Ediciones Poligrafa – serie

The etymology of the term “cosmetic” combines the idea of order with that of ornament (beauty and image), establishing a dual synergistic bond. It is precisely from this apparently contradictory connection where very personal and extended cosmetic techniques emerge, such as a contemporary version of the “architecture of resistance” that aims to perpetuate itself and counteract the momentum of (programmed) obsolescence of the language. With the extensive use of cosmetic techniques, ornament becomes a tool that takes on new meanings, broader and even less apparent.From here, Quaderns 272 proposes an analysis of different cosmetic techniques through the critical display organised on three levels, corresponding to three project scales. First of all, the current state of “the face of the European city” is approached, constructed, reconstructed, and transformed. Second, the definition of the architectural object is debated, analysing both the surface and the depth. Finally, cosmetic techniques are analysed from the study of the architectural fragment while simultaneously attending to the identity of the whole. It is precisely the conception of this fragment which contains some of the keys to responding to a possible shift in architectural discipline. A shift maybe, no longer so cosmetic.

From October 1989 until September 1995, fourteen site specific projects found their home in the city of Barcelona. Created by Christian Boltanski, John Cage, Jan Dibbets, Rodney Graham, Rebecca Horn, Jannis Kounellis, Richard Long, Mario Merz, Bruce Nauman, Sigmar Polke, Aureli Ruiz & José Maldonado, Ulrich Rückriem, and Lawrence Weiner, the works provided a significant overview of important installation work of the second half of the 20th century. This book documents the intense experience of the project, which was organized by the Espai Poblenou Foundation. 128 illustrations

The city of Barcelona has been known since the early twentieth century as the home of Art Nouveau. Now it has also become a center for contemporary international architecture. This follow-up to In Detail: Barcelona Art Nouveau looks at the most notable buildings of the last 10 years, with detailed photographic reports on Josep Llu's Mateo's Barcelona Convention Center, Richard Meier's Museum of Contemporary Art, Carles Ferrater's Botanical Gardens and Institute, Rafael Moneo's Barcelona Auditorium concert hall, Herzog & de Meuron's Forum Building, Josep Llinas's block of buildings in the Fort Pienc neighborhood, EMBT's Santa Caterina Market, Clotet & Paricio's Forum-area retirement home and Jean Nouvel's Agbar Tower. The complexity of this new generation of structures, and the variety of local and international talent on view, are auspicious signs for the Barcelona of the twenty-first century. 160 illustrations

Picasso was one of the most innovative, experimental, prolific, influential, and controversial painters of the twentieth century. This updates and re-designed version of the big-size book published on the year 2000, this small-size Picasso. The Monograph 1881-1973 offers more than 1200 new-scanned reproductions spanning the artist s entire career.The three authors are all experts: Léal and Bernadac both former curators of the Musée Picasso in Paris are, at this time and respectively, curators of the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre Museum, and Piot co-authored the catalogue raisonné of Picasso s sculpture. They clearly explain visual sources, duly acknowledge leading art historians interpretations, and choose good quotes from contemporaries. Brigitte Leal covers Picasso s formative years from 1881 through 1916, including his invention of Cubism with Georges Braque. Christine Piot explores the astonishingly fertile period from 1917 through 1952, and Marie-Laure Bernadac discusses the unabashed vigour of Picasso s later years, from 1953 until his death in 1973. ILLUSTRATIONS 1235 images *

Throughout his illustrious career, Robert Rauschenberg has consistently challenged the prevailing ideologies and techniques of the art world. Rauschenberg s seminal works from his comines (urban trash on painted surfaces) to his silk screens. The author also discusses some of the artist s more recent projects, including ROCI, Rauschenberg s own exhibition organization that showcases diverse artists from all over the world. Through beautiful photography and authoritative text, here is a well-rounded overview of one of the word s most pivotal artists. 150 illustrations

Held at a single venue over a 12-month period (Jan-Dec 2010), Domino Canibal project in Spain allowed successive artists to create original works by reinterpreting, demolishing, appropriating, and canibalising the work of preceding artists. This title offers an overview of the project.

The book structure is intrinsically related to ideas underpinning the attitude of Francis of Assisi that are still highly topical: human dignity in poverty, the revaluation of sensible knowledge as opposed to the hegemony of purely instrumental reason, the preservation of nature - entropy, walking as a means to knowledge (appreciating the nomadic condition in a world that is anchored in the sedentary), the condition of the landscape as the human condition (appreciation of reality, like a vast, complex and unstable loop to which nothing can be external). Of course, the list of contemporary artist (35) that sent its works and writings is invaluable: from Francis Alys, Lothar Baumgarten, Cardiff&Miller and Roni Horn to Annika Kars, Amar Kanwar, Anthony McCall, and Lawrence Weiner. The book includes especial commissioned works by Francis Alys, Tacita Dean, Jimmie Durham, Richard Long, Anthony McCall, Perejaume, and Lawrence Weiner. Beautifully designed and produced, the book includes some inserts especially done by the artists

"Starting from the profane material of everyday culture, Polke interprets images of reality rather than reality itself, satirizes tendencies in contemporary painting, questions the role of the artist as author, breaks down the trivial visual worlds of media photography, and always, but always, takes off on the most magnificient flights of imagination."