Artworks

Duane Michals (born 1932) was seventy when he conceived the extended sequence of photographs and poetic texts that constitute The House I Once Called Home. Just a few years after the death of his mother, he returned to his native Pittsburgh to revisit the house in which he was born and brought up. Its deteriorated state proved a poignant focus for his memories, prompting reveries on mortality and the succession of generations that found form both verbally and visually. For four decades Michals has been one of America's most consistently individual and original voices in photography. Rejecting the documentary emphasis of much...

Texas 1964 represents an amazing discovery.  Duane Michals, one of America’s pre-eminent photographers completed a project in 1964 to depict different aspects of the state of Texas.  Michals recently discovered in his archive ‘Duane’s Texas tempest in a teapot treasure trove’, the whole brilliant and resonant portrait of that celebrated state – captivating black-and-white images published here for the first time. Tender, witty, poignant and truthful, Duane Michals’ Texas 1964 captures a society in some ways unchanged from its first controversial settlement, with its racial divisions and economic and social gulfs, and in others redolent of the new America – commercialised, confident, forward-looking. Texas 1964 has...

In 1964 Duane Michals, already established as a leading American photographer, was commissioned by Robert Benton, art editor of Esquire magazine and later an Oscar-winning screenwriter and director, to make a sequence of photographs for a book on Benton’s home state. The book never appeared but recently Michals discovered in his archive ‘Duane’s Texas tempest in a teapot treasure trove’, the whole brilliant and resonant portrait of that celebrated state – captivating black-and-white images published here for the first time. Tender, witty, poignant and truthful, Duane Michals’ Texas 1964 captures a society in some ways unchanged from its first controversial settlement, with its...

Texas 1964 represents an amazing discovery.  Duane Michals, one of America’s pre-eminent photographers completed a project in 1964 to depict different aspects of the state of Texas.  Michals recently discovered in his archive ‘Duane’s Texas tempest in a teapot treasure trove’, the whole brilliant and resonant portrait of that celebrated state – captivating black-and-white images published here for the first time. Tender, witty, poignant and truthful, Duane Michals’ Texas 1964 captures a society in some ways unchanged from its first controversial settlement, with its racial divisions and economic and social gulfs, and in others redolent of the new America – commercialised, confident, forward-looking. Texas 1964 has...

Texas 1964 represents an amazing discovery.  Duane Michals, one of America’s pre-eminent photographers completed a project in 1964 to depict different aspects of the state of Texas.  Michals recently discovered in his archive ‘Duane’s Texas tempest in a teapot treasure trove’, the whole brilliant and resonant portrait of that celebrated state – captivating black-and-white images published here for the first time. Tender, witty, poignant and truthful, Duane Michals’ Texas 1964 captures a society in some ways unchanged from its first controversial settlement, with its racial divisions and economic and social gulfs, and in others redolent of the new America – commercialised, confident, forward-looking. Texas 1964 has...

Texas 1964 represents an amazing discovery.  Duane Michals, one of America’s pre-eminent photographers completed a project in 1964 to depict different aspects of the state of Texas.  Michals recently discovered in his archive ‘Duane’s Texas tempest in a teapot treasure trove’, the whole brilliant and resonant portrait of that celebrated state – captivating black-and-white images published here for the first time. Tender, witty, poignant and truthful, Duane Michals’ Texas 1964 captures a society in some ways unchanged from its first controversial settlement, with its racial divisions and economic and social gulfs, and in others redolent of the new America – commercialised, confident, forward-looking. Texas 1964 has...

Texas 1964 represents an amazing discovery.  Duane Michals, one of America’s pre-eminent photographers completed a project in 1964 to depict different aspects of the state of Texas.  Michals recently discovered in his archive ‘Duane’s Texas tempest in a teapot treasure trove’, the whole brilliant and resonant portrait of that celebrated state – captivating black-and-white images published here for the first time. Tender, witty, poignant and truthful, Duane Michals’ Texas 1964 captures a society in some ways unchanged from its first controversial settlement, with its racial divisions and economic and social gulfs, and in others redolent of the new America – commercialised, confident, forward-looking. Texas 1964 has...

