FTN-blog

Antoine d’Agata, born on November 19, 1961 in Marseille, France, diverged from his studies at the age of 17 to immerse himself in the world of the night. For 12 years, he traversed more than 20 countries, capturing moments through his lens. In 1991, with no prior photographic background, he took the leap to enroll at the International Center of Photography in New York, learning from the likes of Nan Goldin and Larry Clark. After a brief hiatus, he returned to France in 1993 and put his photographic practice on hold, working as a bricklayer.

His first book, Mala Noche, was published in 1998, followed by receiving the prestigious Niépce Prize in 2001. Reflecting his extensive travels, his series 1001 Nuits was exhibited in Paris in 2003 and accompanied by the release of two books, Vortex and Insomnia. In 2004, D’Agata joined the renowned Magnum Photos agency, which also marked the publication of his fifth book, Stigma, and his directorial debut with the short film El Cielo del muerto. The following year, he went on to shoot his second film, Aka Ana, in Tokyo. More recently, his four-hour film White Noise (2019) featured the voices of 24 women. In 2013, he was honored with the Photographic Book Prize at the Rencontres d’Arles for Anticorps, a collection of his work that coincided with a major exhibition at Le Bal in Paris.

Antoine d’Agata’s artistry delves into the realm of contemporary violence, exploring two main themes: the violence stemming from economic and political factors (migration, refugees, poverty, war) and the violence faced by marginalized social groups due to poverty (survival through crime, drug addiction, excessive sexuality). His latest projects include VIRUS (2020), documenting the Covid-19 pandemic, and Antoine d’Agata – Francis Bacon (2020), a fusion of his works with those of the renowned artist.

With a photographing career spanning over 30 years and 50 published works, Antoine d’Agata’s compelling artistry has garnered international recognition. His solo exhibitions have graced numerous museums, and his works have also been included in public collections. As a full member of Magnum Photos since 2008, D’Agata’s work continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

www.ftn-books.com has the Fotomuseum invitation card now available.

Capturing the brightest light with the deepest charcoal black, Carlijn Mens weaves a tapestry of enigmatic complexity. Shadows dance and sway, transforming trunks, branches, and leaves into ever-shifting silhouettes. In time and space, she follows, casting a web of black on white and light out of darkness, tracing the shadows that nature and life outline on earth, branches, leaves, plants, floors, walls, and sheets of paper. Her own body is intricately involved in this performance of shadow and light. It often appears in the images – an instrument of observation, a reality that leaves behind traces and brings other bodies into presence. Body, charcoal, and paper together create an endless field to be traversed.

I once watched Carlijn drawing in her studio. I saw her lines being drawn and smudged, contours being formed, blacks and greys being applied and then erased, replaced by other greys and new whites. What struck me: with one movement, she accomplishes five things simultaneously. Every action, every second is multifaceted.

www.ftn-books.com has the GEM invitation for her exhibition available.

Michael Parkes is the world’s leading magical realist painter, sculptor, and stone lithographer. His decades of success as a fine artist stand out in the art world where few artists ever achieve success in both the primary and secondary markets. Michael Parkes’ works are collected by celebrities, prominent private collectors, and galleries around the world, and his body of work stands for all ages. His first one-man show was in Amsterdam back in 1977. Additional one-man exhibitions of Michael Parkes have taken place at Basel Art in Switzerland, Art Chicago, Art Fair NY, Frankfurt Bookfair, Amsterdam Art Fair, Tefaf Art and Antiques Fair Maastricht and numerous exhibitions in their galleries in Amsterdam and New York from 1977 onwards.

Though he studied graphic art and painting at the University of Kansas, his unique style evolved very much in isolation, after a period in which he gave up the practice of art altogether and went off to India in search of philosophical illumination: born in 1944, Michael Parkes was very much of the hippie generation.

Earlier on, Michael Parkes had painted in the generally Abstract Expressionist style normal among his teachers, but after his pause for reflection he began to draw and paint in a meticulous style of detailed representation which would enable him to give full expression to his inner world of images.

WWW.FTN-BOOKS.COM HAS A VERY NICE COLLECTION OF PARKES PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE

The French artist Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) was the enigmatic force behind the impressionists. His avant-garde work is innovative, daring, and free from compromise due to his affluent background, allowing him to not rely on the sale of his art for a living.

