6 art books to combat the summer reading slump

If all you can do this summer is bask in air-conditioned rooms or coolers, let alone pick up a thick text, know that you are not alone. Our editors and staff have compiled a short, sweet list of compelling books to pull you out of a reading slump this month or keep on hand for the future. Our selections include photographs of Manhattan artists’ lofts, engaging essays by scholar Nell Irvin Painter that mix the historical and the personal, and even a handbook for aspiring comic artists. Have fun and stay cool! —Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Co-Editor

Louis Carlos Bernal: Monograph

Louis Carlos Bernal captured simultaneous waves of vulnerability and resistance in his stirring images of Mexican American communities in the Southwest and beyond. This book, which accompanies a traveling exhibition at the University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography, is the late, groundbreaking Chicano photographer’s first major monograph. Whether portraying families in intimate domestic settings or documenting the living conditions of California farmworkers, Bernal found a way to center the individuality of his subjects while affirming his own values ​​- resulting in what curator Elizabeth Ferrer describes in her standout essay for the publication as “a Chicanx fantasy world.” –Valentina Di Liscia

Buy in the bookshop | Aperture, June 2024

Loft Law: The last original artist lofts in New York City by Joshua Charow

Back when the streets of Soho weren’t yet a backdrop for influencers and top-notch galleries weren’t vying for real estate in Tribeca, New York City’s lofts served as living spaces and studios for artists who paid pennies today for the high ceilings and huge windows of what were once factories and warehouses. Countless were eventually displaced or forced to fork out as landlords demanded higher prices for the commercial space. When Joshua Charow came across a map of buildings under the “Loft Law,” enacted in 1982 to protect creative people from eviction, he felt compelled to meet and photograph the tenants who still lived in the mythical “artist lofts.” Step into the homes of experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs, painter Kimiko Fujimura, and many others through this very special book, which, while not a portal to the past, is a living archive of an enduring phenomenon. —VD

Buy in the bookshop | Damiani Books, April 2024

The last safe abortion by Carmen Winant

Among the highlights of this year’s Whitney Biennial is Carmen Winant’s collage of 2,500 prints, “The Last Safe Abortion” (2023). At such a scale, however, it is hard to grasp the meaning and importance of the work, let alone the people in the images. A recent book about the project solves this problem and proves not only informative but also engaging. While a text by the artist provides helpful background, the book is really about the thousands of photographs of abortion workers, patients, and advocates taken by Winant and others and extracted from archives. The publication provides time and space to see the people in the images, reflect on their lives and circumstances, and feel a sense of connection that is rare in a white-cube museum. It pays the subjects of the photos the respect they deserve. —Natalie Haddad

Buy the book | Mack Books, April 2024

Just keep talking: A life in essays by Nell Irvin Painter

Historian Nell Irvin Painter’s essay collection begins with two self-portraits in the prologue: one is a collage, the other a skeleton drawing that she describes as “a kind of memento mori warning against excessive complacency (odd for someone who draws dozens of self-portraits).” Her razor-sharp essays, drawn from decades of reporting and writing, are a delight to read, with her own lithographs, sketches, collages, and paintings enriching the texts. Her outstanding scholarly work on the American South and whites is in I just keep talkingamong other essays on life and art. The painter reflects on Alma Thomas and the aging process, navigating art school while writing a book, the lack of recognition for black women artists, and more. Together, they form an illuminating portrait of her multifaceted lifelong endeavors. —LA

Buy in the bookshop | Doubleday Books, April 2024

The Book of Printed Fabrics: From the 16th Century to Today by Aziza Gril-Mariotte

When printed fabrics first arrived in Europe from India in the late 16th century, the lightweight, colorful materials were soon found on clothing, furniture, wall hangings, and a range of household textiles. Over the past 500 years, printed fabrics have had a huge impact not only on Western fashion, but also on its industry, technology, and culture. This is especially true in France, where printed fabrics caused such a stir that they were banned in the mid-17th century, only to flourish again at prestigious manufacturers in Normandy and Alsace, and later in the boutiques of Paris. Art historian Aziza Gril-Mariotte’s two-volume The Book of Printed Fabrics: From the 16th Century to Today tells the story of this central material through nearly 900 printed fabric samples from the Musée de l’Impression sur Étoffes collection, from woodcut to digital printing processes using natural and chemical dyes. These diverse and beautifully reproduced designs are a feast for the eyes and their far-reaching history is thought-provoking. —Lauren Moya Ford

Buy in the bookshop | Taschen, April 2024

Making copra by Michel Fiffe

The 2012 superhero comic copra by creator Michel Fiffe is both an imitation of the hero comics of the 1980s and a formally unique book with unusual design elements. Fiffe’s latest self-published book, Making copradraws on his 12 years of experience in self-publishing in various forms and goes into the details of how he approaches these formal elements, from Recognition of standards and expectations to nullify his decisions to follow or undermine them.

Although they are influenced by the textbook and comic book back industry, what distinguishes Making copra What sets Fiffe apart from other “how-to” books and guides for comic artists is his ability to weave his personal story into his instructions. In 64 pages, this book captures an arc that explores the emotional rollercoaster of making art. and selling and beautifully illustrates how he navigates the complex relationship between himself and his audience. —CM Campbell

Buy book | February 2024