"Handkerchief Seller was derived from my time spent in Mumbai while I was studying there. It was fascinating to see the energy and struggle for survival in this big cosmopolitan city. People were selling literally anything they could get their hands on, to sustain themselves and their families. While walking from the railway station to art school every day, I observed this woman selling handkerchiefs in her upside down umbrella on the footpath. Her muted colour sari, her worn out feet, scattered newspaper nearby and her conditioned harsh reality were all visible on her sunburnt face. This was a striking visual...

Paul Muldoon & Philip Pearlstein It is perhaps the accidental collaborations that can prove the most imaginative and charming, as in this beautifully conceived artist’s book bringing together the Pulitzer-prizewinning poet Paul Muldoon and one of his artistic heroes, the eminent American painter Philip Pearlstein, long revered as one of the modern masters of figurative art. Sparkling new sequences of poems accompany lively watercolours which, as the artist explains, are ‘mostly of terra cotta objects…vessels and fragments of gods, goddesses, and demons from various ancient cultures.’ In his introduction Paul Muldoon sets the scene: ‘When I’d first asked Philip Pearlstein if he...

Full of the macabre touches and dark humour that have contributed to Paula Rego’s reputation, Stone Soup is a new version of the traditional Portuguese folktale by her daughter, the designer and writer Cas Willing. The fable has existed in numerous incarnations for centuries. In contrast to many others, the wily protagonist in this version is female. We follow the efforts of a young female traveller in her attempt to save herself from starvation. She persuades suspicious townspeople to supply her with food for her mysterious Stone Soup. This is a tale typically read to children to encourage cooperation in times of scarcity....

I Have Found a Song is a fascinating collection of poems and images published to mark the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. It originated in a commission from Arts Council England for 12 poets to write on the theme of enslavement. Interspersed with these are exciting visual contributions by five artists invited by Enitharmon to produce work on the same theme. This de luxe edition is limited to 35 copies, each accompanied by a portfolio of 5 signed original prints: Paula Rego 'Death Goes Shopping' (Etching with Aquatint, 460 x 555mm) Sonia Boyce 'Is this love that I'm feeling?' (Etching,...

'Slavery, in different forms, in different places, in different times links these photographs. In 1997, when I took the photograph of the garbage-collecting children in Karachi, I was not thinking of them as slaves, I was thinking of them as part of a process where waste is re-cycled, plastics, metals collected, sorted, melted down, transformed, re-used. A good thing. Only later did I start to think about whether they had any choice in the matter, if they had other realistic options in order to survive, whether they were physically intimidated into doing what they do. I don't really know the answer,...

In the Twilight Slot is a selection of poems by Thom Gunn, consisting of the powerful sequence 'Troubadour' and another three related poems, 'Coffee Shop', 'A Wood Near Athens' and 'Arethusa Raped'. With the book is a signed and numbered photographic portrait of Gunn by Arthur Tress. Sebastian Carter of the Rampant Lions Press designed and printed the text, which is set in 14pt Ehrhardt. The paper is 145gsm Zerkall mould-made wove and is therefore a delight for bibliophiles. The books were then bound and slipcased by The Fine Bindery. Arthur Tress's photographic portrait of Thom Gunn was taken at the...

Gavin Turk's lithograph, Metamorphosis, is accompanied by a short text: 'As he awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed into a gigantic insect.' Quoting Kafka, Turk presents a comically anthropomorphized insect, standing upright on two legs, with arms poised as if about to reach for a pair of pistols in a bizarre insectoid shoot-out. Turk's print is one of a portfolio of ten prints collectively entitled Bugs. The portfolio was published by the Byam Shaw School of Art in London. Produced as a fundraiser, the proceeds from the portfolio sales were dedicated to providing bursaries to support Byam Shaw students from overseas, particularly those from Latin...

One of 6 hardback copies signed by Upward on his 100th birthday   A legendary figure among the ‘Auden generation’ of young writers in the 1930s, Edward Upward continued writing into his late nineties. This selection of his best short stories spans a literary career of almost eight decades, and was published to celebrate his centenary in 2003. Beginning in 1928 with the fantastical world of Mortmere in The Railway Accident, the stories continue through the era of political engagement in the Thirties to the reflective and poignant studies of old age that have underpinned his revival in the past decade. Together...

