Assemblage Environments Happenings Selection Scenarios by Kaprow Allan (4 results)

IT WAS ALWAYS HAPPENING Take the book and place it on a flat surface and start turning the pages slowly, the grainy black and white images setting a course of action as disturbing as a dream unfixed from the dreamer. Was it really then or now, the book exclaims, in a mire of events built on when it was happening. In this moment, entering the book, nothing is clear but that art is timeless, boundless, fearless. Step. Right. In. Thanks to the publisher, Harry Abrams, we have an art document that preserves a truly ephemeral American movement that resisted form, defied space, and transformed the expectant eye of the audience. Kaprow's book design allows space for entering and contemplation before jarring you back to the moment. His text is clear and easy, should you accept the premise. Before you know it, connections come to light: Schwitters, Duchamp, Pollock, art brut, a sixties babel of motion in creation. Vertical surface creases to some sections not marring text or photographs in any way, spine barely sunned a shade, a tight and clean copy of a scarce book lacking the original clear jacket, in custom mylar cover. Solid square hardcover, 12.25 x 12.25 inches, bound in brown burlap, text pages on kraft paper.

Softcover. Condition: Gut. Format Quer 4°. 341 Seiten, 1 Blatt. Farbig gestaltete Original-Klappenbroschur mit Rücken- und Deckeltitel in Weiß. Rücken- und Umschlagkanten stellenweise sehr leicht berieben. Umschlag mit wenigen winzigen Fleckchen, mit wenigen schwachen oberflächigen Kratzerchen und vermutlich produktionsbedingten Knitterfältchen. Innen zeit- und materialbedingt leicht gebräunt. Kleiner Eigentumsstempel eines Experimentellen Theaters in Frankfurt und kurzer handschriftlicher Besitzvermerk mit Bleistift. Gutes sauberes Exemplar ohne weitere Gebrauchs- oder Lesespuren. Doppeltitelblatt und Texte durchgehend auf bräunlichem Papier. Aufwendig gestaltete Dokumentation mit beeindruckenden teils doppelblattgroßen Schwarzweiß-Fotographien, Zeichnungen, Werkansichten und Dokumentationen der Arbeiten von Jackson Pollock, Allan Kaprow, Jim Dine, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, George Segal, Ruth Smith, Jean Tinguely, Jean Follet, Red Grooms, Robert Whitman, Yayoi Kusama, Robert Watts, Martha Edelheit, Renee Miller, George Brecht, Clarence Schmidt auf festerem Papier. Texte in englischer Sprache.

Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Included. New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1966. Large square quarto, 343 pages with numerous illustrations (many from photographs) of artworks, people and events. Dark brown hessian (burlap) lettered on the spine and front cover in light brown; spine a little sunned; an excellent copy with the original clear plastic dustwrapper (now slightly chipped, cockled and marked). The title and publication details are to be found at pages 146-147. Allan Kaprow (1927-2006) was a pioneering American performance artist. Provenance: Paul Greenaway, Australian gallerist (Gagprojects, based in Adelaide), with his ownership signature (1974).

New York; Harry N. Abrams, [1966]. First edition. 31,5x31,5 cm. 341, (1, 2 blanks) pp. Illustrated. Original brown burlap with title on spine and front board. Spine and a small portion of front board are slightly faded. A fine copy. A textual and photographical documentation of Kaprow's happenings, a term he coined already in 1959, and of the contemporary avant-garde. In the preface he states: "This book is an introduction to a recent development in the arts. It concentrates on the background, the theory, and some of the implications of these developments. The book, furthermore, is not intented to be a summary after the fact. It has been written in the midst of a young activity, with an interest that was both observant and highly biased. Being part of the activity, I was inclined to look at and judge an art-in-the-making as well as influence its course. Artists, like critics and historians, make the history they reflect, even with the best intentions to remain objective. I thought, when I began writing, that I should try both to observe and to influence as much as possible." From the library of Anders Tornberg Gallery in Lund, Sweden, and with a stamp confirming this on the last blank page.