Jeffrey De Blois – författare

How artists from Paul Klee and Mierle Laderman Ukeles to Faith Ringgold and Deborah Roberts have explored childhood themes of innocence, spontaneity and storytellingPublished with Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.Artists have long been inspired by children—by their imagination, creativity and unique ways of seeing and being in the world—and have made work that depicts and involves children as collaborators, that represents or mimics their ways of drawing or telling stories, that highlights their unique cultures, and that addresses ideas of innocence and spontaneity closely associated with children. To Begin Again: Artists and Childhood surveys how artists have reflected on and contributed to notions of childhood from the early 20th century to the present. The works in To Begin Again offer distinctive viewpoints and experiences, revealing how time and place, economics and race, and representation and aesthetics fundamentally shape how we experience and understand early development. The catalog underscores that while there is no single, uniform idea of childhood, it is nevertheless the ground upon which so much of society is built, negotiated and imagined.Artists include: Ann Agee, John Ahearn, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Francis Alÿs, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Brian Belott, Jordan Casteel, Lenka Clayton, Allan Rohan Crite, Henry Darger, Karon Davis, Robert Gober, Jay Lynn Gomez, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Duane Hanson, Mona Hatoum, Sharon Hayes, Ekua Holmes, Mary Kelly, Paul Klee, Justine Kurland, Helen Levitt, Tau Lewis, Glenn Ligon, Oscar Murillo, Rivane Neuenschwander, Berenice Olmedo, Charles Ray, Faith Ringgold, Deborah Roberts, Tim Rollins and K.O.S., Rachel Rose, Heji Shin, Sable Elyse Smith, Becky Suss, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Cathy Wilkes and Carmen Winant.

The first monograph on Lewis' sculptural practice inspired by the material inventiveness of Afro-Atlantic diasporic traditionsPublished with Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.This is the first monograph dedicated to the sculptural practice of the Canadian artist Tau Lewis (born 1993). Lewis transforms found materials into intricate soft sculptures, quilts, masks and other assemblages through intensive processes such as hand sewing and carving. A self-taught artist, Lewis’ practice is directed at healing personal, collective and historical traumas through the repetitive forms of creative labor she employs. She forages for materials charged with meaning—old clothing and photographs, as well as driftwood and seashells—which she often collects from her surroundings in Toronto, New York or outside her family’s home in Negril, Jamaica. Lewis’ upcycling relates to forms of material inventiveness practiced by diasporic communities, wherein working with objects close at hand is a reparative act to reclaim agency. Throughout, Lewis’ interest lies in honoring and advancing these diasporic traditions and exploring, as she has said, “the transference of energy and emotion that occurs when an object is made by hand.”

Scintillating and significant, Atlas’ genre-defying, collaborative video art is on full display in this extensive surveyPublished with Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.American artist Charles Atlas (born 1949) is a leading figure in film and video art known for his pioneering work at the intersections of moving image, dance and performance. Alongside the artist’s first retrospective, About Time surveys 50 years of groundbreaking work through immersive multichannel video installations Atlas describes as “walk-through experiences.” These monumental installations reimagine his collaborations with artists such as Marina Abramovic, Michael Clark, Merce Cunningham and Yvonne Rainer in dynamic new spatial configurations. Taking in themes of performance and portraiture, gender and sexuality, and collaboration and friendship, About Time presents significant new scholarship on the artist’s work and legacy from some of today’s leading voices, foregrounding a diverse group of artists reflecting on Atlas’ influence.