The Spectacle of Skill: Selected Writings of Robert Hughes by Robert Hughes; Adam Gopnik (Introduction by)

$79.99 AUD

Category: Art

"I am completely an elitist, in the cultural but emphatically not the social sense. I prefer the good to the bad, the articulate to the mumbling, the aesthetically developed to the merely primitive, and full to partial consciousness. I love the spectacle of skill, whether it's an expert gardener at work , or a good carpenter chopping dovetails . . . I don't think stupid or ill-read people are as good to be with as wise and fully literate ones. I would rather watch a great tennis player than a mediocre one . . . Consequently, most of the human race doesn't matter much to me, outside the normal and necessary frame of courtesy and the obligation to respect human rights. I see no reason to squirm around apologizing for this. I am, after all, a cultural critic, and my main job is to distinguish the good from the second-rate." Robert Hughes wrote with brutal honesty about art, architecture, culture, religion, and himself. He translated his passions--of which there were many, both positive and negative--brilliantly, convincingly, and with vitality and immediacy, always holding himself to the same rigorous standards of skill, authenticity, and significance that he did his subjects. There never was, and never will be again, a voice like this. In this volume, that voice rings clear through a gathering of some of his most unforgettable writings, culled from nine of his most widely read and important books. This selection shows his enormous range and gives us a uniquely cohesive view of both the critic and the man. Most revealing, and most thrilling for Hughes's legions of fans, are the never-before-published pages from his unfinished second volume of memoirs. These last writings show Robert Hughes at the height of his powers and can be read only with pleasure and a tinge of sadness that his extraordinary voice is no longer here to educate us as well as to clarify and define our world. ...Show more

What Is It All But Luminous by Art Garfunkel

$19.99 AUD

$39.99 (50% off)

Category: Art

From the golden-haired, curly-headed half of Simon & Garfunkel--a memoir (of sorts)- artful, moving, lyrical; the making of a musician; the evolution of a man, a portrait of a life-long friendship and collaboration that became one of the most successful singing duos of their time. Art Garfunkel writ es about his life before, during, and after Simon & Garfunkel . . . about their folk-rock music in the roiling age that embraced and was defined by their pathbreaking sound. He writes about growing up in the 1940s and '50s (son of a traveling salesman), a middle class Jewish boy, living in a red brick semi-attached house in Kew Gardens, Queens, a kid who was different--from the age of five feeling his vocal cords "vibrating with the love of sound" . . . meeting Paul Simon in school, the funny guy who made Art laugh; their going on to junior high school together, of being twelve at the birth of rock'n'roll, both of them "captured" by it; going to a recording studio in Manhattan to make a demo of their song, "Hey Schoolgirl" (for $7!) and the actual record (with Paul's father on bass) going to #40 on the national charts, selling 150,000 copies . . . He writes about their becoming Simon & Garfunkel, taking the world by storm, ruling the pop charts from the time he was sixteen, about not being a natural performer, but more a thinker . . . touring; sex-for-thrills on the road, reading or walking to calm down (walking across two continents--the USA and Europe). He writes of being an actor working with directors Nicolas Roeg (Bad Timing) and Mike Nichols ("the greatest of them all") . . . getting his masters in mathematics at Columbia; choosing music over a PhD; his slow unfolding split with Paul and its aftermath; learning to perform on his own, giving a thousand concerts worldwide, his voice going south (a stiffening of one vocal cord) and working to get it back . . . about being a husband, a father and much more. ...Show more

Knights of the Round Table Puzzle Quest

$19.99 AUD

$29.95 (33% off)

Category: Art

This deluxe puzzle book will whisk you away on a stunning journey through the intrigues of the Arthurian court, taking in the characters that have enchanted audiences for nearly a thousand years. All the rich, dramatic stories of the Round Table are interwoven to create 120 of the best puzzles ever, in varying levels of difficulty. No puzzle enthusiast will be able to resist this gorgeously illustrated mix of folklore, legend, and history. ...Show more

Contemporary Follies by Keith Moskow

$24.99 AUD

$69.99 (64% off)

