rare publications no. 2

Jimmie Durham

Jimmie Durham (* 1940 in Washington, Arkansas, † 2021 in Berlin) is an artist and writer. His books are collectable items since the very beginning when he started publishing his poems and texts. An early example is A Certain Lack of Coherence: Writings on Art and Cultural Politics (1993, Kala Press). In this rare book, Durham collects 20 years of artistic and activist writings about art, the American Indian Movement and the work he did for the International Indian Treaty Council. Next to his political and theoretical books he published several poetry books. In 2020, Wiens Verlag and Edition Hansjörg Mayer published the 3rd volume, entitled Particle/World Theory. His artistic methods are linguistic research and observations of nature and culture. He identifies himself as a » theoretical biologist « who depicts the behaviours and norms of cohabitation in various communities.

Durham’s work always contains a distinct critique, directed towards capitalist consumer culture, all forms of racism and arrogant western notions of art which devalue the rest of the art world as folklore. He critizises the eurocentric view to art and culture.
The books by Durham are a crucial part of his entire work as an artist.

Jimmie Durham
My Book, The East London Coelacanth, Sometimes Called, Troubled Waters; The Story of British Sea-Power

Published jointly by the ICA and Book Works in association with Palais des Beaux-Arts/Paleis voor Schone Kunsten, Brussels. Texts by Jimmie Durham (Engl.). 48 pp., numerous illustrations, b/w and colour, 24.6 x 17.2 cm, hardcover. London 1993

This book is animated by a distinctive voice − amused, obstinate and exciting our curiosity − that negotiates our and its own worries about what a book ought to contain, in what order and for how long. Durham looks at Englishness − posing the question » who are you? « to the reader.
Durham’s investigation takes on board the Angles, angling, a fossil fish, East Anglia, and East London, though this is not simply the place where the books itself was published but a town in South Africa, near which a coelacanth was caught in the 1950s. Durham writes that » if I could catch an East London Coelacanth in East London, England, I might somehow be helping resolve some of the residual problems of Anglish Imperialism. « Photographs show him in various parts of the world, fishing or near water, and at different ages, and some other people with fish. These are accompanied with Durham‘s conversation-like texts combining to make a book that demands to be read and read again to unravel its riddle.

Jimmie Durham
A Certain Lack of Coherence: Writings on Art and Cultural Politics

Published by Kala Press, edited by Jean Fisher. Texts by Jimmie Durham (Engl.). 256 pp., b/w illustrations, 21.5 x 15 cm, hardcover/softcover. London 1993

This anthology is an early compilation of Durham‘s writings, edited by Jean Fisher. It ranges from Durham‘s appeals to the American Indian nations for strength and unity of purpose in combatting the corrosive effects of colonialism, to his critiques of Western culture and its myths of the Other.
We offer both the hardcover and softcover version of this Durham classic.

Jimmie Durham
Eurasian Project Stage One

Published by Galerie de l‘Ancienne Poste, Calais; Le Collège/FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims; Galerie Micheline Szwajcer, Antwerp. Texts by Jimmie Durham, Jean-Pierre Rehm, Denys Zacharopoulos (Engl./French). 120 pp., numerous illustrations, b/w and colour, additionally 8 loose inserted colour prints, 21 x 15.2 cm, stapled with a loose softcover. Calais & Reims 1996

This booklet served as a catalogue for Durham‘s exhibitions La porte de l‘Europe (Les bourgeois de Calais) and La leçon d‘anatomie (A Progress Report), both in 1996.

