Nuggets: New and Old Writing on Art, Architecture, and Culture

by Dan Graham, Kathy Slade (Editor)

Dan Graham (born 1942) began his career directing the John Daniels Gallery in New York City in 1964, where he mounted Sol LeWitt’s first one-man show. His acclaimed group shows included works by artists such as Donald Judd, Dan Flavin and Robert Smithson. Like them, Graham considered himself a writer–artist, publishing essays and reviews on topics ranging from rock music to Eisenhower’s paintings and Dean Martin’s television show. His earliest projects dealt with the magazine page, and one of his seminal early works was a series of magazine-style photographs with text, “Homes for America” (1966–1967). Today he is among America’s most prominent artists, both as a practitioner and as a well-respected critic and theorist. This important and substantial collection brings together an assortment of texts both old and new, with writings on art, artists’ books, architecture and various artists Graham admires, such as Carl Andre, Sol LeWitt, Claes Oldenburg, Jeff Wall and John Chamberlain. Also included is a selection of interviews conducted since the 1990s, most notably on his large-scale installations and pavilions incorporating mirrors--a culmination of his long examination of the psychological relationship between people and architecture. This book is part of JRP|Ringier’s Positions series, co-published with Les Presses du réel.

Genres: Art

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2013

Reviews

[J Murnaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd, career-spanning mix. Strange to think that the essential 60's essays included here were written while he was in his twenties. They are dense with facts and theory, yet easy reads. The later writing is loose and conversational: an even better model for art writing, in that it is personal, informative, not forced.