Collection: Art

Having spent a career as a guest conductor with over 100 orchestras and served as a Music Director with two orchestras, I have collected a wide variety of experiences. These experiences have included teaching conducting to Senator Joe Biden, conducting the seventh inning stretch for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1973 for the national league Pennant and being interviewed on QVC and HSN. The memoirs are filled with musical as well as social stories about the travels that I have experienced. As the first American artist behind what was "the Iron Curtain" to travel around Pablo Escobars rancho, the memoirs are filled with annecdotes and stories about artists as well as locations. It has been a pleasure to commit to paper the stories with Ray Charles, Van Cliburn, me Ben E. King, Andre Watts, Itzhak Perlman and Martina MacBride.

From one of the world's top experts on the economics of skyscrapers--a fascinating account of the ever-growing quest for super tall buildings across the globe.

The world's skyscrapers have brought us awe and wonder, and yet they remain controversial--for their high costs, shadows, and overt grandiosity. But, decade by decade, they keep getting higher and higher. What is driving this global building spree of epic proportions? In Cities in the Sky, author Jason Barr explains all: why they appeal to cities and nations, how they get financed, why they succeed economically, and how they change a city's skyline and enable the world's greatest metropolises to thrive in the 21st century.

From the Empire State Building (1,250 feet) to the Shanghai Tower (2,073 feet) and everywhere in between, Barr explains the unique architectural and engineering efforts that led to the creation of each. Along the way, Barr visits and unpacks some surprising myths about the earliest skyscrapers and the growth of American skylines after World War II, which incorporated a new suite of technologies that spread to the rest of the world in the 1990s. Barr also explores why London banned skyscrapers at the end of the 19th century but then embraced them in the 21st and explains how Hong Kong created the densest cluster of skyscrapers on the planet. Also covered is the dramatic result of China's "skyscraper fever" and then on to the Arabian Peninsula to see what drove Dubai to build the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which at 2,717 feet, is higher than the new One World Trade Center in New York by three football fields.

Filled with fascinating details for urbanists, architecture buffs, and urban design enthusiasts alike, Cities in the Sky addresses the good, bad, and ugly for cities that have embraced vertical skylines and offers us a glimpse to the future to see whether cities around the world will continue their journey ever upwards.

Paragon Books is excited to present the debut photobook by leading LGBTQ+ skate photographer Sam McGuire. Hi Babe, It's Me. You. Is Sam's affirming and personal visual journey documenting life on the road, identity, and self-discovery as one of skate photography's next generation.

Wall to Wall presents an exciting tour of remarkable wall art around the globe, from prehistoric caves to futuristic wonders.

People have been drawing on walls since ancient times. They do it to create beauty, to tell a story, to make a statement, or just to say, "I was here." You can find wall art in a remote cave in Patagonia and a desert castle in Jordan, a kingly palace in the Republic of Benin and the National Palace of Mexico, a miles-long flood channel in Los Angeles and a sky-high rooftop in Norway.

In Wall to Wall, award-winning author, illustrator, and muralist Mary Ann Fraser takes readers on a worldwide journey through time, stopping to see amazing mural art along the way. Stunning color illustrations and fascinating photographs illuminate both famous and little-known examples, and lighthearted text tells engaging stories about the people who inspired or created them. A glossary, suggestions for further reading, and a section on the preservation of murals conclude the book. No reader will ever again pass by a mural--whether in a historic building, a museum, or out on the street--without stopping to take a closer look.

Cholo Writing is the 20th century's oldest form of graffiti, a Mexican-American phenomenon evident in Los Angeles long before the appearance of tags and pieces in the late 1960s New York. It has had a major influence on the visual expressions of Californian popular culture, including the lowrider, surf, skate and hip-hop movements.

