An illuminating exploration of the meaning of abstract art by acclaimed art historian Kirk Varnedoe "What is abstract art good for? What's the use—for us as individuals, or for any society—of pictures of nothing, of paintings and sculptures or prints or drawings that do not seem to show anything except themselves?" In this invigorating account of abstract art since Jackson Pollock, eminent art historian Kirk Varnedoe, the former chief curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, asks these and other questions as he frankly confronts the uncertainties we may have about the nonrepresentational art produced in the past five decades. He makes a compelling argument for its history and value, much as E. H. Gombrich tackled representation fifty years ago in Art and Illusion, another landmark A. W. Mellon Lectures volume. Realizing that these lectures might be his final work, Varnedoe conceived of them as a statement of his faith in modern art and as the culminating example of his lucidly pragmatic and philosophical approach to art history. He delivered the lectures, edited and reproduced here with their illustrations, to overflowing crowds at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in the spring of 2003, just months before his death. With brilliance, passion, and humor, Varnedoe addresses the skeptical attitudes and misunderstandings that we often bring to our experience of abstract art. Resisting grand generalizations, he makes a deliberate and scholarly case for abstraction—showing us that more than just pure looking is necessary to understand the self-made symbolic language of abstract art. Proceeding decade by decade, he brings alive the history and biography that inform the art while also challenging the received wisdom about distinctions between abstraction and representation, modernism and postmodernism, and minimalism and pop. The result is a fascinating and ultimately moving tour through a half century of abstract art, concluding with an unforgettable description of one of Varnedoe's favorite works. Please note: All images in this ebook are presented in black and white and have been reduced in size.

Nothing in MoMA is a series of photographs captured in areas of Manhattan museums in which there are no artworks, written words, or people. Addressing the "grammar that organizes and secures our scene of looking," in the words of art historian David Joselit's introduction, the book imagines a composite empty museum or a narrative of marginal attention. Originally displayed in partial prototype as a children's board book at Artists Space in 2015, Nothing in MoMA is here collected for the first time in the series' entirety. Evoking the history of indeterminacy as much as that of institutional critique, the deadpan composition of Adams's photographs likewise recalls François Jullien's theory of bland aesthetics, in a playful reductio of socio-institutional space to a bare literality. Both a visual essay on museum phenomenology and a performance document, Nothing in MoMA describes a choreography of avoidance, in which a conceptual constraint becomes a means of seeing and navigating concrete space.

Through the simple act of a haircut, readers are taken on a geographical and emotional journey into the lives of humans experiencing homelessness in different cities across the world. “In this uplifting book, Coombes deftly illustrates how reaching out and listening can break down barriers in an often indifferent world.” —Booklist Online “Joshua’s stories show the power that empathy and compassion have to turn a common, everyday act into something transformative. They are the revelations of connection.” —Michael Sheen, actor and activist When you're on the fringes of society, being noticed can mean everything. In 2015, while working at a London hair salon, Joshua Coombes took to the streets with his scissors to build relationships with people sleeping rough in the capital. This inspired him to begin posting transformative images on social media to amplify their voices. These stories resonated and thousands of people got involved in their own way. #DoSomethingForNothing was born--a movement that encourages people to connect their skills and time to those who need it. Via the simple act of a haircut, readers are taken on a geographical and emotional journey into the lives of humans experiencing homelessness in different cities across the world. Featuring never-before-seen photographs and all-new writing, Do Something for Nothing explores themes of love, acceptance, shame, and perseverance, while inviting us to see ourselves in one another and dissolve the negative stigmas surrounding homelessness. Additionally, a portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to organizations dedicated to assisting unsheltered people.

Timed for the 25th anniversary of the comic strip Mutts, The Art of Nothing celebrates the work of author and illustrator Patrick McDonnell Mooch, the curious cat, and Earl, the ever-trusting dog, are just two of the characters who inhabit the world of Mutts. In The Art of Nothing: 25 Years of Mutts and the Art of Patrick McDonnell, the award-winning author and illustrator’s beloved comic strip is celebrated as well as his bestselling children’s classics, including Me . . . Jane, The Gift of Nothing, South, Just Like Heaven, Hug Time, and Wag!, all shot from the original art. Also included are rare and never-before-seen artwork, proposals, outtakes, and developmental work, along with autobiographical commentary, a brand-new, career-spanning interview conducted by artist Lynda Barry, and an introduction by Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose).

This deeply personal account of emotion and vulnerability draws upon anecdotes related to individual works of art to present a chronicle of how people have shown emotion before works of art in the past.

Why do we have such extraordinarily powerful responses toward the images and pictures we see in everyday life? Why do we behave as if pictures were alive, possessing the power to influence us, to demand things from us, to persuade us, seduce us, or even lead us astray? According to W. J. T. Mitchell, we need to reckon with images not just as inert objects that convey meaning but as animated beings with desires, needs, appetites, demands, and drives of their own. What Do Pictures Want? explores this idea and highlights Mitchell's innovative and profoundly influential thinking on picture theory and the lives and loves of images. Ranging across the visual arts, literature, and mass media, Mitchell applies characteristically brilliant and wry analyses to Byzantine icons and cyberpunk films, racial stereotypes and public monuments, ancient idols and modern clones, offensive images and found objects, American photography and aboriginal painting. Opening new vistas in iconology and the emergent field of visual culture, he also considers the importance of Dolly the Sheep—who, as a clone, fulfills the ancient dream of creating a living image—and the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11, which, among other things, signifies a new and virulent form of iconoclasm. What Do Pictures Want? offers an immensely rich and suggestive account of the interplay between the visible and the readable. A work by one of our leading theorists of visual representation, it will be a touchstone for art historians, literary critics, anthropologists, and philosophers alike. “A treasury of episodes—generally overlooked by art history and visual studies—that turn on images that ‘walk by themselves’ and exert their own power over the living.”—Norman Bryson, Artforum

In the kingdom of Nothing, there really was nothing. No toys or TVs. No tablets or phones. No bicycles or tricyles or anything at all. Yet, with nothing in their kingdom, the Queen and the King, the Princess and the Prince, were still the happiest family in the land. And the reason why is simple. They all knew that the things in life that can bring you the most joy are around you all the time. You just need to know where to look for them.