Category: Design

"Contemporary Follies" showcases outstanding examples of contemporary design that address our place in nature. Emerging from the Enlightenment spirit of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Jefferson, the English picturesque folly, and the forest retreats of Scandinavian modernists, these projects inspire c ontemplation and creativity in their spatial energy and alliance with the environment. The book features fifty structures, including work by internationally recognized firms such as Arata Isozaki & Associates, Heatherwick Studios, Patkau Architects, Steven Ehrlich Architects, TEN Arquitectos as well as innovative young studios in all parts of the world: Norway, United Kingdom, Austria, Chile, Germany, Ecuador, Finland, Taiwan, Spain, Canada, Netherlands, United States, Czech Republic, France, and Switzerland. International in scope and focused on design excellence, this collection of exquisite buildings will appeal to all who yearn for a place of their own, a retreat in which to regroup and reprioritize. Together these small structures are the contemporary interpretation of the folly, the small building nestled in the landscape, a place apart. ...Show more

Annie Leibovitz: The Early Years, 1970-1983 by Annie Leibovitz (By (photographer)); Luc Sante; Jann S. Wenner

$92.50 AUD

Category: Art

The Origins of a Legendary Photographer Annie Leibovitz's photographic breakthrough and Rolling Stone reportage   For more than half a century, Annie Leibovitz has been taking culture-defining photographs. Her portraits of politicians, performers, athletes, businesspeople, and royalty make up a galle ry of our time, imprinted on our collective consciousness by both the singularity of their subjects and Leibovitz's inimitable style. The catalogue to an installation at the LUMA Foundation in Arles, Annie Leibovitz: The Early Years, 1970-1983 returns to Leibovitz's origins. It begins with a moment of artistic revelation: the spontaneous shot that made Leibovitz think she could transition from painting to photography as her area of study at the San Francisco Art Institute. The meticulously and personally curated collection, including contact sheets and Polaroids, provides a vivid document both of Leibovitz's development as a young artist and of a pivotal era. Leibovitz's reportage-like photo stories for Rolling Stone, which she began working for when she was still a student, record such heady political, cultural, and counter-cultural developments as the Vietnam War protests, the launch of Apollo 17, the presidential campaign of 1972, Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974, and the Rolling Stones on tour in 1975. Then, as now, Leibovitz won the trust of the prominent and famous, and the book's pages are animated by many familiar faces, among them Muhammad Ali, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ken Kesey, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Didion, and Debbie Harry, as well as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, captured in their now iconic embrace just hours before Lennon was assassinated. Throughout the book, the portraits and reportage are linked to images of cars, driving, and even a series on California highway patrolmen. In many ways, it's a celebration of life on the road--the frenetic rhythms, the chance encounters, the meditative opportunities. And with its rich archival aspects, it is also a tribute to an earlier time and a young photographer enmeshed in a culture that was itself in transition. ...Show more

Horse Whisperings Portraits by Bob Tabor by Bob Tabor

$13.36 AUD

Category: Art

- A photographic homage to the horse - A unique slant on capturing the equine essence; these stunning photographs illuminate the natural beauty of the horse "Bob Tabor's images of horses are simply amazing. Striking. Gorgeous. And incredibly unique. I would say impossible, but here they are before my ey es" - Joe Camp, Author of the best seller The Soul of a Horse: Life Lessons from the Herd. "Illuminated only by natural light, the beautiful images in Horse Whisperings ignite the viewer's imagination and give a unique insight into the world of the horse" - Horse and Rider Magazine The photographs in this book reflect Bob Tabor's unique intimacy with horses. Each portrait combines the inner strength, spirit and gentle power of nature's most beautiful athlete. Only natural light is used to illuminate every muscle, every hair, every sinew, as Bob's aim was to meet his subjects on their own terms. In turn, his subjects have allowed him to capture their very souls; he's given the horses a voice and allowed them to speak for themselves. ...Show more

How to Be a Movie Star : Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood, 1941-1981 by William J. Mann

$14.99 AUD

$24.99 (40% off)

