Rudolf Stingel (Hardcover)

~ Francesco Bonami (Editor), Chrissie Iles (Contributor), Reiner Zettl (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Designed to coincide with a career retrospective first shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, this book collects the work that has certified painter and conceptual artist Rudolf Stingel as a groundbreaker, someone as concerned with exploring the process of painting as he is the act itself. Employing materials such as Styrofoam, carpet or rubber, in addition to oil and enamel, his works are often iconoclastic image; the book sparse text allows the images to speak largely for themselves, and what they say can be difficult to decipher. Three essays in the front shed some light: Whitney curator Chrissie Iles discusses Stingel's influences, motivations and materials, "what Yve-Alain Bois describes as internalizing...the very technology threatening painting." Editor Bonami contributes an essay that illumines the context of Stingel's work, but gets lofty and vague at times, as in Stingel's "understanding that painting carries energy and consumes it, and abstraction happens when the power goes off momentarily." Reiner Zettl explores the texture and meaning of installation pieces, like Stingel carpeting the lobby of Grand Central Station in 2004. Beautifully produced, the images that make up the better part of the volume are lavishly spaced, a succesful effort at replicating the museum experience. 102 color illustrations.
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Product Description

Celebrated for his explorations of the process of painting and the “idea” of painting, Rudolf Stingel (b. 1957) combines minimalist, conceptual, and performative practices to create unexpected spaces. This highly anticipated book, the premier critical survey of Stingel’s career to date, accompanies the Italian-born artist’s first solo museum exhibition in the United States.
Employing a palette of a wide range of materials, Stingel reflects upon fundamental questions facing painting today: authenticity, meaning, hierarchy, and context. By transforming the materiality, process, and perception of paintings, Stingel’s work alters the viewer’s perception of and physical encounter with the artwork and invites the viewer to participate in or collaborate in a new and deeper understanding and appreciation of art. For example, by carpeting Grand Central Station (Plan B, 2004), he transformed the station hall itself into a work of art that viewers had to occupy to experience and that fashioned its own audience from travelers forced to traverse it.
His full range of work, including his recent portraits and self-portraits, is represented in this handsome volume. With important contributions by Whitney curator Chrissie Iles and Reiner Zettl, Rudolf Stingel: Painting 1987–2007 is the first book to examine the broader implications of the artist’s creative practice in contemporary society.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (May 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300124244
• ISBN-13: 978-0300124248
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #293,169 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have, September 12, 2007

By	Daniel Suess (Williamstown, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rudolf Stingel has a rare combination of intelligence and technical mastery. This book showcases his work since the mid-80's in all of its versatile forms - from somewhat mechanical pattern-paintings to detailed self-portraits that look like grainy photographs at first glance. The book itself is beautifully presented with nice plates and sharp essays. The essays could be expanded and are a bit opaque in places, but this is a refreshing change from typical essays in monographs which tend to be overly descriptive or comparative and completely lacking in argument. This is a great book all around.

2.0 out of 5 stars Stingy Stingel, April 15, 2009

By	Laura Wolfersperger - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really wasn't that impressed with all of the collection of work in this book. It left me wanting; but then maybe that was the intention of the artist.