Blind HandshakeThe art criticism of the painter David Humphrey merits an anthology. But neither Humphrey nor Periscope wanted to present his writing as archival documents from 1990 to 2008. We decided it would be more innovative to treat the texts as the starting point for a book that acknowledges and extends the connections between Humphrey's studio practice and his criticism. The outcome is Blind Handshake. It foregrounds the social life surrounding contemporary art-the practices and gestures, the dialogues and monologues that determine its place in the world. Organized thematically, the book considers Coupling Dramas, Unknowable Others, Collective Solitudes, Prosthetic Selves, and Good Liars. Artists drawn into the action include Richard Prince, Chris Ofili, Lucien Freud, Mamma Anderson, Tony Oursler, John Currin, Mary Heilmann, Catherine Murphy, and Amy Sillman. The book's designer Geoff Kaplan employed aspects of graphic novels, magazine layouts, and art monographs in translating the writing and illustrations into a mutant creature. Introductions by Chris Kraus and Alexi Worth provide contexts for understanding the book's presentation of the turbulent intersubjectivity that pervades contemporary art. AUTHOR: David Humphrey Has exhibited his art throughout the United States and curated several shows in New York City. He is a recipient of the Rome Prize and a Senior Critic at the Yale School of Art. His art criticism has appeared in Art in America, Art issues, among other publications. ILLUSTRATIONS 176 colour images * |
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abstract acrylic on canvas Amy Sillman analogies Andy Warhol animal Anne Chu Art issues articulated artist and Sikkema artworks attention beauty become blob body caricature celebrate Chris Ofili colored comic context Courtesy the artist culture David Humphrey Dawson depicted detached drawings Essenhigh eyes face fiction figures fourth wall Furnas Gallery genre gesture Giegerich's hair Heffernan Hegarty highlight Hiroshi Sugimoto Ike's imagination Immendorff inches James Jeffrey Vallance Jonathan Borofsky Keith Tyson Kenneth Goldsmith Kooning Kuharic Kuharic's labors light look Lucien Freud material metaphor Museum narrative Nixon Number objects oil on canvas original oversize painting's paintings performs perhaps person Photo photographs plastic play Portrait present rendered representation Rodney Graham role sculptures Self-Portrait sense shadows Sikkema Jenkins social sometimes space spectator Steinfeld Steve McQueen studio stylized subjects suggests surface things tion toys Untitled Vallance viewer wall Willem de Kooning words work's writing