FTN-blog

Dan Asher (American artist), hailing from Cleveland, OH in 1947, was a resident of New York until his passing in 2010.

Excelling in various mediums such as photography, painting, sculpture, music, and video, Dan Asher had a prolific career. However, it is his introspective works on paper, created in the early 1980s, that remain his crowning achievement. These pieces are characterized by expressive, mask-like portraits, defined by dynamic and vibrant strokes of graphite, oil, and tempera. They delve into the connections and gaps between the psychological and corporeal, the personal and public, and the absurd and austere.

Asher’s works can be found in the permanent collections of renowned institutions such as MoMA in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Museum Ludwig in Germany, and the Kunstmuseum Winterthur in Switzerland.

Notable exhibitions featuring Asher’s work include “An Anthropologist on Mars” at Martos Gallery in New York, NY (2018), “White Room: Dan Asher at White Columns” in New York, NY (2008), a solo show at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in New York, NY (2005), “Red Aurora” at Galerie de Expeditie in Amsterdam, Netherlands (2004), “Dan Asher: Gastarbeither on the Planet” at Aurel Scheibler in Cologne, Germany (1998), “Dan Asher” at Kunsthaus Murz in Murzzuschlag, Austria (2003), and “Dan Asher: Recent Photographs” at Paula Cooper Gallery in New York, NY (2001).

www.ftn-books.com has the SALON VERLAG artist book by Asher now available.

Since the end of the ’60s, Hamish Fulton has rooted his art in strolls that he embarks on as a “pedestrian artist.” Walking, the sensation of movement and the bond with nature lie at the core of his creative praxis. In contrast to the approach of Land Art, which physically intervenes in the landscape or employs found objects to create pieces, Fulton strives to leave minimal traces. He does not aim to alter the landscapes he encounters during his walks, instead highlighting the experience as the foundation of his craft.

In addition to taking solitary or accompanied walks, Fulton also participates in guided summit hikes and, since the ’90s, has initiated “public walks” in urban areas, inviting interested individuals to join. Walking becomes a crucial element of the group dynamic, with participants following only a few conceptual instructions from the artist during a set time frame.

Fulton’s displayed works – photographs, drawings, murals, or wooden pieces – are conceptualized representations of his walking experiences, initially serving as markers of absence: they bear witness to past encounters that have now become memories. The pieces evoke completed “art walks” in a condensed form, creating spaces for viewers to associate and imagine. Language holds a fundamental role in Fulton’s art; since the 1970s, each piece includes a “walk text,” succinctly outlining the walk often with distinct typography. Fulton also publishes his work in a multitude of artist books.

www.ftn-books.com has several important Fulton publications available.

Werner Mantz (1901–1983) is widely recognized as one of the foremost photographers belonging to the Neues Bauen movement, a prominent modernist architectural style prevalent in Cologne during the 1920s. Raised in and inspired by Cologne, he established a photo studio in 1921 and initially focused on capturing the portraits of influential intellectuals, artists, and politicians. In 1926, he began receiving commissions as an architectural photographer for renowned figures such as Wilhelm Riphahn, Peter Franz Nöcker, and Caspar Maria Grod, who were instrumental in implementing Konrad Adenauer’s vision for modern housing in Cologne. His work was frequently featured in prestigious architectural magazines such as Bauwelt, Die Form, and Bauwarte. Mantz’s signature style, characterized by its objective and minimalist black-and-white compositions, lends a monumental quality to the abandoned buildings and streets depicted in his photographs, effectively capturing the essence of the modern era. It was through his striking images that Cologne’s modernist architecture gained international recognition, surpassing geographical boundaries.

In 1932, Mantz embarked on a new venture and opened a second studio in Maastricht. Eventually, he relocated to the Netherlands in 1938, where he returned to his roots in portrait photography and gained specialization in capturing the innocence and purity of children.

www.ftn-books.com has now the 1990 Rosbeel publication on Mantz available.