Placas are territorial inscriptions created to define a gang's turf, a genuine, constantly evolving urban calligraphy with strict codes used by Latino gangs for street writing since the late 1930s. Here, the aesthetic evolution of Cholo Writing is documented and the influence of blackletter typefaces and calligraphic models such as Old English is traced through two collections of photographs. One by Californian Howard Gribble, who photographed Chicano gang graffiti over a wide geographic area in the early 1970s, and one by French graphic designer and writer Francois Chastanet, who traveled to the same Los Angeles neighborhoods in 2008 to document early 21st century inscriptions. After being out of print and in high demand for years, Cholo Writing: Latino Gang Graffiti in Los Angeles is finally available in a beautiful hardcover edition. The main essay of this second edition has been updated according to the latest historical research on lettering sources.

After being out of print and in high demand for years, Cholo Writing is finally available in a beautiful hardcover edition.

With foreword by OG Chaz Bojorquez, East Los Angeles graffiti pioneer and Godfather of West Coast Cholo Writing for over 50 years.

From a multiple-award-winning cartoonist, Noah Van Sciver, comes Maple Terrace, a new autobiographical graphic novel. Based on the author's childhood, Maple Terrace unfolds a tale of big money comic-collecting craze of the early 90s as seen from the ground floor. In a time when superheroes were oversized, adorned with massive guns, and countless pouches, comic books were currency! Young investors struggled to collect every cover gimmick under the sun--embossed-metallic ink-holographic foil--hoping they someday would pay for their college education. Brutally hilarious, Maple Terrace shines a light on the strange intersection between poverty and speculative comic book craze of the 90s.

Glorious tributes to contemporary Black rodeo culture across America

In 2015, photographer Ivan McClellan attended the Roy LeBlanc Invitational in Oklahoma, the country's longest-running Black rodeo, at the invitation of Charles Perry, director and producer of The Black Cowboy. "It was like going to Oz--there was all this color and energy," McClellan says. "There was a backyard barbecue atmosphere ... It felt like home." Over the next decade, he embarked on journeys across America, crafting a multilayered look at contemporary Black rodeo culture. Whether photographing teen cowgirl sensation Kortnee Solomon at her family's Texas stables, capturing bull riding champion Ouncie Mitchell in action or hanging out with the Compton Cowboys at their Los Angeles ranch, McClellan chronicles the extraordinary athletes who keep the magic and majesty of the "Old West" alive with high-octane displays of courage, strength and skill.
The book's title refers to the sport of bull riding. Athletes must stay on a bull for a total of eight seconds while it bucks; the more hectic the ride, the higher they score. It's an apt metaphor for McClellan's devotion to this long-form documentary project, which required him to hone his reflexes, endurance and stamina to get the perfect picture. With Eight Seconds, McClellan honors the highest ideals of independence, integrity and grit with intimate photographs that preserve the deep-rooted connections between people and land.
Ivan McClellan (born 1983) is a photojournalist based in Portland, Oregon. His work has been featured in ESPN: The Undefeated and Fast Company. As a designer, he has led projects for Nike, Adidas, Disney and the U.S. National Soccer Team.

The untold story of the world's most famous X-rated star, who rose to fame as the face of Ivory Snow and the star of Behind the Green Door but struggled to find her true self in a world of sex, scandal, and shattered dreams.

Marilyn Chambers was the embodiment of the free-spirited Seventies, the world's most famous X-rated star, and an unappreciated talent whose work in adult films hindered her dreams of becoming a serious actress. Raised in an affluent Connecticut suburb, Marilyn catapulted to fame when it was learned that not only had she starred in the groundbreaking X-rated film, Behind the Green Door but was also the model on the box of Ivory Snow laundry detergent (product tagline: "99 44/100% Pure.")

