Page 204 - Advertising Annual 55

Don’t Take These Drawings
Seriously: 1981–87
By Nathalie Du Pasquier
312 pages, hardcover, $60 Published by powerHouse Books powerhousebooks.com
Although Nathalie Du Pasquier’s name might not spark instant recognition, the name of the Milan-based architecture and design group Memphis surely will. Du Pasquier designed numerous decorated surfaces— textiles, carpets, plastic laminates—as well as furniture and objects under the aegis of the groundbreaking collective Memphis. In the late 1980s, she began to concentrate on painting. The author’s nostalgia-free,
chronological narrative offsets the organization of this handsome book. Arranged from small to large, from jewelry to entire cities, the selection of heretofore-unpublished drawings shows the development of a self-taught designer. Drawing from her travels and her disparate interests, Du Pasquier relates her journey from unintentional design icon to her post-1980s reinvention as an artist. As a member of Memphis, along with her husband, George Sowden, she explored fashion as well as interiors. These drawings languished in studio drawers for more than 30 years before a meeting with Apartamento magazine co-founder Omar Sosa, who convinced her to publish them. Sosa also edited and designed the book. Seen as a collection, the flat-color, psychedelic shapes and angular marks she favors create a cohesive body of work emblematic of a postmodern sensibility. Her drawings of decorated headphones and luggage with wheels predated high-tech headphones and rolling suitcases, and they developed in complexity and perspective over time while retaining her love of color, surface texture and pattern. Du Pasquier claims, “Decoration lays bare the soul of things.” This inspiring book is a window into her artistic soul. —Anne Telford
204 Illustration Annual 2016
Color: The Professional’s Guide
Understanding, Appre- ciating and Mastering Color in Art and Design By Karen Triedman
Color is complex, and our perceptions of it are the result of cultural and personal experi- ences that we collect over a lifetime. The subject also has roots in biology, psychology and history—making it an all-encompassing topic that straddles the line between art and science. In this book, Karen Triedman views color from its many spectrums. Through interviews with scientists, researchers, colorists and artists, Triedman reveals the essence of color and shows how designers can harness its powers. Holistic in its approach, the book begins with how we first experience color through nature, then quickly progresses into our usage and artistic interpretations of color through function, form and language. Color: The Professional’s Guide is a book for enthusiasts and practitioners craving an in-depth, yet accessible read on the visible spectrum, making it a bright addition to any artist’s library. 256 pages, softcover, $45, North Light Books. —Amy Ng
Unlearning to Draw
By Peter Jenny
This tiny book asks the reader to look to the creations of children and outsider artists whose carefree, untrained drawings are sponta-
neous and instinctive in their associations. Using family photographs as the basis for “defamiliarizing the familiar,” Peter Jenny, professor emeritus and chair of Visual Design at the ETH Zurich university, in Switzerland, suggests a series of exercises that free the artist from the personal meaning inherent in one’s family photos. In the process of rearranging, reimaging and abstracting these iconic mementos, one might discover new image-making techniques and themes. The author wishes to change how the reader perceives art, a fairly grand goal, but one that this addition to Jenny’s Learning to See series achieves. His compelling and well- written philosophy playfully reexamines conventional art theory practices. It is both challenging and inspiring. 216 pages, softcover, $12.95, Princeton Architectural Press. —A.T.