Cobb Hall, 4th Floor
5811 S. Ellis Ave
Chicago, Illinois 60637
USA
This fall, the Renaissance Society is proud to announce the arrival of the three beautiful new catalogs, and to offer a sneak peek at a few more titles currently in the works. These books are some of the first to be supported by the recently-inaugurated Joe and Rika Mansueto Publications Program, which helps underwrite the Ren’s publishing activity for the next ten years.
Publications have been a core pillar of our mission here at the Renaissance Society since the very beginning. Together with our exhibitions and public programs, they are integral to the way we support artists and create opportunities for intellectual inquiry around their works. Not simply documents of what happens in our gallery, these publications are driven by the visions of artists, and expand the critical conversations that begin here in deep and exciting ways.
Available now:
Liz Magor: BLOWOUT
For more than four decades, Liz Magor’s practice has quietly dramatized the relationships that develop among objects, and she describes the body of work featured in BLOWOUT (April 27-June 23, 2019) as “a collection of tiny and intense narratives.” This accompanying publication is the artist’s first US catalog in ten years, and it features new essays by Sheila Heti and Mitch Speed, as well as a conversation between the artist and curators Solveig Øvstebø and Dan Byers.
Hardcover, 136 pages; 8 x 10 inches
Unthought Environments
The exhibition Unthought Environments (February 17-April 8, 2018) explored the meeting of infrastructure and the natural elements, such as water, earth, and air. This substantial catalogue reflects on the show and develops it further, featuring essays by Ina Blom, Keller Easterling, John Durham Peters, and by exhibiting artists Marissa Lee Benedict, Peter Fend, and Revital Cohen & Tuur Van Balen. Rounding out the book are a curator’s essay by Karsten Lund and a conversation with artists Nina Canell, Nicholas Mangan, and Robin Watkins.
Softcover, 214 pages; 9 ½ x 6 ¾ inches
David Maljković: Also on View
Along with every exhibition, David Maljković translates his work into the form of a book, which becomes another lively medium for the protean artist. For Also on View, he collaborated with designer Toni Uroda to channel the methods and queries of his solo Renaissance Society exhibition (February 9-April 7, 2019). The publication features a dynamic array of images and a rendition of the artist talk Maljković delivered on the show’s opening night.
Softcover, 80 pages; 12 x 5.5 inches
Coming soon:
LaToya Ruby Frazier: The Last Cruze
The Last Cruze, a new body of work by artist LaToya Ruby Frazier, sets out to amplify the voices of the workers at the recently unallocated General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio. In a substantial catalogue, forthcoming this spring, extensive documentation of the work will be accompanied by new essays and dialogues by various contributors including Coco Fusco, David Harvey, Werner Lange, Lynn Nottage, Benjamin Young, and members of the local chapters of the United Auto Workers union in Lordstown.
Silke Otto-Knapp
In January, Silke Otto-Knapp will present a solo exhibition at the Renaissance Society featuring a new group of paintings in a scenographic installation. A catalog accompanying the show will provide a platform for new scholarship including two art-historical essays, a text on scenography, and a conversation between the artist and curator Solveig Øvstebø.
Kevin Beasley
Kevin Beasley contributed a sculptural installation and sonic activation to the 2016 Renaissance Society exhibition Between the Ticks of the Watch. This substantial monograph, featuring multiple new texts, will focus specifically on the artist’s work with sound—a crucial component of his practice, taken up on its own terms here to an unprecedented extent.
