Katherine Atkins – författare

Artists on Andy Warhol is the third installment in a series culled from Dia's Artists on Artists lectures, focused on the work of artist Andy Warhol (1928–87). This small-format paperback book delves into Warhol's oft-quoted phrase: "If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface: of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it." Artists on Andy Warhol breaks down this iconic phrase to investigate Warhol's relationship with art, culture, language and race with essays that examine the significance of halftones and shadows and look to sources such as Ralph Ellison and Jacques Lacan. Together Robert Buck, Glenn Ligon, Jorge Pardo, Kara Walker and James Welling search beyond the surface of Warhol's work, persona and legacy to better understand the invisible artist.

In the late 1960s, while still a recent graduate with scant means, artist Bruce Nauman (born 1941) explored a trio of interwoven subjects: the studio, the daily practice of making art and the role of the artist. He outlined the latter, for example, in a memorable neon sign, alongside more commercial counterparts affixed to the exterior of his building. The work’s cool spiral letters traced the claim, at once ironic and heartfelt: “The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths.” Questioning the role of the spectator and channeling Nauman’s inquisitive attitude, this book features contributions by Judith Barry, William Kentridge, David Levine, Gedi Sibony, Gary Simmons, Charline von Heyl and Mark Wallinger.

Artists from Matthew Buckingham to Diana Thater address the rich legacy of Robert Smithson’s films, sculptures and Spiral JettyThis is the fifth volume in a series that builds upon Dia Art Foundation’s Artists on Artists lectures. The contributors to Artists on Robert Smithson engage with Smithson’s work in myriad ways: Matthew Buckingham’s essay highlights Smithson’s preoccupation with the ways that histories of the earth are constructed and contested; Abraham Cruzvillegas considers Smithson’s work with broken glass and architecture; Mark Dion’s didactic approach to the life and work of the artist recounts the conceptual and evolutionary conditions that led to his birth and development; Teresita Fernández confronts the limitations of dominant histories of place, art and the monumental; Trevor Paglen considers Smithson’s iconic spiral and his fascination with natural history; Rayyane Tabet weaves together a history of basalt that reveals themes of colonialism, surveillance and strife; and finally, engaging with the science fiction canon and its cinematic conventions, Diana Thater provides a close reading of Smithson’s Spiral Jetty film.