BRITISH PAVILLION Mike Nelson
British Council

Mike Nelson represented Britain at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011, this edition was published to accompany his installation in the British Pavillion that year. Commissioned by the percipient Richard Riley, SecMoCo were asked to work with the artist for the second time (see Triple Bluff Canyon, Modern Art Oxford) on devising a publication appropriate to his work.

First published, in an edition of 1,500 copies, by The British Council, London, UK, June 1, 2011; commissioning editor: Richard Riley; coordinating editors: Gemma Latty, Emma Williams; texts: Dan Cameron, with an interview between the artist, Rachael Withers and guests.

135 x 205mm; 146pp; 92 images, including 18pp colour plate section with 74 b&w images in uncoated section; casebound with 1-colour embossed cover (no dust jacket); grey endpapers; 4 colour printed ‘inner covers’; thread sewn; printed by CPI, UK.

Context from the British Council website:
Throughout his career, Nelson has constantly returned to and re-examined territories within his own practice. […] For the British Pavilion in 2011, Nelson elected to take as his starting point another of his own key works from the past decade, Magazin: Büyük Valide Han, originally built for the 8th International Istanbul Biennial in 2003. […] Nelson has referred to the work for Istanbul as being a parasitical installation that had lodged itself into a 17th century building. Based on the photographic memory of the earlier work, with I, Impostor, Nelson not only rebuilt the original darkroom but sections of the caravanserai itself, so that now a building, from another time and place, exists inside the late 19th century British Pavilion in Venice.

The British Council published a fully illustrated book to commemorate Mike Nelson’s exhibition, which includes newly commissioned texts by Dan Cameron and Rachel Withers, and colour plates of the new work in progress.

THE DARK MONARCH
TATE: exhibition, publication

For the exhibition The Dark Monarch at Tate St Ives, UK, SecMoCo were approached by Martin Clark, Artistic Director, to design the identity and external gallery signage, as well as the poster, preview card, print and digital advertising, and accompanying publication. The exhibition brought together over 160 works, as well as books, manuscripts and other ephemera, and the publication reflected this in its diverse range of material.

Publication: first edition published by Tate, UK, 2009; edited by Michael Bracewell, Martin Clark, and Alun Rowlands; additional texts: various; 230 x 172 mm; 216 pp; 74pp colour plate section (170gsm Maine Gloss), 50 b&w images in uncoated section (115gsm Think White) ; paperback 1-colour cover (Colourplan Vellum White 350gsm, wire embossed in the paper grain and spine orientation) with 8-page 2-colour dust jacket (China White 135gsm); section sewn. Printed by Calverts, London, UK.

From the press release: ‘Taking its title from the controversial 1962 novel based in St Ives by Sven Berlin, The Dark Monarch explores the influence of folklore, mysticism, mythology and the occult on the development of modernism and surrealism in Britain and features the works of both historic and contemporary artists. The book considers the renewed influence of neo-romantic and arcane themes on a significant strand of current British art practice’.

THE LITTLE BOOK OF LUNCH
Square Peg, Random House

Comissioned here by the enlightened and inspiring Rowan Yapp at Square Peg, a division of Random House, SecMoCo were happy to go about designing our first cookery title. The challenge here was to match the elegance and taste of the authors’ image styling along with the nonchalant air of David Loftus’ photography. At the same time it required a utile ‘kitchen counter’ look rather than any static ‘coffee table’ feel. The result is a handsome but pragmatic read, a book designed to make life easier for busy people.

Published in January 2014 by Square Peg, Random House; written by Caroline Craig and Sophie Missing; 23 x 16.2 x 2.4 cm; 208 pages, thread sewn; 4-colour images throughout; 4-colour printed paper case cover (no dust jacket) with lamination and spot varnish

‘This book is perfect. Not only that, it is beautifully presented, fun, delightful, and full to capacity of ways to make a packed lunch memorable.’- UK Press Syndication

From the Random House website:
‘Square Peg is an eclectic and commercial nonfiction hardback list, within the prestigious Vintage Division of Random House, publishing around 20 titles per year. Our select list of titles are cherry-picked on the basis of editorial passion. We place huge emphasis on stand-out design and a bespoke publicity campaign for each book we champion, as well as emerging digital formats. […] Established in 2008, in just six years we have become synonymous with the very best in original, entertaining and quirky non-fiction.’

BOMBYX MORI
Simon Periton, First Site

A monograph designed to accompany the solo exhibition of Simon Periton’s work in, and the landscaping of, the grounds of Firstsite, Colchester.