Frans Baake (born in Stad Delden in 1958) received his education at the AKI in Enschede and Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. Since the 1980s, he has focused primarily on creating artists’ books, combining linocuts and woodcuts with texts, photos, and drawings, all hand-bound by himself. Islands serve as a rich source of inspiration for him. In 1983, he made his first visit to the Faroe Islands, a treeless and windy archipelago located between Scotland and Iceland. Someone had told him beforehand: “There’s nothing to see there!” This observation and question have since stayed with him, becoming a recurring theme in his work. The concept of “nothing” takes on many forms for him. Over the years, he has visited places such as the Falkland Islands, the Aleutian Islands, St. Pierre & Miquelon, and Greenland. Thanks to a grant from the Mondriaan Fund, in 2017 he was able to reach a number of isolated islands in the southern Atlantic waters, including the remote Tristan da Cunha – a boyhood dream come true. After a long sea journey, he finally set foot on the distant island, a “destination of the mind.” Impressions of this trip were captured in the book “No where – now here,” a substantial tome that allows him to explore his fascinations with dreams and actions, (in)finitude and distance in time and space. In 2003, he spent a short period of time in New York, seeking peace in the bustling metropolis. This led him to City Island, an oasis in the Bronx. Last year, he was able to add Island City to his list – not even a physical island, but a place in Oregon. He was curious to experience what it would be like to be in a location with only the concept of an island in its name. As a result of both visits, two fold-out brochures were recently published, filled with his findings.

www.ftn-books.com has just added a new book to its inventory of Baake artist books.

Luciano Fabro, a prominent figure of the Arte Povera movement, actively contributed to redefining the boundaries of the canvas. He conceived the canvas as a concrete space. Initially trained as a painter, Fabro encountered the spatialist movement of Lucio Fontana at the 1958 Venice Biennale. His work, centered around the notions of time and space, led him to abandon painting in favor of creating physical objects that integrate into a real and tangible space.

In 1963, Fabro wrote a manifesto (La mia certezza : il mio senso per la mia azione (pseudo-Bacone)) in which he expounded on his interest in the question of perception and the existence of an outer reality intrinsically linked to an inner reality. He also defended the idea that works of art serve as tools for understanding the world.

www.ftn-books.com has some nice Fabro titles available.

Kasper Andreasen (1979) is a Danish visual artist. For quite some time, he has been creating artist books, drawings, and writings with a focus on “mapping” and the concept of “location.” Currently, his attention is drawn to the intersections between painting, drawing, and writing. Recently, he has produced a number of artist books, including the drawing atlas Writing Over (Roma Publications) and Off the Map (Motto Books). He resides and works in Brussels and teaches at the School of Arts (KASK) in Ghent and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.

www.ftn-books.com has the Johan Deumen publication by Andreasen & Melzer ” INVENTORY” now available.

Five centuries prior to the birth of Christ, Greek cosmological thinkers were already aware of a fundamental truth: the world is not as it appears to be. They were the pioneers of demythologizing the world, breaking down the complexity of its phenomena to archè (the Greek word for ‘beginning’). By starting with a list of elemental building blocks and primal forces like love-hate, they opened up endless possibilities. Today, after two and a half millennia, this field is far from being fully explored, but occasionally humanity proves itself remarkably fresh and creative in thought.

In 1975, American philosopher Paul Feyerabend shook the intellectual world with his book Against Method. Despite initial ridicule, it exploded like a bombshell, challenging the established scientific method. Feyerabend asserted that if eight out of every ten rockets to the moon failed, it’s worth questioning what scientific methods were being used. He concluded that, in this case, ‘Anything goes!’ – any method can be utilized in order to achieve practical scientific progress.

Voebe de Gruyter approaches her artwork in a similarly anarchic manner. For her, epistemological questions serve as a means, not an end in themselves. As a visual artist, she effortlessly incorporates scientific knowledge into her thinking, picking and choosing what serves her purpose. Her work ‘Knowing water’ consists of seven drawings depicting water droplets storing reflections on a molecular level. As the water evaporates, the images fragment, only to reappear in rainclouds, swimming pools, dishwater, sweat, or a cup of tea. In ‘Mist Walks’ (1996), visitors can sign up for a guided stroll through the mist, where the artist reveals what she sees hidden behind the fog.