Marilyn was the first woman known primarily for her work in adult films to cross over to mainstream entertainment. She sustained a versatile three-decade career in entertainment, including roles in dramatic plays, a Broadway musical revue, her own television show, and the lead role in David Cronenberg's film Rabid. But her success in adult films also proved to be her undoing. Marred by a violent relationship with her abusive husband-manager, Chuck Traynor, she developed the persona of a twenty-four-hour-a-day sex star. In the process, she lost her sense of self and spent much of her life searching for her true identity. With recollections from family and friends, many of whom have never spoken publicly, along with Marilyn's own words, and never-before-published photos, Jared Stearns vividly captures the revolutionary career of one of the twentieth century's most misunderstood icons.

New publication celebrates the dynamic tradition of narrative art among Native nations of the American Great Plains.

Unbound shows the full expression of Plains narrative art, from historical hides, muslins, and ledger books to contemporary works. Illustrating everything from war deeds and ceremonial events to family life, Indigenous identity, and pop culture, the artworks are as diverse as the individuals who created them.

Early narrative warrior-artists recorded their battle exploits on buffalo-hide shirts, and robes. In the late nineteenth century, as trade broadened, artists painted elaborate scenes of battles and ceremonies on large muslin tipi liners. When ledger books became available, artists filled their pages with narrative drawings. Native artists began reviving "ledger art" in the 1970s, creating a vibrant form that takes on contemporary topics, uses a variety of media, and is widely collected.

Organized chronologically, Unbound juxtaposes traditional works from the National Museum of the American Indian's (NMAI's) renowned collection with drawings and paintings commissioned from eleven contemporary Native artists. The book accompanies an acclaimed exhibition of the same title that appeared in 2016 at the museum's New York venue and will reopen in late Spring 2024 in the Washington, DC, museum.

'The beginnings of a bitter-sweet commission: a mistle thrust's egg, heralding a brief but very welcome return to spring... This year has been in such a hurry, at times almost tripping over itself in its keenness to reach autumn, and now she's here.'

Highly respected illustrator Anna Koska is best known for her drawings of fish and fruit and is widely celebrated by food journalists and restaurateurs. In this mindful, artistic journal, Anna celebrates the natural world; the changing of the seasons, the blossoming of flowers and the ripening of fruit. Working in watercolour, pen and ink, oils and luscious egg tempera, Anna's illustrations are reproduced in beautiful detail and they are accompanied by her musings and observations of objects, engaging us in the everyday realities of her artistic practice.

Anna sources inspiration from the flora and fauna in the fields and forests surrounding her home in East Sussex. Her illustrations root us in nature, allowing us to pause to admire and appreciate the beauty and significance of everyday occurrences - whether she is drawing wasps feasting on apples fallen in the orchard, or trying to capture the cerulean blue of a winter sky.

In this book, image and narrative text are wedded to create a beautiful journey through the seasons, taking time to appreciate our surroundings.

'It started with my favourite fish, a red mullet, all bronze, copper, gills and scales. Then mackerel, coloured like a Scandi sky. Soon enough, I was seduced by a sketch of figs and Anna's alluring tones.' Allan Jenkins, Observer Food Magazine.

Parks' impactful images from the forefront of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements

Originally published in 1971, Gordon Parks' Born Black was the first book to unite his writing and his photography and also the first to provide a focused survey of Parks' documentation of a crucial time for the Civil Rights and Black Power movements.
More than 50 years later, this expanded edition illuminates Parks' vision for the book and offers deeper insight into the series contained within. The original publication featured nine articles commissioned by Life magazine from 1963 to 1970 supplemented with later commentary by Parks and presented as his personal account of these important historical moments. Born Black includes the original text and images, as well as additional photographs from each series, spreads from the 1971 book, early correspondence and reproductions of related Life articles.
The nine series included in Born Black include a rare glimpse inside San Quentin State Prison; extensive documentation of the Black Muslim movement and the Black Panthers; his commentaries on the deaths of civil rights leaders Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.; intimate portrait studies of Stokely Carmichael, Muhammad Ali and Eldridge Cleaver; and a narrative of the daily life of the impoverished Fontenelle family in Harlem. These selections have come to define Parks' legendary career as a photographer and activist. This reimagined, comprehensive edition of Born Black highlights the lasting legacy of these projects and their importance to our understanding of critical years in American history.