Such are the intricacies of the artist’s work- in which he often employs a stylish cutting, folding, doubling and general complexification of the visual image- that it seemed fitting that any printed representation of it should reflect these themes. After a thoroughly enjoyable process of detailed conversation and close work with the artist, we produced an object both full of historical context and also visually rich, including elegant documentation of the artworks situated in the gallery grounds. The resulting multi-layering design principle- of both images and actual paper folds/trimming- also called for a high level of binding and finishing skills from the printer.

First edition published, by Firstsite, Colchester, UK, 2012; edited by Asana Greenstreet; texts: Katherine Wood, with an interview between the artist and firstsite Associate Curator Jes Fernie; 235mm x 175mm; 24 pp; 35 colour and 9 b&w images; softback plus slipcase.

As detailed by the printer (Calverts of London): ‘The brochure has a gatefolded 8pp cover, printed in one pantone colour on 300gsm Arcoprint Extra White, with all the type and white-out elements cylinder embossed. The texts and images are on a lighter weight Arcoprint and 150gsm Hello Silk, collated as long 8pp spreads and then hand gatefolded to close, with brass wire stitches in the spine’.

Exhibition context: The artist researched the eighteenth-century design of firstsite’s garden to develop a new installation there taking the form of three lanterns and a lampost. There is a long-established mulberry tree on the grounds, and the worms of the silkmoths that appear in his artworks were essential to domestic silk production in nineteenth-century Colchester.

PETER LANYON
TATE: exhibition, publication

This book was published to accompany a major retrospective exhibition of work by one of the most important artists to emerge in post-war Britain. In addition SecMoCo produced a chronology of the major points in the life and work of the artist, displayed in the spectacular curved sea-facing galleries at Tate St Ives. (Here is a link for a digital re-interpretation of the timeline produced for the exhibition: http://www.tate.org.uk/download/file/fid/8209)

Publication: First published by Tate, London, UK, 2010; edited, and with a text by, Chris Stephens; additional texts: Margaret Garlake, Tacita Dean, WS Graham; 250 x 190 mm; 144 pp; 85 4-color and 62 b&w images; flapped softcover

Exhibition context (from TATE website): ‘Despite his early death at the age of forty-six Lanyon achieved a body of work that is amongst the most original and important reappraisals of modernism in painting to be found anywhere. Combining abstract values with radical ideas about landscape and the figure, Lanyon navigated a course from Constructivism through Abstract Expressionism to a style close to Pop. Accompanying the first major survey show of Lanyon’s work for 30 years, this book will introduce him to a new generation.

LIFE IS TO BLAME …
Jeremy Deller

Through the the foresight of Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt, SecMoCo were pleased to be approached to design the first monograph on the early work of Jeremy Dellar, who has since become a Turner Prize-winning, internationally acclaimed artist. An absorbing feature of the design was a diagramatic key of the images, with corresponding numerical listing, incorporated on the inner front and back cover pages. It was a small publication, designed to be a pocket-sized reference tool, easily carried about the person.

First published, in an edition of 1,000 copies, by Salon 3 London, UK, 1993. Edited by Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt. Texts by John O’Reilly and Dave Beech, with additional artist annotations of featured works.
170mm x 118mm; 96pp; 136 colour and 36 b&w images; 4-colour softback cover with flaps; printed by Jim Pennington, Lithosphere, UK.

Context from the Cornerhouse website:
‘In many cases, this book provides the only permanent record of Deller’s ephemeral output, documenting the stickers, flyers and posters that have been lost forever […] This pocket-sized book, containing over 130 colour images, is a delightful illumination into Deller’s work.

Context from Amazon:
‘This is a great collection of work from the turner prize winner Jeremy Deller. This charts all of his early work from when he held an exhibition in his mum and dad’s house to when he sold t-shirts emblazoned with slogans such as ‘my booze hell’. There are also some great quotes and his style and work make you feel like you know him personally. Equally captvating for artists and non-artists, this collection of work will inspire you to create your own interventions and will help you to see society in a more positive way.’

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Your new best mate
By “davegarratt2001” on 25 April 2005
Format: Paperback
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 641,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

BANNER
Fiona Banner

This book, entitled ‘Banner’ was the first monograph on the artist, and was designed to accompany the exhibition, ‘Your Plinth is My Lap’, at Dundee Contemporary Arts, UK and the Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany.

