Richard Artschwager

This book was published on the occasion of Richard Artschwager at Gagosian, Heddon Street, London. The exhibition presented twelve new paintings that mark a departure from the artist’s customary practice in that the images, which are derived from pop-cultural sources, make overt reference to contemporaneous political issues. Rendered in acrylic on Celotex panels, a rough-textured synthetic surface, they allude to global events, American foreign policy, and the country’s history of race relations. Filtered through photographic and other origins, the figures and scenes depicted appear dreamlike or illusory, an aura reflected by their mirrored artist’s frames. The catalogue features full-color reproductions of the exhibited works and an illustrated essay by Michael Lobel, titled “Departure and Return.”