Category Archives: 2010

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.

 

3 SERIES: Modern Art Oxford/
Camden Arts Centre/Arnolfini

The then curator at Modern Art Oxford, Suzanne Cotter, kindly invited SecMoCo to devise a series design for the publications to accompany three artists’ commissions jointly organised by Modern Art Oxford; Camden Arts Centre, London; and Arnolfini, Bristol under the collective title of the 3 Series. In this initiative the work of the three artists (Mircea Cantor, Johanna Billing and Kerry Tribe) toured three galleries in the UK over a period of three years.

An understated design was called for, to foreground each artists work and also to allow for maximum flexibility over the course of the three year development of the project. This was achieved formaly rather than stylisticly, with the format and layout of the casebound books remaining constant, the font and colour scheme changing across the series for each publication.

Each book first published, in an edition of 1000 copies, by Modern Art Oxford / Camden Arts Centre / Arnolfini, Bristol, in 2008, 2009, and 2010 respectively; 196mm x 262mm; 64pp; images– variable; 4-colour printed paper case cover (no dust jacket), thread sewn.

Book 1: The Need For Uncertainty Mircea Cantor: Edited, and with an introduction by Bruce Haines; book 2: I’m Lost Without Your Rhythm Johanna Billing: Edited, and with an introduction by Bruce Haines; book 3: Dead Star Light Kerry Tribe: Edited, and with an introduction by Nav Haq; texts by Juli Carson, Anne Ellegood, Herbert Martin