Black figuration and portraiture as realized in the works of Amy Sherald, Jordan Casteel and other contemporary artists

"There is never a time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now," wrote James Baldwin. Published in conjunction with the eponymous exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, The Time is Always Now is edited by curator Ekow Eshun, former director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. The book brings together 22 contemporary African diasporic artists working primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States, whose practices--whether through painting, drawing or sculpture--foreground the Black figure. Acknowledging the paradox of race as both a "socially constructed fiction" and a "lived reality," as Eshun writes, The Time is Always Now celebrates these Black figurative artworks against a background of heightened cultural visibility. Through a three-part structure, this book examines Black figuration as a means to address the absence and distortion of Black presence within Western art history. Each artist receives a detailed biographical profile alongside reproductions of their included works. The catalog is also supplemented by three original essays from Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art; Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other; and Esi Edugyan, two-time Giller Prize winner for her novels Half-Blood Blues and Washington Black.
Artists include: Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Hurvin Anderson, Michael Armitage, Jordan Casteel, Noah Davis, Godfried Donkor, Kimathi Donkor, Denzil Forrester, Lubaina Himid, Claudette Johnson, Titus Kaphar, Kerry James Marshall, Wangechi Mutu, Chris Ofili, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Jennifer Packer, Thomas J. Price, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Lorna Simpson, Amy Sherald, Henry Taylor, Barbara Walker.

The definitive guide to painting people and portraits, with simple exercises and step-by-step demonstrations.

Bestselling artist and author Hazel Soan explains how to create beautiful and engaging portraits of your loved ones, with handy hints and work-in-progress paintings throughout. Learn how to overcome shyness or anxiety about painting people in private and in public. Master in capturing their energy and see beyond their likeness through angles, movement, tone, and detail. Understand how to make them comfortable with poses, a timeframe, and support. Learn about clothing, proportion, measuring, and scene-setting.

This is the last book you will ever need for painting people and portraits. This extensive guide is ideal for all painters, new or experienced.

Whether candid or posed, in black and white or color, Orkin's photographs of women reveal her consistently sympathetic eye

In 1951, her photograph American Girl in Italy--depicting a young woman on a street flanked by whistling men--made Ruth Orkin (1921-85) a household name. Now, a new facet of her work emerges through sensational never-before-seen negatives and slides. Women illustrates Orkin's devoted, humorous, witty and sensitive documentation of women's life in the 1940s and 1950s. She records the illustrious goings-on in beauty salons and at cocktail parties, at dog shows and on Hollywood sets. We meet Lauren Bacall, Jane Russell, Joan Taylor and Doris Day, but also waitresses, stewardesses, female soldiers and best friends. Whether gazing directly into the camera, looking away from it or even laughing at something outside of the frame, Orkin's snapshots of women reflect their increased career mobility, consumer power and social influence in the postwar era.

Unbelievably cute and easy-to-follow kawaii drawing, broken down into step-by-step exercises that anyone can master.

A completely immediate and straight-ahead guide to drawing Japanese people and places in an appealing kawaii style. "Kawaii" means cute in Japanese, and often refers to a delightful range of drawing styles that Western audiences have come to love.

Annelore Parot, an experienced illustrator and art teacher, has her own distinctive kawaii style based on cute objects, inviting places, and expressive people. Her fans have long demanded a guide to drawing Japan and Japanese things, so she put together the work-throughs in Kawaii!: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Cute Japanese Drawing. Each spread shows, in six or seven steps, how to build up a cute picture with just a few strokes of the pencil: and on the right page of the spread, there's space for you to practice them yourself. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to create lively people, expressive faces, and evocative scenes.

Parot traveled around Japan to choose the best subjects, and invites the reader to join her in experimenting with buildings, movements, and memorable aspects of Japanese culture. Myths, animals, and food are all included.