Category: Art

'I don't pretend to be an ordinary housewife'. So said Elizabeth Taylor, and therein lay her secret. From her days as a youthful minx at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to her post-studio reign as America's lustiest middle-aged movie queen, Taylor has defined the very essence of Hollywood stardom. Marching through the decades swathed in mink, discarding husbands nearly as frequently as she changed her diamond necklaces, Taylor dominated the headlines as no other star before or since. From America's sweetheart to America's homewrecker and then back again, she uncannily reflected (and at times predicted) the always shifting cultural zeitgeist. "How to Be a Movie Star" is a different kind of book about Elizabeth Taylor: an intimate look at a girl who grew up with fame, who learned early - and well - how to be famous. ...Show more

Australia's Beer Posters by BANNENBERG MICHAEL

$99.99 AUD

Category: Design

This large, beautiful book is the culmination of 30 years of research and work in beer advertising. Michael Bannenberg worked on the CUB account and created many iconic Australian beer brands and their advertising campaigns. It was while exploring these brands that he was exposed to the diverse range of beer advertising. The most graphic advertising items were the beer posters with their unique social context. This book has 160 unique and never before seen in one collection individually selected posters that represent our great Australian beer culture, all from Michael¿s own collection. The old brewery posters that Michael acquired were hard to find and not in a great state of preservation. They have been gloriously digitally restored to show off their true colour. ...Show more

The Little Book of Vargas by Dian Hanson

$19.99 AUD

Category: Art

Alberto Vargas took over Esquire magazine's monthly pin-up post in late 1940. By 1942, when the U.S. joined the war, he had more than a million ardent fans who carried his pin-ups in backpacks and duffel bags as reminders of the American girls they'd left behind. When Esquire was charged with obscenity over a particularly spicy pin-up the military stepped in the fight for The Varga Girl, declaring her necessary for morale. Today these wartime pin-ups are the most collectible of Vargas' work, and we 've collected them all in this compact, affordable 192-page volume. ...Show more

Great Vision-urbicusLandscape Transformations by ICI Consultants

$19.99 AUD

Category: Design

Since its creation in 1996 by Jean-Marc Gaulier, Urbicus has developed ‘naturbanity’ , a landscape practice as a pertinent means of tackling urban questions and which treats landscape architecture as an ‘architecture of the land area’. Surrounded by a multi-disciplinary team, Jean -Marc Gaulier leads la nd-use planning strategies not to create a body of his own work, but to strive for the preservation, the enhancement and the balanced development of ordinary or iconic landscapes that are entrusted to him. Through prospective study missions and programmes, management plans and landscape plans, urban planning and development, and consulting and assistance to local authorities, the agency approaches the landscape projects in all its states: the rehabilitating of riverside or coastal sites preserving nature from urban or tourist pressure; the development of public spaces to regenerate the town of yesterday or equip the city of tomorrow; projects for towns in renewal or undergoing urban development structured by landscape; infrastructure projects thought of in terms of views landscape, natural and urban garden projects that are the foundation for positive environments. This book ‘Landscape Transformations’ is a review of projects chosen to illustrate that the landscape, itself at the crossroads of the viable, the liveable and the fair, offers an appropriate way to respond ‘sustainably’ to the challenges of land-use planning. The diversity of projects shown testifies to the fact that ‘landscape architecture’ is a pragmatic form of urban planning. ...Show more

The Little Book of Driben by Dian Hanson

$19.95 AUD

Category: Design

His name is less familiar than Vargas' and Elvgren's, but his brilliantly colored voluptuous pin-ups are well known. From 1944 to 1955 he painted the most popular magazine covers in America for Beauty Parade, Wink, Titter, Eyeful, Flirt and Whisper magazines. He was rediscovered in the 1990s as the subj ect of Taschen's The Best of American Girlie Magazines, and since has decorated T-shirts and coffee mugs, album covers and tattooed tushes. Now his many fans can have over 200 of his original paintings and published covers, from the beginning to the end of his prolific career, in a light, portable and affordable edition. ...Show more

She Sheds by Affirm Press

$29.99 AUD

Category: Art

An answer to the man cave, the 'She Shed' has become a global phenomenon. Whether they are reclaiming a domestic space or redoing the old garden shed, women all over the world are creating beautiful studios, reading spots or places to just get away for a few minutes. She Sheds is a fully illustrated cel ebration of these spaces and the women who create them. It promotes female creativity, artistry and design and is both a comfort and an inspiration to women everywhere who aspire to design and create their own private spaces. ...Show more