Purienne

Voyeuristic, sun-drenched, and sexually charged, the photographs of Henrik Purienne offer high-fashion escapism. "What is an average day like for Henrik Purienne?" an interviewer once asked. "I wouldn't know," the South African photographer replied. Unless, of course, average can be defined as hedonistic, sun-drenched, and beachside. Draped across a vintage car or an unmade bed, rolling in the sand, or standing waist-high in an endless ocean, the subjects of Purienne's photographs convey a sexuality that's as nostalgic as it is au courant, at once innocent and sultry. The founder of Mirage magazine, Purienne always seems to have his camera pointed away from real life and toward a fantasy of beautiful girls with nothing on their minds but fun, and even less on their bodies. Paging through these stunning photographs, however, readers will appreciate Purienne's adroit staging and composition, ingenious use of light, and impeccable styling--all the skills that have made him one of today's most sought-after fashion photographers.

Following on the heels of his acclaimed, eponymous first book, this new collection of images by the renowned fashion photographer Purienne evokes the joys and beauty of life.

Yayoi Kusama: Give Me Love documents the artist's most recent exhibition at David Zwirner, New York, which marked the US debut of The Obliteration Room, an all-white, domestic interior that viewers are invited to cover with dot stickers of various sizes and colors. Widely recognized as one of the most popular artists in the world, Yayoi Kusama has shaped her own narrative of postwar and contemporary art. Minimalism and Pop art, abstraction and conceptualism coincide in her practice, which spans painting, sculpture, performance, room-sized and outdoor installation, the written word, films, fashion, design, and architectural interventions. Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan, Yayoi Kusama briefly studied painting in Kyoto before moving to New York City in the late 1950s. In the mid-1960s, she established herself in New York as an important avant-garde artist by staging groundbreaking happenings, events, and exhibitions. Now in her late 80s, Kusama is entering one of the richest creative periods of her life. Immersed in her studio six days a week, Kusama has spoken of her renewed dedication to creating art over the past years: “[N]ew ideas come welling up every day….Now I am more keenly aware of the time that remains and more in awe of the vast scope of art.” Taking The Obliteration Room as its centerpiece, this catalogue reveals, in vivid large-scale plates, the transformation of the space from a clean white interior to a stunningly saturated room, with ceilings, walls, and furniture covered in myriad multicolored stickers put there by viewers over the course of the exhibition. The catalogue also includes beautiful reproductions of Kusama's new large-format paintings from My Eternal Soul series. Ranging from bright and densely pixelated forms, to umber figures with darker blues and muted oranges, these paintings demonstrate the artist's striking command of color, and her exceptional control over balance and contrast. Bold brushstrokes hover between figuration and abstraction; vibrant, animated, and intense, these paintings introduce their own powerful pictorial logic, at once contemporary and universal. The catalogue continues with a selection of new, large Pumpkin sculptures, a form that Kusama has been exploring since her studies in Japan in the 1950s, and which gained prominence in the 1980s, continuing to remain an essential part of her practice. Made of shiny stainless steel and featuring painted dots or dot-shaped perforations that recall The Obliteration Room, these immersive works seem created on human scale, with the tallest measuring 70 inches (178 cm). Vibrant plates capture how color, shape, size, and surface merge in these sculptures and mesmerize the viewer. Texts include a "Hymn to Yayoi Kusama" by art critic and poet Akira Tatehata and a poem by the artist herself.

Inventive, enigmatic, and supremely creative, Stephen Sprouse made art and clothing that captured the mood of the eighties. One of the first American designers to mix graffiti and a punk aesthetic with fashion, Sprouse manipulated conventional notions of style, and his unique sensibility has inspired designers from John Galliano to Raf Simmons to Marc Jacobs. Sprouse’s career started in the late seventies, when, after working for Halston, he migrated to a warehouse on the Bowery and started making outfits for his neighbor, Debbie Harry. The fashion world quickly embraced his innovative, culturally relevant sensibility and downtown edge. But Sprouse’s inability to compromise his artistic vision for the rigid fashion business compromised his commercial success. The Padilhas possess the largest private collection of Sprouse’s work, and were given exclusive access to his archives by his family for this project. They also obtained never-before-published images from photographers such as Steven Meisel, Bob Gruen, and Mert and Marcus. The book features a foreword by the novelist Tama Janowitz, one of Sprouse’s closest friends. The release of this book coincides with a retrospective at Deitch Projects. The book will be available with four different jackets, each featuring a different Day-Glo color, an homage to Sprouse’s iconic album cover for Debbie Harry’s Rockbird.

