Vija Celmins

by Celmins, Vija

• ISBN13: 9780714842646
• ISBN10: 0714842648
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-01
• Publisher: Phaidon Press

Summary

Primarily a painter of still-life and landscape, Vija Celmins (b. 1938, Latvia; moved to the US in 1949) is a major international figure associated with 1960s Pop art.Her unique, technically impeccable paintings and drawings choose as their subject matter impossible imagery': from exploding planes and burning house from her childhood memories in wartorn Latvia; to vast natural landscapes such as open seas, deserts and night skies; to undefinable spaces like the LA freeway; and natural objects, including desert rocks and spider webs.

Author Biography

Lane Relyea is Assistant Professor of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University, Chicago. His essays and reviews have appeared in Artforum, Parkett and Frieze, and his major contributions to exhibition catalogues include Helter Skelter (1992) and Public Offerings (2001), both at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Robert Gober is among the most important American artists to have emerged in the 1980s. Primarily a sculptor and installation artist, Gober's handcrafted works - often based on familiar domestic objects - have been the object of major exhibitions, at, among others, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1997); the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, and the Reina Sofia, Madrid (both 1991); and the Art Institute of Chicago (1988). In 2001 Gober represented the United States at the Venice Biennale.

Briony Fer is Reader in History of Art at University College London. Her books include On Abstract Art (1997) and The Infinite Line (2004). Fer has written on a wide range of artists including Hanne Darboven, Rachel Whiteread and Eva Hesse.