Frank Stella

Description

A timely monograph, covering the landmark work and latest career developments of one of today’s greatest living artists.

“Stella now occupies a position similar to that of Kandinsky late in his career. He changed the history of art with his early work, but kept on moving.” —The New York Times

Initially influenced by the work of the abstract expressionists, Frank Stella subsequently rejected the movement in favour of more radical forms. In 1960 Stella presented his first series of aluminium paintings at Leo Castelli, causing the first upset in a long history of experiments that saw him tackling minimalism, post-painterly abstraction, and public art. This book examines Stella’s life and career in the context of the contemporary art world, featuring works from his recent blockbuster museum exhibitions as well as landmark works from throughout his career.

Andrianna Campbell is a doctoral candidate in the department of art history at the City University of New York Graduate Center.

Kate Nesin is an associate curator at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Lucas Blalock is an artist based in New York.

Terry Richardson is a fashion and portrait photographer based in New York.

“The entire dialectic of modernist painting from Manet to present is at play in Stella’s work.” —Michael Fried

“Stella is a pivotal figure in American art, acting as a hinge between the reductive vocabulary of late modernism and the modular, mechanistic language of minimalism.” —Frieze

“For years Stella was as unstoppable as an icebreaker in his painterly progress, churning out series after series, building on and advancing not only his art but painting.” —Jerry Saltz

“Insight, inspiration and influence from one of modern America’s true artistic visionaries… For many, it’s almost incomprehensible to imagine art after World War II in a world in which Stella never existed… This book charts his extraordinary career… The detail is fantastic, the insight never seen before, and the presentation is a masterpiece in itself… A great entry point for anyone wanting to learn more about Stella or minimalism and post-painterly abstraction in general… A perfect compilation [and] something that both a hardcore aficionado an a keen modern art student would get a lot out of… This book is big, bold and beautifully laid out.” —Photoshop Creative

“It is no easy feat to encapsulate the six-decade career of American artist Frank Stella. Phaidon’s latest monograph […] has done the versatile artist great justice… Presenting a detailed progression of Frank Stella’s works from printmaking and etching to casting and full-blown twisting, organic sculptures, the book reveals how Stella questioned the limits of painting and sculpture by experimenting with scale, volume and surface.”—Canvas (Dubai, UAE)

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