Adult is a magazine of new erotics. In photography, conversation, art, criticism, essays and original reporting, it returns to the first meaning of "radical"--the roots of things, traced below the skin. In Adult no. 1, we discover sex in the novels of Gordon Merrick, steal Rachel Kushner's emails, and spy on masturbating friends, shot by Kava Gorna. We profile three maverick filmmakers from three generations: Ryan Coogler, Deborah Kampmeier and David Cronenberg. Katherine Bernard builds a shrine to Erica Jong's Fear of Flying, now 40 years old, and Wangechi Mutu, the Kenyan-American artist, shares her dark materials. Various kinds of bodies are portrayed in photographs by Nancy Reyes, Flora Hanitijo and Henrik Purienne, and in fictions by Dodie Bellamy, Tamara Faith Berger, Kristopher Jansma and more. Our written features cover the ends of an empire, from the last great toy factory to the national nightmare that is Florida. Plus, Adult delivers a preview of Mia Schwartz and Chris Randle's very graphic novella, Charivari.

A sexy, bohemian photobook following Kate Bellm's muses across the globe This fabulously produced photobook is the culmination of British photographer Kate Bellm's (born 1987) 10 years of travels with friends and lovers swimming, kissing and skateboarding. Bellm's pure and atmospheric photography seduces into an otherworldly psychedelic paradise--with offbeat colorful landscapes, crazy cacti, hot hazy vistas, flickering palms and colossal rock forms. Her beautiful nudes build intoxicating narratives that radiate a romantic and bohemian alchemy. Like a young and female Helmut Newton, Bellm portrays femininity with fascination, aligning elegance, sexuality and female empowerment. In friends and lovers, Kate finds her models and muses--this allows her to work with a sense of spontaneity and ease, which takes on the charm of youthful freedom. Each image takes the reader on a new sun-drenched road trip or adventure.

- Over 200 magnificent black-and-white photos, personally selected by star photographer Vincent Peters - Collector's Edition with an elegant linen finish - Iconic celebrity portraits: Emma Watson, Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, John Malkovich and many more Vincent Peters' photographs have left the fast-moving trends of fashion photography behind and become timeless works of art. Born in Bremen in 1969, Peters has been one of the most sought-after fashion and portrait photographers for over 25 years. With his signature black-and-white photography and exquisite lighting, his portraits look like snapshots from classic movies. Supermodels, stars, and legends have all stood before his camera -- from Penélope Cruz and Rosamund Pike to Mickey Rourke and Matt Dillon. This new Collector's Edition with luxurious linen finish expands on Peters' bestselling book with 30 new images, all personally selected by Peters. A collection of astonishing portraits, in which the intimate urgency of the moment creates a timeless image.

Tim Walker is one of the most visually exciting photographers of our time. This book showcases many of his most dazzling images his daydreams turned into photographs, dating from around the last seven years of his career. Some of the biggest names in fashion and contemporary culture are here: Alber Elbaz sporting a pair of rabbit ears; Agyness Deyn in the sand dunes of Namibia; Alexander McQueen and a memento mori of skull and cigarettes; Helena Bonham Carter poised with Ray-Bans and a Diet Coke; Stella Tennant in a pink cloud among the rhododendrons of an English country garden The singer and musician Kate Bush contributes a foreword and Walker himself an afterword, as well as illuminating his pictures throughout with personal observations. This exceptional and beautifully designed overview of a career caught in mid-flow reveals just how much one mans singular vision has influenced contemporary tastes in fashion, beauty, glamour and portraiture.