Adornment shows female figures set in the interior of a central London house. 'I gave my first series of lithographs the title Initiations to reflect that working with the medium of lithography was a new venture for me. In terms of mark-making, lithography is the printmaking process closest to painting, but it still presented a completely different way of building an image. I had to consider how, through overlaying transparent layers of colour, I could use a relatively limited palette to build complex scenes. The prints in the set were diverse in subject matter, reflecting a shift in subject in my...

'Nocturnes brings together recent family subjects touching on themes of women’s domestic labour, with night scenes which have been a recurring motif in my work for over a decade. Depicting everyday activities, from my daughter watching tv before dinner, to my mum seen washing dishes or taking the bins out late on a midsummer’s night, to the darkened space of a bedroom, lit only by the streetlights outside the window, where my sister in law, Lisa, feeds her baby.  The medium of lithography offers particularly rewarding results for building up the atmosphere and rich colour needed to depict these nocturnal scenes...

'Nocturnes brings together recent family subjects touching on themes of women’s domestic labour, with night scenes which have been a recurring motif in my work for over a decade. Depicting everyday activities, from my daughter watching tv before dinner, to my mum seen washing dishes or taking the bins out late on a midsummer’s night, to the darkened space of a bedroom, lit only by the streetlights outside the window, where my sister in law, Lisa, feeds her baby.  The medium of lithography offers particularly rewarding results for building up the atmosphere and rich colour needed to depict these nocturnal scenes...

' Nocturnes brings together recent family subjects touching on themes of women’s domestic labour, with night scenes which have been a recurring motif in my work for over a decade. Depicting everyday activities, from my daughter watching tv before dinner, to my mum seen washing dishes or taking the bins out late on a midsummer’s night, to the darkened space of a bedroom, lit only by the streetlights outside the window, where my sister in law, Lisa, feeds her baby.  The medium of lithography offers particularly rewarding results for building up the atmosphere and rich colour needed to depict these nocturnal...

'Nocturnes brings together recent family subjects touching on themes of women’s domestic labour, with night scenes which have been a recurring motif in my work for over a decade. Depicting everyday activities, from my daughter watching tv before dinner, to my mum seen washing dishes or taking the bins out late on a midsummer’s night, to the darkened space of a bedroom, lit only by the streetlights outside the window, where my sister in law, Lisa, feeds her baby.  The medium of lithography offers particularly rewarding results for building up the atmosphere and rich colour needed to depict these nocturnal scenes...

'Nocturnes brings together recent family subjects touching on themes of women’s domestic labour, with night scenes which have been a recurring motif in my work for over a decade. Depicting everyday activities, from my daughter watching tv before dinner, to my mum seen washing dishes or taking the bins out late on a midsummer’s night, to the darkened space of a bedroom, lit only by the streetlights outside the window, where my sister in law, Lisa, feeds her baby.  The medium of lithography offers particularly rewarding results for building up the atmosphere and rich colour needed to depict these nocturnal scenes...

Caroline Walker writes: ‘Early Years brings my interest in nurseries as a subject for painting into the language of printmaking with my first set of etchings since experimenting with the medium during my MA at the Royal College of Art (2007-2009). “Early Years” is a term used to describe children’s developmental provision in the years before they start school. It’s a period in which young children learn about the world around them – how to feed and dress themselves, speak and understand language and build relationships with others. Each etching depicts a scene of nurture with a pared-back palette of...

Caroline Walker writes: ‘Early Years brings my interest in nurseries as a subject for painting into the language of printmaking with my first set of etchings since experimenting with the medium during my MA at the Royal College of Art (2007-2009). “Early Years” is a term used to describe children’s developmental provision in the years before they start school. It’s a period in which young children learn about the world around them – how to feed and dress themselves, speak and understand language and build relationships with others. Each etching depicts a scene of nurture with a pared-back palette of...

Caroline Walker writes: ‘Early Years brings my interest in nurseries as a subject for painting into the language of printmaking with my first set of etchings since experimenting with the medium during my MA at the Royal College of Art (2007-2009). “Early Years” is a term used to describe children’s developmental provision in the years before they start school. It’s a period in which young children learn about the world around them – how to feed and dress themselves, speak and understand language and build relationships with others. Each etching depicts a scene of nurture with a pared-back palette of...