Enrique Juncosa – författare

First published to accompany major retrospective exhibitions at West Cork Arts Centre and the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), this full-colour illustrated monograph explores William Crozier’s whole career, taking in the second half of the twentieth century – a key period in the development of British and Irish art. The catalogue is furnished with essays presenting brand new research by renown art historians and curators, Illuminated by unpublished sources and personal memoirs. What emerges is a picture of the continuum that runs through all of Crozier’s work, revealing a fascinating narrative that, far from a story of transformation from darker, earlier imagery into the apparent hedonism of later landscapes, is one of continuity of purpose in Crozier’s mind-set that connects 1950s Britain and Ireland with the concerns of the new millennium.  Profoundly affected by post-war existential philosophy, Crozier consciously allied himself and his work with contemporary European art throughout the 1950s and 1960s, towards painters such as Jean Dubuffet, Pierre Soulages, Hans Hartung and Nicolas de Staël. The landscape became the source of visceral paintings: For Crozier, ravaged landscapes symbolised the torment and fear of the post-war condition at the heart of existentialism. Only ten years separate these images of traumatized humanity from the luxuriantly colourful works inspired by the landscape of West Cork. His early skill as a colourist reaches its zenith in paintings that capture the essence and appearance of the West Cork landscape in ways immediately recognisable to the viewer, but they are also concerned to capture a landscape during a period of great physical and social change. Crozier believed that when painting the Irish landscape he must, “Tell the truth. Say it simply.”

Irish artists and writers have played a fascinating role in the story of modernism, and The Moderns traces this story by bringing together exceptional examples of painting and sculpture, photography, film, architecture, literature, music and design, of Irish significance, in an exploration of the development of modern Ireland through its arts in the period from the 1900s to 1970s. Its broad interdisciplinary context proceeds from the recognition that art forms are not mutually exclusive and that the understanding of one may inform another. Here, the paintings of Mainie Jellett, Evie Hone and other advocates of European modernism are juxtaposed with the accomplishments of designer-architect Eileen Gray and writer James Joyce. Also examined are the works and influence of John Millington Synge, Paul Henry and the Yeats family; the impact of Surrealism; postwar connections among Irish and British artists and writers, including Francis Bacon, Louis le Brocquy and Anthony Cronin; and the introduction for the first time of Samuel Beckett as a visual artist through his work Film. The Moderns reflects the groundbreaking Rosc exhibitions from the 1960s and 70s onwards. Minimalism and Conceptualism and the emergence of postmodernism are traced in the works of Brian O'Doherty, Barry Flanagan, Michael Craig-Martin, Sean Scully and James Coleman. The Moderns declares what we know to be the case, but which few publications have examined--that the arts of the past century owe Ireland some of their greatest works.

This definitive monograph celebrates the stunning work of an esteemed Japanese photographer known for her intimate and atmospheric black-and-white portraits.Sakiko Nomura’s images explore themes of sensuality, identity, and solitude with striking emotional depth. A protégé of Nobuyoshi Araki, she captures the human form in raw, vulnerable states, focusing on the interplay of light and shadow to evoke stillness, introspection, and desire. Her subjects, often youthful and alluring, reveal the power and tension of erotic desire with remarkable tenderness. As a woman photographing both male and female nudes, Nomura’s work challenges traditional Japanese stereotypes, offering a fresh perspective on intimacy and the human experience.This book features a rich selection of Nomura’s most evocative work, showcasing her fluid, rhythmic brushstrokes of light and shadow. Her compositions blur the line between subtle eroticism and contemplative beauty, capturing personal moments that resonate universally.Elegant and alluring, this monograph is an essential addition for admirers of Japanese photography, women photographers, and contemporary erotic art, and offers a compelling invitation to explore the forces of desire, vulnerability, and human connection through the lens of one of Japan’s most captivating contemporary photographers.