Books published by Kerber Verlag

From the Weimar Republic, to the United States, to the Soviet Union: Between 1919 and 1939, the visual arts of these three great powers suddenly developed along similar lines. In its exhibition Constructing the World, the Kunsthalle Mannheim presents the diverse facets of critical realism and New Objectivity for the first time in an international comparison. In it, both the artistic traces and the temporary stabilization between the World Wars are made perceptible as well as the renewed chaos that was triggered by the global economic crisis in 1929. The richly illustrated, scholarly exhibition catalogue documents this fascinating time and visualizes the explosive influence of the economy on the art of this era.Artists: Alexander Deineka, Otto Dix, Carl Grossberg, Edward Hopper, Georgia O'Keeffe, Gustavs Klucis, Alice Lex-Nerlinger, Reginald Marsh, Yury Pimenov, Serafima Vasil'evna Riangina, Alexander Rodtschenko, Franz Wilhelm Seiwert, Charles Sheeler, Karl Völckers, Grant Wood et al.

In 1963 Mel Ramos, one of the first artists to embrace Pop Art, developed a preference for a tantalising, seductive visual language. In typical Pop Art colours, beauty queens and nude Hollywood stars are combined with commodities to populate his paintings. In accordance with advertising aesthetics, he placed female bodies in erotic, occasionally vulgar poses on top of consumer goods, thus taking his theme from advertising''s enduring slogan, ''sex sells''. This catalogue is a homage to Mel Ramos, in celebration of his 80th birthday. Text in English and German.