Franz Ackerman (English and German Edition)

Here's an unusual exibition catalog: oversized, double-page reproductions in the landscape-format catalog give the viewer a sense of the explosive exuberance of color and the intelligent interplay of wall paintings and gallery installations that make Ackermann's work so absorbing. Combining filigree drawings, brightly painted objects and photos in five exhibition rooms, this striking volume shows how this internationally acclaimed German artist carries his urbanistic spectrum to extremes, sampling individual images and virtuoso objects while alluding thematically to what is absent. Critic Stephan Berg lauds Ackermann's work for ''an exactness and exuberance ... that stem from the search for the greatest proximate time and topicality.'' A worthy document for a career-celebrating exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Bonn.