ARTE AMERICANA. ULTIMO DECENNIO
An exhaustive catalog to accompany the exhibition Arte americana. Ultimo decennio, (American Art in the Last Decade) at the Loggetta Lombardesca in Ravenna (Italy). The historic decade of American art between the 80s and 90s is laid out here: that period in the U.S., a laboratory for the synthesis of all the movements in painting and art from all over the world, is illustrated through the works of great artists such as Peter Halley, Lawrence Carroll, Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Robert Longo and Jeff Koons. The comments of Alan Jones, Roberto Daolio and Fernanda Pivano are fascinating in the way they both open up and examine in depth the culture these works represent. Text in English and Italian.

Arte Americana. Ultimo decennio, edited by Claudio Spadoni, Mazzotta (Foro Bonaparte 52, Milan), 2000, 127 pages, 23 x 28 cm.

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THE WORLD OF NAM JUNE PAIK
This lavish catalog, edited by John G. Hanhardt, of the work of Nam June Paik, the Korean-born artist who now lives in the U.S., was produced in conjunction with an exhibition honoring his work at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. It is the first American retrospective since 1982, and this catalog includes many of Paik’s works since then, up to and including the recent Modulations in Synch (2000). A biography of this video artist along with a critical assessment of his work and the cultural climate from which it grew in the early 1960s is printed in crisp flowing letters in green or blue on white pages and is accompanied by numerous color and black-and-white photographs of his sculptures, installations, videos and television projects. Hanhardt’s essay gives us a fresh point of view on the central role Paik still plays today in art that relies on new media. Of particular interest is a selection of comments and essays by Paik himself.

The World of Nam June Paik, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Harry N. Abrams, Inc, NY, 1999, 275 pages, 27 x 19.5 cm.