense colors and his gestural application of paint in the later works. From the middle of the 1940s, and for many years after that, Munch is shown to be a challenging and important reference point for Jorn's own body of work. >Distributed for Mercatorfonds Exhibition Schedule: Munch Museum, Oslo (10/15/16-01/15/17)Jorn Museum, Silkeborg, Denmark (02/11/17-05/28/17)

Hungarian-born French artist Nicolas Schöffer (1912-1992), though relatively unknown today, was during his lifetime a significant presence in the art world. His 1956 piece CYSP 1 is considered the first cybernetic sculpture, making use of motors, microphones, and photo-electric cells to create a work based on feedback loops and responsiveness to its environment. For Schöffer, cybernetics enabled a crucial artistic exploration of the boundary between the living and the technological. This important reevaluation of Schöffer's work features sculptures, paintings, and drawings, including unpublished pieces from the artist's studio and archive, as well as documentation of his interdisciplinary and experimental collaborations with architects, musicians, choreographers, scientists, and industrialists. Particular attention is paid to the innovative work he created between 1945 and 1975, which takes on particular resonance in our current, digitally saturated world. >Distributed for Mercatorfonds Exhibition Schedule: Lille Métropole Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art (02/23/18-05/20/18)

The book presents a series of new works produced by Adel Abdessemed for the MAC's/Museum of Contemporary Arts in Grand-Hornu. The Algerian-born French artist Adel Abdessemed (b. 1971) works in a wide variety of media including animation, installation, performance, sculpture, and video; through his art he addresses contemporary themes and he reflects the bleak picture of the present day. His works, unsettling in their simultaneous beauty and raw reality, have made Abdessemed one of the most visible international artists of our time. This volume is composed of two distinct parts, each showcasing and examining one of two series of brand new, site-specific works created by Abdessemed for the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Grand-Hornu and the Musée d'Art Contemporain in Lyon. Distributed for Mercatorfonds Exhibition Schedule: MAC's, Grand Hornu (03/04/18-06/03/18)Musée d'Art Contemporain, Lyon (03/09/18-07/08/18)

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (b. 1960) founded her dance company, Rosas, in 1983. Her work is grounded on a rigorous exploration of the relationship between dance and music, and over the years she has engaged the musical structures and scores of different periods and genres, from early music to contemporary expressions of classical and popular music. Her choreographic practice draws from geometric principles, nature, and social structures to offer unique perspectives on the articulation of the body in space and time.The minimalism of De Keersmaeker's earliest pieces gave way over the years to ingenious constructions for large ensembles. Then in 2007, the choreography underwent a fundamental change with the emergence of a new kind of minimalism, a paring down to essential principles of sparseness; the spatial constraints of geometric patterns; an unwavering commitment to elementary gestures, notably walking, breathing, and speaking; and a close adherence to a score, musical or otherwise, for the choreographic writing.Photographers Anne Van Aerschot and Herman Sorgeloos were privileged witnesses to this process, and their images, gathered here for the first time, offer an exceptionally acute look at Rosas's work over the last decade. Distributed for Mercatorfonds

This focused volume presents a deep exploration and new interpretations of the winter paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (ca. 1525-1569). By applying new methodological approaches and interdisciplinary research to these masterpieces of Flemish Renaissance art, including Winter Landscape with Skaters and Bird Trap (1565) and The Census at Bethlehem (1566), both at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the book offers an enhanced understanding of the painter's relationship to his time and the extent to which his winter landscapes were meant to reflect real-life situations. After tracing how these paintings have been understood over time, the essays propose new insights into such issues as whether Bruegel depicts the plight of the local populace during winter and whether The Census at Bethlehem challenges or reaffirms central power structures. Abundantly illustrated, Bruegel's Winter Scenes is both a thorough examination and a celebration of these widely admired images. Distributed for Mercatorfonds.

This unconventional publication explores the process of making art through the work and studio practice of Sophie Whettnall (b. 1973), a contemporary Belgian artist whose works range from video art, installation, and performance to sculpture and drawing. In addition to copious illustrations of Whettnall's artwork that highlight its relationship to the studio and the artist's creative process, the book features three conversations. The first, between Whettnall and fellow artist Marina Abramovic, explores transmission, violence, and femininity. The second, between Emiliano Battista and Scott Samuelson, situates Whettnall's work and practice in the broader context of contemporary art and the theoretical framework that shapes it. In the third, Carine Fol and Whettnall share with the reader the behind-the-scenes discussions and decisions that go into the mounting of an exhibition. Distributed for Mercatorfonds Exhibition Schedule: CENTRALE for contemporary art, Brussels (04/04/19-08/04/19)

A beautiful, illustrated exploration of European burial sites and memorials from the First and Second World Wars

Introducing contemporary Belgian artist Carole Solvay to an English-speaking audience for the first time, this book pairs images of her beautiful feather sculptures with literary quotations that have inspired her work

The provocative and often comic Belgian art duo Jos de Gruyter and Harald Thys present in book form their collaborative contribution to the 2019 Venice Biennale

An unprecedented, in-depth exploration of the dawn of Van Gogh's artistic career

Compiled by members of the Bosch Research and Conservation Project and published on the 500th anniversary of Hieronymus Bosch's death, this is the definitive new catalogue of all of Bosch's extant paintings and drawings. His mastery and genius have been redefined as a result of six years of research on the iconography, techniques, pedigree, and conservation history of his paintings and on his life. This stunning volume includes all new photography, as well as up-to-date research on the individual works. For the first time, the incredible creativity of this late medieval artist, expressed in countless details, is reproduced and discussed in this book. Special attention is being paid to Bosch as an image maker, a skilled draughtsman, and a brutal painter, changing the game of painting around 1500 by his innovative way of working. Distributed for Mercatorfonds

A fascinating look at how Mapplethorpe and Munch, although separated by many years, shared certain affinities in their lives and artwork

The year 2014 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and the beginning of World War I. Beginning with the Trojan War and weaving a cross-cultural narrative that ends in the 21st-century Middle East, this title explores how cultural treasures often became silent victims of armed conflict.

A continuation of the five-volume Rene Magritte Catalogue Raisonne that introduces 130 newly attributed works