Chapmanworld

by Jake Chapman, Dinos Chapman, Nick Land (Contributor)

This is the copiously illustrated catalogue published in conjunction with the 1996 Jake and Dinos Chapman exhibition entitled Chapmanworld. Circulated by London's Institute of Contemporary Art, it traveled to the Grazer Kunstverein and KUNST-WERKE, Berlin, and was the first major retrospective of the transgressive sculptural work of the YBA twins. It contains essays by David Falconer ("Doctorin' the Retardis") and Douglas Fogle, artists' statements, and an intriguing textual contribution by Nick Land that seemingly requires a cryptographer to decipher.

60 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Feliks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is one of many you find in the realm of modern art; it is comprised of mostly photographs and accompanying text which explore an artist's career and works. They are usually odd-dimensioned books (oversized so that the photos can create more of an impression) and they are not usually very thick books; rather, something one can browse through rapidly to gain an overview of an artist's repertoire.

This is one such book and it treats the career of Dinos and Jake Chapman, Germans, who (dedicating the volume to their parents) are apparently a brother-and-sister or brother-and-brother artistic duo who work in the genre of "found sculpture" like Man Ray.

Now that you know what kind of book this is, let me say that the sculpture practised by this pair --and represented by photography within these pages--is certainly some of the strangest; some of the most arresting, disturbing imagery I've ever encountered. It is not for the faint of heart. It is probably not even a book an American should flip through; much less be caught with. Possession of this work would add an extra ten years onto any prison sentence.

Extraordinary and bizarre.