Beginning with 'Gilles de Binche' (Antwerp, 2005) and concluding with 'Against the Day' (Brussels, Moscow and Malmo, 2009-10), acclaimed painter Luc Tuymans produced a landmark suite of seven thematically linked bodies of work. Their meta-narrative, which traces the philosophical and psychic roots of contemporary civilization, weaves together a range of photographic source images, from St Peter's to Disneyland to Big Brother, that together tell the banal and terrifying story of our times. Luc Tuymans: Is It Safe? features this source imagery alongside more than 100 of the artist's newest paintings, many never before published. Accompanying each body of work is an introductory text written by the artist, while the essay 'Tuymans, Loyola, Leibniz', specially commissioned by Mexican artist Pablo Sigg, provides historical and philosophical context. 'Proper', an essay by Belgian art historian Gerrit Vermeiren, looks at one body of work in detail, tracing the themes and sources of each painting and capturing the cultural atmosphere of the moment in which they were produced. And an extensive interview between Tuymans and his assistant Tommy Simoens offers additional insight into the artist's thinking and motivations. Celebrated as one of the world's most gifted and visionary painters, Tuymans has been creating iconic works of contemporary painting for nearly three decades. With their enigmatic compositions and modulated colours, these works are moving and unmistakable, and their power continues to win new converts to Tuymans's chilling vision of history painting.

Luc Tuymans; Is It Safe?

Arts & Photography

Simoens, Tommy

Sigg, Pablo

History & Criticism

Phaidon Press

The Japanese conceptual artist On Kawara (born 1933) has nurtured a fascination with counting and time for more than 40 years now, most famously through the ongoing execution of his famous “date paintings” of the Today series: a daily ritual to conclude only on the day of his death. The first painting in the series was executed in New York on January 4, 1966; since then, On Kawara has carried out the procedure at regular intervals in cities throughout the world, painting each day, month and year in a white sans-serif script against a monochrome background in the language conventions of the country he is in. When not displayed, each painting is stored in a box and accompanied by a local newspaper clipping of the day. Despite numerous solo exhibitions worldwide, Date Painting(s) in New York and 136 Other Cities is the first retrospective of the 45 years of On Kawara’s date paintings. Including over 180 date paintings, the book is divided into two parts: one that covers the complete series of paintings done in New York, and a second that focuses on the series of works done in different locales throughout the world. The result offers a unique insight into the role that place and a life of travel has played in a body of work that has been defined by time and chronology.

On Kawara: Date Paintings in New York and 136 Other Cities

Zwirner, Lucas

Individual Artists

Ludion

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Books by Simoens, Tommy