Books in the Agrarian Studies series

The provocative and often comic Belgian art duo Jos de Gruyter and Harald Thys present in book form their collaborative contribution to the 2019 Venice Biennale

Introducing contemporary Belgian artist Carole Solvay to an English-speaking audience for the first time, this book pairs images of her beautiful feather sculptures with literary quotations that have inspired her work

A beautiful, illustrated exploration of European burial sites and memorials from the First and Second World Wars

This unconventional publication explores the process of making art through the work and studio practice of Sophie Whettnall (b. 1973), a contemporary Belgian artist whose works range from video art, installation, and performance to sculpture and drawing. In addition to copious illustrations of Whettnall's artwork that highlight its relationship to the studio and the artist's creative process, the book features three conversations. The first, between Whettnall and fellow artist Marina Abramovic, explores transmission, violence, and femininity. The second, between Emiliano Battista and Scott Samuelson, situates Whettnall's work and practice in the broader context of contemporary art and the theoretical framework that shapes it. In the third, Carine Fol and Whettnall share with the reader the behind-the-scenes discussions and decisions that go into the mounting of an exhibition. Distributed for Mercatorfonds Exhibition Schedule: CENTRALE for contemporary art, Brussels (04/04/19-08/04/19)

This focused volume presents a deep exploration and new interpretations of the winter paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (ca. 1525-1569). By applying new methodological approaches and interdisciplinary research to these masterpieces of Flemish Renaissance art, including Winter Landscape with Skaters and Bird Trap (1565) and The Census at Bethlehem (1566), both at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the book offers an enhanced understanding of the painter's relationship to his time and the extent to which his winter landscapes were meant to reflect real-life situations. After tracing how these paintings have been understood over time, the essays propose new insights into such issues as whether Bruegel depicts the plight of the local populace during winter and whether The Census at Bethlehem challenges or reaffirms central power structures. Abundantly illustrated, Bruegel's Winter Scenes is both a thorough examination and a celebration of these widely admired images. Distributed for Mercatorfonds.

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (b. 1960) founded her dance company, Rosas, in 1983. Her work is grounded on a rigorous exploration of the relationship between dance and music, and over the years she has engaged the musical structures and scores of different periods and genres, from early music to contemporary expressions of classical and popular music. Her choreographic practice draws from geometric principles, nature, and social structures to offer unique perspectives on the articulation of the body in space and time.The minimalism of De Keersmaeker's earliest pieces gave way over the years to ingenious constructions for large ensembles. Then in 2007, the choreography underwent a fundamental change with the emergence of a new kind of minimalism, a paring down to essential principles of sparseness; the spatial constraints of geometric patterns; an unwavering commitment to elementary gestures, notably walking, breathing, and speaking; and a close adherence to a score, musical or otherwise, for the choreographic writing.Photographers Anne Van Aerschot and Herman Sorgeloos were privileged witnesses to this process, and their images, gathered here for the first time, offer an exceptionally acute look at Rosas's work over the last decade. Distributed for Mercatorfonds

The book presents a series of new works produced by Adel Abdessemed for the MAC's/Museum of Contemporary Arts in Grand-Hornu. The Algerian-born French artist Adel Abdessemed (b. 1971) works in a wide variety of media including animation, installation, performance, sculpture, and video; through his art he addresses contemporary themes and he reflects the bleak picture of the present day. His works, unsettling in their simultaneous beauty and raw reality, have made Abdessemed one of the most visible international artists of our time. This volume is composed of two distinct parts, each showcasing and examining one of two series of brand new, site-specific works created by Abdessemed for the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Grand-Hornu and the Musée d'Art Contemporain in Lyon. Distributed for Mercatorfonds Exhibition Schedule: MAC's, Grand Hornu (03/04/18-06/03/18)Musée d'Art Contemporain, Lyon (03/09/18-07/08/18)

Living in the region between the Lubudi and Kasai rivers in south central Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Luluwa people are known for their elaborately carved male and female figure sculptures, masks, and decorative arts. Constantine Petridis draws on first-hand accounts of numerous explorers, missionaries, colonial servants, anthropologists, and art historians who visited the region between the 1880s and the 1970s, to comprehensively situate the Luluwa's ornate art in its original environment of production and use. Through a close study of published and unpublished sources as well as museum objects and archival photographs, this book sheds new light on the historical context of one of central Africa's most spectacular artistic legacies, whose creation presumably dates back to the second half of the 19th century. >Distributed for Mercatorfonds

An unprecedented, in-depth exploration of the dawn of Van Gogh's artistic career

A fascinating look at how Mapplethorpe and Munch, although separated by many years, shared certain affinities in their lives and artwork

The year 2014 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and the beginning of World War I. Beginning with the Trojan War and weaving a cross-cultural narrative that ends in the 21st-century Middle East, this title explores how cultural treasures often became silent victims of armed conflict.

The recent work of Belgian abstract artist Yves Zurstrassen is explored in depth in this handsome volume, designed in close collaboration with the artist himself