Fred Cray Changing Guard (3 results)

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Bound in publisher's cloth. Hardcover. Good binding and cover. Shelf wear. Clean, unmarked pages. Related ephemera included.

Hardcover. Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Signed. Unpaginated. Published in 2014. Artist Book. Collection of unique self-portraits. One of the most beautiful Artist Books of our time. Limited Edition of 200 numbered and signed copies. The first and only edition. An austerely elegant production by Fred Cray: Oversize-volume format. Gray cloth boards with photographic reproduction pasted in front and metallic-silver titles embossed on the spine, as issued. Photographically-based art by Fred Cray. There is no text. Two loose 4 X 6 unique postcards laid-in. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Presents, in a Limited Edition format, Fred Cray's "Changing The Guard". His most rigorous "Unique Photographs" project. The sly title refers to the fact that each of the images shows exactly the same self-portrait, which has been superimposed with another photographically-sourced image, rendering the self-portrait insignificant albeit ever-present, and resulting in a unique image because the artist has made only one of each. Cray calls each resulting image a "double-printed photograph", of which there will potentially be an infinite number "left out in the world as unique photographs". It's an ingenious idea (that uses a rudimentary process called superimposition) because it turns the photograph, the most easily reproducible medium, into something unique. At the same time, Cray reminds us of the artwork's reproducibility by using the same self-portrait and making each piece exactly the same 4 X 6 inch postcard size. Cray is basically agreeing with Walter Benjamin's insight about "the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction", he is also dis-agreeing with it, by showing that despite its reproducible character, the photograph does not diminish or undermine an artist's ability to create a unique work of art that reflects his personal vision. Cray reminds us, pace Benjamin, that the most serious and ambitious contemporary art is increasingly more, not less, photographically-based. An esoteric figure, Cray keeps American Surrealism and the very idea of art alive in our time. Fred Cray is The Real Thing: Thoughtful yet intuitive, and deeply moving. An absolute "must-have" title for Fred Cray collectors. This is a copy of the Limited Edition of 200 numbered and signed copies, indicated/numbered as such on the Back Limitation Page. It is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen by Fred Cray. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. Laid in are two loose 4 X 6 inch unique postcard artworks. This is an Artist Book collectible. This is one of few copies of the Limited Edition still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. A rare signed copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with color plates, 2 unique photographs. One of the most brilliant American artists of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER FRED CRAY TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 1617042021. Signed by Author.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Color photographs throughout. Limited edition: this copy is number 22 of 200 copies. SIGNED by Fred Cray on the limitation page. Laid in are six postcard sized color photographs, each numbered and stamped "Unique Photograph Fred Cray" on the back. Also laid in is a larger (6.5" x 9.5") color photograph with the same stamp but also SIGNED and dated (2014) by Fred Cray on the back. Fine in gray cloth with a color image on the front board. No dust jacket, as issued.