Hal Foster

How artists created an aesthetic of “positive barbarism” in a world devastated by World War II, the Holocaust, and the atomic bombIn Brutal Aesthetics, leading art historian Hal Foster explores how postwar artists and writers searched for a new foundation of culture after the massive devastation of World War II, the Holocaust, and the atomic bomb. Inspired by the notion that modernist art can teach us how to survive a civilization become barbaric, Foster examines the various ways that key figures from the early 1940s to the early 1960s sought to develop a “brutal aesthetics” adequate to the destruction around them.With a focus on the philosopher Georges Bataille, the painters Jean Dubuffet and Asger Jorn, and the sculptors Eduardo Paolozzi and Claes Oldenburg, Foster investigates a manifold move to strip art down, or to reveal it as already bare, in order to begin again. What does Bataille seek in the prehistoric cave paintings of Lascaux? How does Dubuffet imagine an art brut, an art unscathed by culture? Why does Jorn populate his paintings with “human animals”? What does Paolozzi see in his monstrous figures assembled from industrial debris? And why does Oldenburg remake everyday products from urban scrap?A study of artistic practices made desperate by a world in crisis, Brutal Aesthetics is an intriguing account of a difficult era in twentieth-century culture, one that has important implications for our own.Published in association with the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

This anthology presents, in chronological order, all the texts by collective artist Claire Fontaine from 2004 to today. Created in 2004 in Paris by James Thornhill and Fulvia Carnevale, the collective artist Clare Fontaine creates texts that are as as experimental and politically charged as her visual practice. In. these writings, she uses the concept of "human strike" and adopts the radical feminist position that can be found in Tiqqun, a two-issue magazine cofounded by Carnevale. Human strike is a movement that is broader and more radical than any general strike. It addresses our inevitable subjective complicity with everything that limits our freedom and shows how to abandon these self-destructive behaviors through desubjectivization. Human strike, Claire Fontaine writes, is a subjective struggle to separate from the inevitable harm we do to ourselves and others simply by living within postindustrial neoliberalism. Human Strike is the first English-language publication of Claire Fontaine's influential and important theoretical writings.

A scoundrel has ruled over the continent's troubadours for the past three years, introducing scum and villainy into their ranks. Arn and Court Jester Sir Dinadan travel to France to set things right, while Prince Valiant accompanies the headstrong Gunther of Germany on his quest to recover stolen holy relics and claim a wife in Jerusalem. The mercenary army of a Persian warlord sweeps across the Middle East, forcing Queen Aleta to seek refuge in a hidden utopian city ruled by women. Val competes in tournaments in Marseille and Camelot and reunites with Sir Lancelot, but a tragic death impacts a member of Val's family. Plus: more dazzling commercial illustration work by Hal Foster. Fantagraphics' latest volume of the most lustrous fantasy strip ever conceived is the most spectacular presentation of the strip ever published. It continues to be one of our bestselling strip collections, hailed by fans and critics alike.

Kerry James Marshall is one of America’s greatest living painters. History of Painting presents a groundbreaking body of new work that engages with the history of the medium itself. In Kerry James Marshall: History of Painting, the artist has widened his scope to include both figurative and nonfigurative works that deal explicitly with art history, race, and gender, as well as paintings that force us to reexamine how artworks are received in the world and in the art market. In all the paintings in this book, Marshall’s critique of history and of dominant white narratives is present, even as the subjects of the paintings move between reproductions of auction catalogues, abstract works, and scenes of everyday life. Essays by Hal Foster and Teju Cole help readers navigate Marshall’s masterful vision, decoding complexly layered works such as Untitled (Underpainting), 2018, and Marshall’s own artistic philosophy. This catalogue is published on the occasion of Marshall’s eponymous exhibition at David Zwirner, London in 2018.

“The rhythm of the body moving through space has been the motivating source of most of my work.”—Richard Serra Drawn from talks between celebrated artist Richard Serra and acclaimed art historian Hal Foster held over a fifteen-year period, this volume offers revelations into Serra’s prolific six-decade career and the ideas that have informed his working practice. Conversations about Sculpture is both an intimate look at Serra’s life and work, with candid reflections on personal moments of discovery, and a provocative examination of sculptural form from antiquity to today. Serra and Foster explore such subjects as the artist’s work in steel mills as a young man; the impact of music, dance, and architecture on his art; the importance of materiality and site specificity to his aesthetic; the controversies and contradictions his work has faced; and his belief in sculpture as experience. They also discuss sources of inspiration—from Donatello and Brancusi to Japanese gardens and Machu Picchu—revealing a history of sculpture across time and culture through the eyes of one of the medium’s most brilliant figures. Introduced with an insightful preface by Foster, this probing dialogue is beautifully illustrated with duotone images that bring to life both Serra's work and his key commitments.