For Voebe de Gruyter, the pursuit of truth is not the main concern. She strives to make the vitality of observation visible, both through language and images.

www.ftn-books.com has the THE CABLE THEORY publication of de Gruyter now available.

Anouk Kruithof, a revered artist, is captivated by dance as a form of self-expression and empowerment. Her exploration delves into how dance has evolved throughout history as a pivotal component of our global media culture, and how it manifests itself online through social media platforms. Alongside a team of 52 researchers from around the world, Anouk meticulously gathered over 8,800 dance videos from YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Each researcher entered identical search terms, and their geographical diversity resulted in varying search results – from the abakúa of Cuba and the Argentine tango to Zimbabwean sungura and the German zwiefacher.

In total, Anouk and her team discovered 1,000 dance styles in 196 countries and handpicked around 250 hours of dance videos. Through her video installation Universal Tongue, Kruithof masterfully showcases dance as a universal language, spoken by diverse subcultures, spreading virally and transcending cultural barriers.

“When you look past all cultural differences, you see that everyone genuinely derives so much energy from dancing with their bodies. It is a unifying force for humanity, and I find it truly beautiful.” – Anouk Kruithof

www.ftn-books.com has the THE DAILY EXHAUSTION publication now available.

In 1961, Stekelenburg presented a joint exhibition with Jaap Wagemaker, Jef Diederen, and Theo Wolvecamp at the Stedelijk van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven. Instead of the usual introduction, characteristic statements made by Jan Stekelenburg himself were showcased, recorded during an interview on tape.

“We live in a world filled with an infinite amount of things. It is this lifeworld that I want to capture in my paintings. I always start with real, existing things. But these things also exist within myself, in my imagination.

When I paint them, I give them a part of my imagination, they gain their own insight. (For me, a good painting is always a self-portrait). And so, I believe that my own perception of things becomes visible to others through my paintings. Thousands of painters have depicted their world in this way. I do it in my own way: landscapes, cityscapes, and, in recent years, mainly cars. I am not interested in a car as a means of transport, but rather in its dynamic effect. It has its own essence and is also dominant in our era. Hence why I use the car as a subject, as an everyday medium to express my artistic vision.

I think abstract art is an escape; a lack of understanding of the world around us. While painting, I constantly evaluate what I have done. But it takes months to determine if a painting has succeeded or not. Time is necessary to come to an objective judgement.

The paintings I admire the most: The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello displayed at the Tate Gallery, and the Pieta by the Master of Avignon.
In my opinion, a critic should be honest about what they feel and what they don’t, but they should always explain why. If they can’t do that, they’d be better off keeping quiet.”

www.ftn-books.com has the RUEB gallery publication now available.

When Icelandic artist Sigurdur Gudmundsson settled in the Netherlands in 1970, his focus was primarily on “staged photography”: constructed images in which he himself played a role, often in absurd or ironic-melancholic situations. The museum also holds several pieces of this nature in its collection. “The Great Poem” from 1981 marks Gudmundsson’s shift from photography to sculpture. Three grey concrete pyramid forms stand on a steel base, with a swan’s neck and head emerging from them – as if the swans are about to break free from the pyramid, a symbol of rational thought. Poetic passion and a romantic sensibility are hallmarks of Gudmundsson’s entire body of work, setting him apart from his fellow artists, from his Fluxus period in the 1960s to present day. The artist’s origins, with the Icelandic landscape and atmosphere of folktales and legends, play a significant role. “I am deeply attached to the transformation of emotion into material. A good work of art is a fingerprint of the soul.”

I personally have a weak spot for the works by Gudmundsson and have been following his career since the early 90’s. In that period i acquired an impressive multiple / Stella Maris which is still , since i have bought it, on display in my office. On my new location it is now presented together with a bronze tulip by Guido Geelen and an even impressive ” nude/ back ” by OSSIP.

www. ftn-books.com has a a nice selection of Gudmundsson publications including the much sought after “CIRCLES”