February 6, 2004
Further notes on Conceptual art(ists) and bibliophilia
Ken Johnson reviews an exhibition of Conceptual Art from Eastern Europe in today's Times. He mentions Julius Koller, subject of this review in the January issue of Artforum (the link may die soon), and Valie Export among others. The show is on view through March at the Austrian Cultural Forum.
I've also hit upon the next level of art-book bibliophilia: online searches of the stock carried by private book dealers. ANARTIST appears to be someone who lives up near Columbia University and deals art books out of his apartment. Tompkins Square Books is actually not at all near Tompkins Square Park, but rather on east 16th St. They have a wider range, but a few very nice art books. Art Books Now, based in Portland, is pretty self-explanatory, as is Art Books Only.
Another method for getting at hard-to-find exhibition catalogues and monographs is to try looking via the publisher. For example, I know that in the late 1960s and early 1970s the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design held many important exhibition of Minimalist and Conceptual artists. Searching for the college's name as publisher yielded some really interestnig books, including catalogues featuring Hans Haacke, Daniel Buren, Steve Reich, Yvonne Rainer, Simone Forti, Carl Andre, and more. Click here to go to the AbeBooks 'Advanced Search' page.
I could spend days doing this, but I will say that it certainly does not compare to the pleasure of coming across an unexpected surprise in the dusty back corner of a used bookstore that you ducked into to avoid the rain.