Shadows of Love, Shadows of Loneliness Limited Edition

Vollman, William T.

ISBN 10: 1644281856 / ISBN 13: 9781644281857

Published by Unnamed PRess & Rare Bird Joint, Los Angeles, 2023

36.5 x 24.5 cm. 315, 217ppTwo volume+ set in black cloth slipcase. Bound in black illustrated boards. This edition is limited to 250 copies for sale and 50 reserved copies signed by the artist as well as Chris Heiser of Unnamed Press and Tyson Cornell of Rare Bird Books on a COA. The COA is bound as a companion book opposite a mounted print. Reproduces hundreds of photographs, paintings, drawings and relief prints done by Vollman over the course of four decades along with his commentary. The books are in fine condition though the slipcase shows some pilling. Seller Inventory # 78733

Synopsis:

In this landmark collection, William T. Vollmann offers a kaleidoscopic retrospective of the visual artwork he has produced over four decades, with new commentary from Vollmann on his process, inspiration, and the many intersections with his writing.
The celebrated author of over twenty-five books (among them the National Book Award-wining novel Europe Central; the seven-volume Rising Up and Rising Down, based on Vollmann’s career as a war correspondent; and the two-volume climate change investigation Carbon Ideologies), Vollmann’s equally ambitious and prolific career as a photographer, printmaker, and painter reflects the artist’s deep interest in people existing on the margins, a profound empathy for his subjects, and the humility and generosity to meet them on their terms.

Shadows of Love, Shadows of Loneliness includes Kodachrome slides of Afghan Mujahideen from 1982; a handmade watercolor sketchbook from Subarctic Canada, complete with inscriptions to Vollmann from local Inuit teenagers; gum bichromate prints of American landscapes from Maui to Mount Desert Island; silver gelatin portfolios of insurgents, refugees, prostitutes, police, and criminals all over the world; photogenic drawings of Tahitian women; transgender self-portraits of “Dolores”; Bible woodblock prints in which God and everyone else is female; acrylic paintings of California landscapes; cyanotypes, platinotypes, salt prints, and gold-toned Vandykes, to name just a few.

Complementing these selections is a series of essays commissioned especially for this book to lay out Vollmann’s views on what photographs can and should say, how he chooses what to represent (beauty, suffering, compassion, love, desire, ideology), thoughts on photographic consensuality, and any number of technical descriptions. Particularly useful for Vollmann fans and scholars are the cross-references between these artistic and photographic projects and his books.

About the Author:

William T. Vollmann is the author of ten novels, including Whores for Gloria, The Royal Family, and Europe Central, which won the National Book Award. He has also written four collections of stories (including The Rainbow Stories and The Atlas, which won the PEN Center USA West Award for Fiction), a memoir, and eight works of nonfiction, including Rising Up and Rising Down and Imperial, both of which were finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is the recipient of a Whiting Award and the Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in California.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Shadows of Love, Shadows of Loneliness ...
Publisher: Unnamed PRess & Rare Bird Joint, Los Angeles
Publication Date: 2023
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Fine in Near Fine slipcase
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: First Edition.