Lenz publishes books on contemporary art, photography, architecture and design.
Our imprint includes catalogues, monographs, theory and artist books.
The artist’s book to love and devour by Tolia Astakhishvili was published on the occasion of the inaugural exhibition at the new site of the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation in Venice, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist.
This monograph, published on the occasion of Samson Young’s exhibition at SFMOMA, focuses on his latest project, Intentness and Songs, a multimedia installation that poetically traces the idiosyncratic rhythms of love, memory, experiences of time, and AI. Essays and a rich set of unpublished materials offer new keys to understanding the artist’s work.
The book, published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition held at CAM – Gulbenkian in Lisbon, explores convergences in the work of Paula Rego (Lisbon, 1935 – London, 2022) and Adriana Varejão (Rio de Janeiro, 1964), although they belong to different generations and come from different backgrounds.
O livro, lançado por ocasião da exposição homónima no CAM – Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian, em Lisboa, explora as convergências nas obras de Paula Rego (Lisboa, 1935 – Londres, 2022) e Adriana Varejão (Rio de Janeiro, 1964), apesar de pertencerem a gerações e contextos distintos.
The future of architecture lies in the curatorial approach. This is the thesis put forward by architect Wilfried Kuehn and theorist Dubravka Sekulić in their book, which brings together contributions from more than 30 authors working in the fields of architecture, art, and curatorial knowledge and practice.
Emanuele Coccia describes the radical creative freedom inscribed in Ernesto Neto’s practice, analyzing the workings of the Brazilian artist’s pieces of living architecture. Art on Earth is the third book in a series of short essay collections inspired by the site-specific projects conceived for GAMeC at Palazzo della Ragione.
Edited and with an essay by Pavel Pyś
Designed by Lorenzo Mason Studio
2024, English, softcover, 22 x 28 cm
ISBN: 979-12-80579-49-2
Conceived as a catalogue and an artist’s book, the publication was made on occasion of the eponymous 2022 exhibition at Indipendenza Roma. Deeply responsive to the space, the exhibition brought together works by Louise Lawler and Fredrik Værslev to explore the tension between an artwork and its surrounding architectural context, spurring questions of taste, value, function, and decoration.
Louise Lawler’s incisive practice brings to the fore the very means by which value and significance are conferred upon artworks. Her critical strategies reveal the mechanisms by which art is produced, reproduced, consumed to question how we understand issues of authorship, connoisseurship, and meaning. Through emblematic interventions belonging to the series Tracings (2013-present), Adjusted to fit (2010-present), and Paperweights (1988-present) within Indipendenza’s rooms, that once served as an apartment, Lawler’s works draw our attention to how we organize and present our lives to others.
Deeply invested in the relationship between painting, architecture, and both urban and suburban environments, Fredrik Værslev’s serial practice reflects on the conventions, styles, and limits of abstract painting. For this exhibition, Værslev has created a series of site-responsive paintings (2021-22), which are sized to match the doorway dimensions and informed by the palette, materials, texture, and imagery that characterize Indipendenza’s spaces. These trompe l’oeil terrazzo paintings mimic the pattern and treatment of the gallery floor designs, yet are marked with drips and swirls suggestive of the ceiling frescoes that interrupt the all-over treatment, playing on the tension between background and foreground, function and decoration, real and faux.
Seen together, works by Lawler and Værslev point beyond their own limits, drawing our eyes to their surrounding spaces, asking how an artwork’s context can frame its meaning and vice versa.
Photos: Lorenzo Mason Studio