Vija Celmins
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More than 90 of Celmins' astonishing hyperrealistic paintings are contextualized with writings by the artist herself and by luminaries including Teju Cole, Rachel Cusk and Marlene Dumas
Latvian American artist Vija Celmins (born 1938) is a master of subtle visual power. She is best known for her captivating paintings and drawings depicting galaxies, surfaces of the moon, desert floors, oceans and spider webs. Her works are not monumental; they are painted with a restrained palette and defy quick viewing. But once you are involved with them, your gaze gets caught up in them and they unfold their fascination and great beauty. This monograph presents all her approximately 90 exhibited artworks as well as a selection of documentary photographs. Several commentaries by the artist on her works are included, most of them published for the first time. Contributions by renowned authors and artists such as Julian Bell, Teju Cole, Rachel Cusk, Marlene Dumas and Robert Gober provide new perspectives on the artist's impressive oeuvre.
Jimena Canales
Jimena Canales holds the Thomas M. Siebel Chair in the History of Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Rachel Cusk
RACHEL CUSK is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Second Place and the Outline trilogy. She has written three memoirs—A Life’s Work, The Last Supper and Aftermath—as well as the novels Saving Agnes, winner of the Whitbread First Novel Award; The Country Life, which won a Somerset Maugham Award; The Temporary; The Lucky Ones; In the Fold; Arlington Park; The Bradshaw Variations; and Parade, which won the Goldsmiths Prize. Twice a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award and named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists for 2003, Rachel Cusk is Canadian and lives in Paris.
Katie Farris
Katie Farris is author of Boysgirls and coeditor of Gossip and Metaphysics: Russian Modernist Poets. She is a recipient of the Chad Walsh Chapbook Prize and the Anne Halley Poetry Prize.
Ilya Kaminsky
Ilya Kaminsky is author of Dancing in Odessa and Deaf Republic. He is a recipient of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
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