Alex Potts – författare

Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768), one of the most important figures ever to have written about art, is considered by many to be the father of modern art history. This book is an intellectual biography of Winckelmann that discusses his magnum opus, History of the Art of Antiquity, in the context of his life and work in Germany and in Rome in the eighteenth century.Alex Potts analyzes Winckelmann's eloquent account of the aesthetic and imaginative Greek ideal in art, an account that focuses on the political and homoerotic sexual content that gave the antique ideal male nude its larger resonance. He shows how Winckelmann's writing reflects the well-known preoccupations and values of Enlightenment culture as well as a darker aspect of Enlightenment ideals--such as the fantasy of a completely free sovereign subjectivity associated with Greek art. Potts explores how Winckelmann's historical perspective on the art of antiquity both prefigures and undermines the more strictly historicizing views put forward in the nineteenth century and how his systematic definition of style and historical development casts a new light on the present-day understanding of these notions. According to Potts, Winckelmann goes well beyond the simple rationalist art history and Neoclassical art theory with which he is usually associated. Rather, he often seems to speak directly to our present awareness of the discomforting ideological and psychic contradictions inherent in supposedly ideal symbolic forms.

In 1977, Max Neuhaus turned a triangle of pedestrian space between 45th and 46th Streets in Times Square into an island of harmonic sound. The rich textures of that sound continue today, emanating from beneath the sidewalk grating, to anonymously reach an individual’s ears as if one has stumbled upon a secret. Known as Times Square, the celebrated installation was restored in 2002 with support from Dia Art Foundation, which further commissioned a site-specific piece, Time Piece Beacon, from Neuhaus in 2006 for its museum in Beacon, New York. This stunning book—the only volume in print dedicated solely to the work of Neuhaus—takes these two projects as a point of departure from which to consider the singular impact this artist has had in establishing sound as a medium in contemporary art. An interview with Neuhaus is complemented with essays by multidisciplinary scholars who investigate and situate his work within a historical context. Distributed for Dia Art Foundation

"The Bauhaus, the school of art and design founded in Germany in 1919 and shut down by the Nazis in 1933, brought together artists, architects and designers - among them Anni and Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Marcel Breuer, Lyonel Feininger, Walter Gropius, Johannes Itten, Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Lilly Reich, Oskar Schlemmer, Gunta Stolzl - in an extraordinary conversation on the nature of art in the industrial age. Aiming to rethink the form of modern life, the Bauhaus became thesite of a dazzling array of experiments in the visual arts that have profoundly shaped the world today. Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity, published to accompany a major multimedia exhibition, is The Museum of Modern Art's first comprehensive treatment of the subject since its famous Bauhaus exhibition of 1938, and offers a new generational perspective on the twentieth century's most influential experiment in artistic education." "Organized in collaboration with the three major Bauhaus collections in Germany (the Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin, the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau and the Klassic Stiftung Weimar), Bauhaus 1919-1933 examines the extraordinarily broad spectrum of the school's products, including industrial design, furniture, architecture, graphics,photography, textiles, ceramics, theater and costume design, painting and sculpture. Many of the objects discussed and illustrated here have rarely if ever been seen or published outside Germany. Featuring approximately 400 color plates, richly complemented by documentary images, Bauhaus 1919-1933 includes two overarching essays by the exhibition's curators, Barry Bergdoll and Leah Dickerman, that present new perspectives on the Bauhaus. Shorter essays by more than 20 leading scholars apply contemporary viewpoints to 30 key Bauhaus objects, and an illustrated narrative chronology provides a dynamic glimpse of the Bauhaus' lived history."--BOOK JACKET.

In an isolated corner of Western Europe, Carl and Rita rent a house on stilts in a river. But as they spend so much time only in each other's company, cracks in their relationship start to appear. Secretly hoping to meet someone he can look up as Rita finishes her dissertation, Carl embarks on a search for the last remaining traditional local boat-builder. His quest brings him to a stern craftsman whose harsh, critical approach erodes Carl's self-esteem. And meanwhile, the river gets higher and higher, threatening to sweep the house away. . . .Animator and illustrator Alex Pott's futuristic graphic novel is a psychological drama and a coming-of-age tale, where the protagonist is is pushed to the brink of his own sanity. . . .

'It was like he'd missed the main part of the story and arrived between the big climax and the end credits. A new order had established itself and everyone, apart from him, was living happily ever after. Nothing interesting could possibly happen between now and the ending.' Philip is looking for something: a new life, a new friend, a new relationship. Having moved during the pandemic, he's adrift, unmoored, and stuck inside his own head. Working all day from his rented room, he haunts cafes and bars around town in search of a connection with anyone but his landlady. When he meets Gina, a local musician, he finds that spark - but the discomfort of navigating a relationship leaves him isolated, frustrated and always feeling like he's getting something wrong. This thoughtful, absurd graphic novel about the relatable nature of modern loneliness gives us glimpses inside Philip's head, telling the relatable, emotional story of one socially awkward hapless man's journey through midlife. Praise for previous work by Alex Potts: 'Gripping and propulsive to its end - but even better, its final page instils an instant desire to go back and reread it. Potts is a master of ratcheting up the tension... His colour palette and shading are subtle but effective.' - Peter Dabbene, Foreword Reviews. 'An intriguing and entertaining read that is all the more interesting and enjoyable for not being what you expect it to be.' - Alex Thomas, Pipedream Comics.