Cornelia Parker - Hardcover

Iwona Blazwick; Yoko Ono

4.5

14 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0500093733 ISBN 13: 9780500093733

Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2013

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Cornelia Parker (b. 1956) is one of the most original and inventive artists working in Britain today. Her wide-ranging practice, chiefly in sculpture and installation, touches on the fragility of human experience and is rich with visual and literary allusions. This book is the first full survey to trace the development of Parkers career from the late 1970s to the present day, and includes work never previously published as well as extensive illuminating commentaries by the artist herself. Parker transforms everyday, ordinary objects into compelling works of art, often through acts of violence. She investigates the nature of matter, testing physical properties and playing on private and public meaning and value. Projects which have included blowing up a shed, steamrolling musical instruments and sending meteorites back into space have captured the public imagination since she first came to prominence in the 1990s. In this comprehensively illustrated book the artist takes the reader on a personal tour through her works. Beginning with the small-scale sculptures she made as a student, it charts works made in an array of materials from burnt cocaine and snake venom to silver dollars and gold teeth, alongside drawings, photographs, video pieces and installations. Parkers engaging commentaries describe her adventures with the unlikely institutions that have helped create her works, from the British Army to Colt Firearms, as well as her wide-ranging travels, from the funeral parlours of S�o Paulo to the crown-of-thorn workshops of Bethlehem. Organised chronologically, the book features five thematic essays by curator Iwona Blazwick, contextualizing the artists work and pointing to her key influences and interests, from abstraction and performance to archaeology and psychoanalysis. The book features a foreword by renowned artist and activist Yoko Ono and an introduction by curator Bruce Ferguson focusing on Parkers fascination with matter. Supplemented by an up-to-date biography, bibliography and exhibition history, this is the definitive book on one of the most popular artists of our time.

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Review:

Fascinating commentaries --Another Magazine

An accessible mix of autobiography, insight and analysis ... an artist's monograph that's as intimate as it is expansive --Art Review

Long overdue --Time Out

A major new title --Art Quarterly

Incredibly fascinating ... it's compelling to see the trajectory of Parker's practice --Aesthetica

This book is predominantly Parker on Parker, and she offers an informative and witty commentary on each artwork. --The World of Interiors

A first-class introduction to Cornelia Parker ... like an exhibition in book form ... wonderful ... skilfully weaves together an illuminating, annotated visual diary by Parker herself and five highly perceptive essays by Iwona Blazwick. --Cassone

Wonderful ... The publication becomes its own kind of exhibition. This quality marks this book out from many other monographs on contemporary artists ... I can recommend this book as both a first class introduction to Cornelia Parker, and, for those familiar with her work, as stimulating account that aids further reading and encourages deeper looking. --Cassone

Reveals Parker's art in all its diversity. --The Spectator

Reveals Parker's art in all its diversity. --The Spectator

About the Author:

Iwona Blazwick has been Director of the Whitechapel Gallery in London since 2003.

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