Gagosian Gallery is pleased to announce "Books & Rivers," conceived and presented by Zucker Art Books in cooperation with the Gagosian Shop. The presentation comprises thirteen artists' books made between 1767 and 2009 that highlight the many ways in which rivers have impressed themselves upon the artistic imagination and life itself.
In an exquisite eighteenth century Jakuchu and Daiten Japanese handscroll Happy Improvisations on a Riverboat Journey (presented in a reprint from 1989), rivers are a source of pleasure; in Louise Bourgeois's Ode à la Bièvre, 2007, a source of nostalgia; in Roni Horn's Still Water (The River Thames, for Example) (2000), a source of critical reflection; in Yun-Fei Ji's Three Gorges Dam (2009) a force of chaos and destruction. Also featured are books that explore the impact of humankind on rivers, imposing cultural order on the untamed complexities of nature. Alighiero Boetti's and Anne-Marie Sauzeau's legendary Classifying the Thousand Longest Rivers in the World (1977), testifies to the ultimate impossibility of consensus in global cartography; while Goodbye, River, Goodbye (1971), by George A. Tice and George Mendoza, laments for a once idyllic river spoiled by manmade pollution.
Also on view are books by Christopher Wool, Dieter Roth, Richard Long, Susan Derges, Andreas Gursky, and a striking screenprint by Roy Lichtenstein. "Books & Rivers" is on view through June 4, 2016.
About Gagosian Shop:
Designed by Selldorf Architects, Gagosian Shop offers an exclusive and extensive selection of artists' books, scholarly monographs, catalogues and limited editions. Gagosian's unparalleled publishing program, featuring books on artists exhibited at Gagosian's worldwide galleries, is the central focus of the Shop.