In addition, as a patron, he played a significant role in the success of impressionism. He financially supported friends such as Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir by purchasing their work and organizing exhibitions. Caillebotte has now earned a well-deserved place in art history, not just as a patron but also as an artist, in countries such as France, England, and the United States. The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag exhibited the first comprehensive overview of this grand artist in the Netherlands in the spring of 2013, focusing on the interplay between his painting and the emerging field of photography. The invitation for the exhibit is now available for acquisition at www.ftn-books.com

Driven by an insatiable curiosity, Joost Zwagerman has been writing about visual art for decades with a passionate pen. To mark his 50th birthday and the release of a new publication by this self-proclaimed “incurable art lover”, the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag presents a unique exhibition that brings together his love for words and images. In The Space Trembles a Stroke of the Pen, an intriguing dialogue arises between Zwagerman’s poetry and the works of his artist friends, Pieter Bijwaard and Harald Vlugt.

Searching, experimenting, probing, combining, and cutting. Through a close friendship, the artists respond to Joost Zwagerman’s poetry and vice versa. Pieter Bijwaard describes their extraordinary collaboration: “An artist working with a poet is conspicuously unassuming, outspoken without desiring the last word.” Especially for this exhibition, Vlugt created two new collage works in response to Zwagerman’s poems about looking at art. In the showcases, amidst the artworks and poems, the books that Zwagerman has made in collaboration with the two artists over the years are on display.

The result an exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag to celebrate his 50th birthday . The invitation is a classic.

Photo by Koos Breukel

Galerie Art & Project was an exquisite dream – a place of encounters and discoveries, constantly at the forefront. It was here that reputations were forged, the spotlight shining brightly on this pioneering gallery, first in Amsterdam and then in a monumental building in Slootdorp. The founders and owners, Adriaan van Ravesteijn (1938) and Geert van Beijeren (1933-2005), turned this gallery into one of the most significant in all of Europe since its inception in 1968. Through their intense relationships with artists, they acquired an extensive collection of 850 works, known as Depot VBVR. This collection is now being donated in parts to prestigious institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, the Rijksmuseum Twenthe, and the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. The archive is currently housed at the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie. In 2012, a curated selection of approximately 25 works can be enjoyed at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag.

Beside the collection in Den Haag www.ftn-books.com has multiple Art & Project items for sale.

Hans Könings (1950) is a Dutch artist from The Hague. Currently, he resides and creates in Berlin. In addition to being an artist, he was a professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague.

www.ftn-books.com recently added the van Abbemuseum catalog to its collection.

Marcel van Eeden mesmerizes with his Sammlung Boryna exhibit (2009) at Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, showcasing 60 sketches and two sculptures. The masterpiece has already been acquired by the museum. Marcel van Eeden draws from source material predating his birth year of 1965 to create intricate and interconnected series of visual narratives, weaving together a complex (crime) saga. Reality and fiction interweave seamlessly within these narratives, with recurring appearances by three characters – botanist Karl McKay Wiegand, archeologist Oswald Sollmann, and psychiatrist Matheus Boryna. All three are both admirers and producers of art. In Sammlung Boryna, the spotlight falls on Matheus Boryna, modeled after German psychiatrist Hans Prinzhorn, who curated a collection of artworks created by his patients in the 1920s. Prinzhorn was among the first to appreciate the value of so-called “outsider art.” Sammlung Boryna pays homage to his collection while drawing from a diverse array of visual sources.

www.ftn-books.com has the invitation for this exhibition now available.

Investigating collective and nonhuman intelligences, Agnieszka Kurant delves into the future of labor and creativity, uncovering the exploitations embedded within digital capitalism. Her works are speculative thought experiments, crafted through partnerships with scientists and philosophers. Through establishing intricate systems, networks, and structures with a multitude of agents- such as molecules, animals, bacteria, Artificial Intelligence algorithms, or crowds of people- Kurant produces hybrid forms in a state of constant metamorphosis. Blurring the lines between the biological, digital, and geological realms, her art delves into plural subjectivity, the evolution of living systems, and the impact of culture and technology on society. Within this realm, the human, automation, and cybernetics undergo transformations that are both profound and nuanced.

Born in Lodz, Poland in 1978, Kurant currently resides and creates in New York. Kurant has held an artist fellowship at the Berggruen Institute (2019-2021), served as a visiting artist at MIT CAST (2017-2020), and was awarded a fellowship at the Smithsonian Institute (2018). She will also be an artist in residence at Art Explora in Paris (2022) and a visiting artist at the Moody Center, Rice University (2023).

www.ftn-books.com has the STROOM invitation now available.

Born in the Netherlands in 1962, Martin C. de Waal has spent years modeling and now utilizes his body for artistic expression. Through his work, he challenges the audience to reconsider their preconceived notions and urges them to refrain from hasty judgments by pushing the boundaries of self-transformation.

However, Martin C. de Waal’s performances extend beyond just his pictures. He also gives interviews, submits fabricated magazine articles, and presents digitally enhanced evidence of his physical metamorphosis, all in pursuit of understanding the human identity. His actions have often been linked to the concept of cyborgs and the creation of man.

www.ftn-books.com has the TORCH invitation now available.