Heartland

Edited by Charles Esche, Kerstin Niemann, and Stephanie Smith

With essays by John Corbett and Frank Veenstra; Joshua Decter; Dave Eggers; Charles Esche; Hasan Kwame Jeffries; Andria Lisle; Hesse McGraw; Kerstin Niemann; Stephanie Smith; Rebecca Solnit; Matthew Strauss; Dan S. Wang; and Matt Weiland.

Paper, 192 pages, full color throughout, 8 x 10.5", $30
ISBN: 978-0-935573-47-3

While this publication stems from the Heartland exhibitions at the Van Abbemuseum and the Smart Museum of Art, this book is much more than an art catalogue. Contributors—including novelist Dave Eggers, scholar Hasan Kwame Jeffries, and journalist Rebecca Solnit—explore the region through topics ranging from art to music to urban farming to political history. An illustrated section introduces all of the artists involved in both iterations of Heartland, including established figures like Kerry James Marshall and exuberant newcomers like Whoop Dee Doo. An appendix surveys the lively state of independent and artist-run cultural initiatives from New Orleans to Detroit.

View an online (PDF) version of the publication. Please be aware that the images in this PDF are web-quality. In the name of being green, we hope you will enjoy viewing it online.

Displacement: The Three Gorges Dam and Contemporary Chinese Art

Wu Hung, with Jason McGrath and Stephanie Smith © 2008

Paper, 160 pages, 100 color plates, 8" x 10.5", $30
ISBN: 978-0-935573-46-6

Displacement continues a series of Smart Museum catalogues produced in conjunction with Wu Hung’s groundbreaking exhibitions of contemporary Chinese art. Through extensive illustrations, interviews, and a substantial essay by Wu Hung, the publication documents the work and concerns of the artists Chen Qiulin, Yun-Fei Ji, Liu Xiaodong, and Zhuang Hui. Other essays extend consideration to representations of the Three Gorges Dam in film and in contemporary art in the West. Moving beyond any single medium or trend, Displacement offers nuanced, thought-provoking perspectives on an issue of great social, environmental, and global concern.

This exhibition and accompanying catalogue were made possible in part by the generous support of Fred Eychaner and Tommy Yang Guo, Dan Bo, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, and the Women's Board of the University of Chicago.

The "Writing" of Modern Life: The Etching Revival in France, Britain, and the U.S., 1850–1940

Elizabeth Helsinger, with essays by Martha Tedeschi, Peyton Skipwith, Anna Arnar, and Allison Morehead © 2008

Paper, 104 pages, 75 halftone illustrations, 8.5" x 11", $20
ISBN: 978-0-935573-45-9

Generously illustrated with works by both well-known and little-known printmakers, The "Writing" of Modern Life examines the intertwined arts of etching and writing, from the polemical beginnings of the Etching Revival in the 1850s to its twentieth-century afterlife. During this period, etching was reinvented as an original art form that—like writing—was uniquely fitted to expressions of an artist’s individual personality and the experience of modernity. The essays touch on the relation between the literary and visual arts and offer a new interdisciplinary perspective on the Etching Revival.

The “Writing” of Modern Life is one in a series of projects at the Smart Museum of Art that has been generously endowed by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The exhibition catalogue was made possible by the Feitler Family Fund.

Adaptation: Video Installations by Ben-Ner, Herrera, Sullivan, and Sussman & The Rufus Corporation

Stephanie Smith, with critical responses by Nell Andrew, Darby English, Flaminia Gennari, Tom Gunning, Mark Hansen, Matthew Jackson, Eric Slauter, and Rebecca Zorach.

http://adaptation.uchicago.edu

Adaptation is accompanied by a unique online publication that documents the exhibition through an array of interactive content. This free online catalogue not only offers core information about the exhibition but also presents a series of features that take advantage of the dynamic medium of the web, including: video clips of the works, a public discussion forum, a behind-the-scenes image archive, and a series of critical responses by scholars with connections to the University of Chicago.

This exhibition is supported by the Office of the Provost and the Arts Council, University of Chicago, the Feitler Family Fund, Larry and Marilyn Fields, Susan and Lewis Manilow, Dirk Denison, and the members and friends of the Smart Museum.