{"product_id":"barbara-takenaga","title":"Barbara Takenaga","description":"\u003cheader class=\"book-header pb-3\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"book-title\"\u003eBarbara Takenaga\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"byline mt-1\"\u003eEdited by Debra Bricker Balken and Martin Fox, Contributions by Christina Olsen, Jim Shepard, and Geoffrey Young.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/header\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAt once conceptual and decorative, Barbara Takenaga's swirling, patterned paintings have been called \"psychedelic\" and \"cosmic.\" Takenaga's approach to painting is both highly structured and disciplined. In this collection of over sixty paintings, the evolution of Takenaga's celestial bodies and ecstatic compositions is traced over a 20-year period. The luminous reproductions allow readers to study her intricacies of form and color. The book includes an essay that examines Takenaga's work in relation to historic precedents and current aesthetic developments; a brief consideration of Takenaga's career by novelist Jim Shepard; and a poem by Geoffrey Young.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis book accompanies the exhibition, \u003cem\u003eBarbara Takenaga: Awestruck,\u003c\/em\u003e which is the first comprehensive survey of the artist’s work in nearly a decade. Bringing together paintings made over the past 25 years, the exhibition highlights dazzling demonstrations of the many approaches to abstraction that have shaped Takenaga’s career. Featuring some 45 works from institutional and private collections, this exhibition includes paintings up to her most recent, revealing Takenaga’s continued expansion of her practice across increasingly ambitious canvases, opening new paths within her ongoing exploration of abstraction. Takenaga reminds us that painting is a discipline shaped by both action and chance, so too is looking and perceiving: we make the work through our active gaze. Known for her mesmerizing, intricate compositions, this exhibition examines Takenaga’s work through four thematic sections: an emphasis on process, a masterful confusion of scale, an embrace of illusion, and reverent nods to art history. Together, these strategies work to upend the viewer’s expectations, engaging imagination and stoking curiosity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"secondary-header mb-2\"\u003eAbout The Author\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDebra Bricker Balken\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis an independent curator and writer who has organized numerous exhibitions on subjects relating to American modernism and contemporary art.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChristina Olsen\u003c\/b\u003e is an American curator, scholar, and museum director. In 2017 she became the director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJim Shepard\u003c\/b\u003e is an American novelist and short story writer who teaches creative writing and film at Williams College.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGeoffrey Winthrop Young \u003c\/b\u003ewas a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul class=\"book-attributes\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublish Date: October 31, 2017\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: \u003c\/span\u003eHardcover\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCategory: \u003c\/span\u003ePaintings - Subjects \u0026amp; Themes - Abstract Art\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Williams College Museum of Art \u0026amp; Delmonico Books\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e•Prestel\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTrim Size: \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e9.88 x 0.7 x 11.31 in\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePages: 143\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUS Price: $34.95\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCDN Price: $45.00\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eISBN: \u003c\/span\u003e978-3-7913-5700-3\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Kemper Museum Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46530084274326,"sku":null,"price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/5313\/files\/Barbara_Takenaga_180623.jpg?v=1786639439","url":"https:\/\/shop.kemperart.org\/products\/barbara-takenaga","provider":"Kemper Museum Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}