First published in an edition of 1500 by Dundee Contemporary Arts, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, and Revolver, Frankfurt, 2002. Edited by Katrina M. Brown; dual edition texts (English and German) by Patricia Ellis, Michael Archer, Katrina M. Brown and Susanne Titz; 285 x 215 mm; 128 pp; 4-color images throughout; printed paper case (no dust jacket), endpapers, head and tail bands.

CHRIS OFILLI
Serpentine Gallery

This first monograph on the British artist’s work was published in the year he won the Turner Prize, and to accompany his first solo exhibition in the UK at the Serpentine Gallery, London, Southampton City Art Gallery, and Whitworth Gallery, Manchester.

First edition published in an edition of 1,500 copies, by the Serpentine Gallery, London and the Southampton City Art Gallery, UK, 1998.

Edited, and with texts by, Lisa Corrin and Godfrey Worsdale; additional text by Kobena Mercer; 270x 210mm; 96pp, thread sewn; 4-colour images throughout; softcover with phosphorescent printing. Printed with Jim Pennington at Lithosphere, London, UK.

AQUATOPIA
Tate/Nottingham Contemporary

This publication accompanied the exhibition of the same name at Nottingham Contemporary and Tate St Ives. Working closely with Alex Farquarson (Director, Nottingham Contemporary) and Martin Clarke (Artistic Director, Tate St Ives) it was felt that the publication should be designed to function more as a ‘reader’ or compendium of textual and visual sources than a conventional exhibition catalogue. As such it includes a huge range of work from a diverse selection of contemporary and classic artists and writers.

First edition published by Tate, London, UK, 2013. Edited, and with a foreword/introduction by Martin Clarke and Alex Farquarson. Texts: Philip Hoare and Marina Warner; additional texts: various; 198 x 129 mm. 240pp; 4-colour images throughout; paperback, flapped cover

From the press release: ‘It occupies 72 per cent of the surface of our planet, yet the depths of our oceans are less known to us than the Solar System. The publication is a cross-disciplinary exploration of the aquatic imaginary, encompassing literature, maritime and cultural history, psychoanalysis, post-colonial and feminist theory, and including work from a diverse selection of artists and writers, both contemporary and classic masters.

UNHOLY LIBEL
Jake & Dinos Chapman

For their first major U.S. exhibition (‘Six Feet Under’ Gagosian Gallery, New York, USA, September 13-October 11, 1997) Jake and Dinos Chapman asked SecMoCo to design the accompanying publication. More than a catalogue, it was seen as a stand alone edition developing the themes and concerns of the work, as such the design took a blasphemous turn, adopting the form of the helpful reading material you could once find in the drawer of any hotel room bedside cabinet.

First published by Gagosian Gallery, US, 1997; edited, and with a text by Jake and Dinos Chapman; 215x164mm; 152pp; thread sewn; 48 color illustrations; gilt edges; brown faux-leather covers in plastic jacket, gold embossing. Print: Jim Pennington for Lithosphere, London

Context from Amazon:
Best Sellers Rank: #4,107,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By Antonio A. Urdiales on December 30, 2005
‘Once again Jake and Dinos Chapman take us on a trip through the absurd. This book has a very thin narrative running through it. If you’re looking for fiction by two of the most vile of Britain’s artworld, you’ve come to the wrong place, LEAVE NOW!

The books is a series of vingettes detailing gruesome monstrosities in the style of J.G. Ballard. I’m sure there was a plot in there somewhere, but the chapters were so short (think two to three a page) and fragmented that I lost it. Mostly it just read like details from an apocalyptic surgical guide. Which isn’t for everybody. But if you enjoy exploding brains and monstrous genitalia, LA TEE DA! The written word was fun if not tiring. But the real beauty of the book is in the plates of the boys sculptures. The sculptural work of the Chapman brothers is grotesque divinity, detailing mutated children from a land in which all normal notions of beauty have been subverted. And the colored plates dispersed throughout the writings were excellent examples of their sculptural works and just truly a joy to look at. The book is also gilt edged with a beautifully embossed cover, it’s also a very tiny book which makes one desire to carry it around as a horrifying talisman of the new age. This book is a VERY rare artbook as well, created by the Gagosian Gallery in New York. An edition of this book costs about $100 to thousands for signed copies. I would highly recommend picking up an edition up if you’re a collector of YBA artworks or the Chapman brothers, I wouldn’t doubt that the price will skyrocket in coming years.’

http://www.amazon.com/Unholy-Libel-Six-Feet-Under/dp/1880154145