In Camelot, the troubled Zanedon reveals himself to be a runaway groom as the mischievous twins, Karen and Valeta, hide him in their stable. Prince Arn quenches a coup, Val ends a tyrant's reign with tough love, and domestic chaos runs amok when a poet with a wandering eye makes the Misty Isles his playground; this volume also boasts bonus material

Among the many King Arthur inspired adventures in these volumes, Val journeys back to the land of his birth, meets his bride-to-be, and travels to Canada, where his son is born

After his long sojourn in the Mediterranean, Prince Valiant is back in Britain, where he takes on a new, intricate mission on behalf of King Arthur. Here, Valiant finds himself in the middle of a conflict between Saxon settlers and violent Viking raiders. Gawain's return journey to Camelot is fraught with misadventure as he is beset by jealous romantic rivals, a marriage-minded widow and a thieving sorcerer. Young Galan goes on a hunt to capture the fabled unicorn, and Arn, after losing his horse in a Welsh bog, is enslaved and held for ransom.

Hal Foster's Prince Valiant is one of the most magnificent adventure comics ever and Fantagraphics' reprinting is the loveliest treatment of the strip in the history of publishing. Despite being one of our most popular series, we have never produced a holiday gift box set until now, and this deluxe package includes the first three volumes of the series, collecting the first six years of Foster's run, from 1937 through 1942

After traveling the North Atlantic Ocean, shipwrecks and pirate attacks lead Prince Arn and his newly formed crew to the New World, where trade deals soon turn into hostage negotiations. When enemy tribes attack, Arn's band of Vikings teams up with the Algonquins to repel the invaders, leading to a long-overdue peace treaty and the discovery of the St. Lawrence seaway. Meanwhile, Mordrid plots his revenge and schemes another attack on Camelot when Val and his family are at their most vulnerable. Aleta stirs up gossip when she suffers a case of mistaken identity with a mermaid, the prized Singing Sword is recovered, and Prince Valiant goes on a sensitive mission to find a missing heir.

Bad New Days examines the evolution of art and criticism in Western Europe and North America over the last twenty-five years, exploring their dynamic relation to the general condition of emergency instilled by neoliberalism and the war on terror.Considering the work of artists such as Thomas Hirschhorn, Tacita Dean, and Isa Genzken, and the writing of thinkers like Jacques Rancière, Bruno Latour, and Giorgio Agamben, Hal Foster shows the ways in which art has anticipated this condition, at times resisting the collapse of the social contract or gesturing toward its repair; at other times burlesquing it.Against the claim that art making has become so heterogeneous as to defy historical analysis, Foster argues that the critic must still articulate a clear account of the contemporary in all its complexity. To that end, he offers several paradigms for the art of recent years, which he terms "abject," "archival," "mimetic," and "precarious."

In the first story, King Arthur sends Val to North Wales to thwart an attack by King Cidwick, while back in Camelot, Mordred plans a scandal that will break the Fellowship of the Round Table. Fortunately, a battle-weary Val finds some minor respite in the melee known as the Spring tournament, and, for the first time since coming to Camelot, our hero is crowned Grand Champion The festivities are interrupted as an invading army of savage Saxons attack in the Battle of Baddon Hill, and the only one who can save King Arthur and the Knights of Camelot is Val's son, Prince Arn. This volume closes with Val returning to his homeland of Thule to rest only to find a guerilla war waging against his father, King Aguar.

Art Since 1900 introduces students to the key theoretical approaches to modern and contemporary art. A flexible year-by-year structure and extensive cross-referencing allow teachers and students to pursue a chronological approach and/or to study the currents of art since 1900 by medium, theme, country, or region. This completely updated and expanded third edition contains over 125 essays, each focusing on a crucial event in the history of art from 1900 to the present. Ten new essays cover subjects such as Moscow conceptualism, abstract film, postmodern architecture, and queer art, as well as artists from emerging economies and the impact of the market on current art practice. Text boxes provide further information on key figures and issues. Five introductions explain the different methods of art history at work in the book. There are two roundtable discussions between the authors, and all reference material has been updated.

Art Since 1900 introduces students to the key theoretical approaches to modern and contemporary art. A flexible year-by-year structure and extensive cross-referencing allow teachers and students to pursue a chronological approach and/or to study the currents of art since 1900 by medium, theme, country, or region. This completely updated and expanded third edition contains over 125 essays, each focusing on a crucial event in the history of art from 1900 to the present. Ten new essays cover subjects such as Moscow conceptualism, abstract film, postmodern architecture, and queer art, as well as artists from emerging economies and the impact of the market on current art practice. Text boxes provide further information on key figures and issues. Five introductions explain the different methods of art history at work in the book. There are two roundtable discussions between the authors, and all reference material has been updated.