» I have a project of trying to become Eurasian. I live on the continent of Eurasia and I am always trying to find the division between Europe and Asia. «

» It’s really strange that Eurasia is never considered a continent. Why is this the case? And why is Europe considered a continent, when in fact it is a political entity that has strangest and most fluctuating boundaries. Even now, especially now, no one agrees to where Europe might be, because it’s always only a political not a geographic entity. And the fact that Europe is known as a continent, and Eurasia, the continent, is not known as a continent, means that we are taught to think politically, never physically. I can be Eurasian just by living on this continent but I can never be European, because to be European you have to be born into one of these nation states that form its political history. To be European, you have to be French or Italian or German or English, but to be Eurasian you can be anything. «

Jimmie Durham
Between the Furniture and the Building (Between a Rock and a Hard Place)
Zwischen Mobiliar und Haus (Im Gestein der Zwickmühle)

Published by Kunstverein München. Text by Jimmie Durham (Engl./German). 160 pp., numerous b/w illustrations, 23 x 15.5 cm, softcover. Cologne & Munich 1998

Durham made this book on the occasion of his solo shows Between the Furniture and the Building (Between a Rock and a Hard Place) at Kunstverein München and Jimmie Durham – Zeichnungen at daadgalerie, Berlin. It is one of the most interesting books by him, with wonderful stories reflecting on culture, biology and nature, and the Eurocentric viewpoint. It is just great literature! The best you can read.

Jimmie Durham
Der Verführer und der Steinerne Gast

Published by Ulli Lindmayr on the occasion of the exhibition with the same title at Haus Wittgenstein, Vienna. Text by Jimmie Durham (German). 128 pp., 42 b/w illustrations, 21.5 x 16 cm, hardcover. Vienna & New York 1996

» Ulli Lindmayr invited me to do something in the house that Wittgenstein had designed and built for his sister in Vienna. As an architect Wittgenstein was a disciple of Adolf Loos, only more severe, of course. The house is beautiful, every detail controlled so much that it gives an impression like that of a drunken man pretending to be sober. A crazy house pretending to be not crazy. «

Jimmie Durham
A Matter of Life and Death and Singing

Published by M HKA, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp. Texts by Guy Brett, Bart De Baere, Jimmie Durham, Richard William Hill, Anders Kreuger (Engl.). 160 pp., numerous colour illustrations, 31 x 24 cm, softcover. Zurich 2012

Durham‘s retrospective at M HKA in 2012 featured more than 100 works from all his creative periods. Many of his ideas and images recur in different forms at different stages of his career, the exhibition presented Durham‘s oeuvre ordered along certain chronological lines, but at the same time, it revealed the links between the works. There were ensembles, such as Dead Animals and Other Spirits, Against Architecture and Against Belief, or Stone as Stone and Stone as Tool. The congenial catalogue reflects the exhibition‘s track with substantial text and image material. A must-have for any Durham book collection!

Jimmie Durham
Poems That Do Not Go Together

Edited by Barbara Wien and Wilma Lukatsch. 124 pp., 21.5 x 14 cm, softcover. Wiens Verlag, Berlin & Edition Hansjörg Mayer, London 2012

In 1983, Jimmie Durham‘s first poetry book, entitled Columbus Day, was published by West End Press, Albuquerque. Poems That Do Not Go Together is the second part of his collected poems, written between 1966 and 2012. This anthology brings together 41 poems.

Jimmie Durham
The Usual Song & Dance Routine with a Few Minor Interruptions

From the series How to write – artists who write published by Barbara Wien and Wilma Lukatsch. Transcript of a lecture by Durham from 2010 (Engl./German). 20 pp., 24 x 17 cm, softcover. Edition of 330 numbered copies. Wiens Verlag, Berlin 2013/2014

The Usual Song & Dance Routine with a Few Minor Interruptions is the complete transcription of the Friday Event Lecture (Glasgow School of Art, January 29, 2010). The lecture was presented in collaboration with Glasgow Sculpture Studios and the Goethe Institute, Glasgow.

Jimmie Durham
Hello! Would you like to see this pencil smashed? Watch:

Drawing on the cover of Katalog 2006. Barbara Wien Galerie und Buchhandlung für Kunstbücher. Publisher‘s catalogue (Engl./German). 180 pp., 21 x 15 cm, softcover. Berlin 2006

Until the 2000s, the gallery and art bookshop by Barbara Wien published regularly hardcopy catalogues including all offered books and editions. Jimmie Durham designed the cover of the book catalogue in 2006. Other contributing artists were Thomas Kapielski, Antje Dorn, Gundi Feyrer, Nanne Meyer, Tomas Schmit, amongst others.

rare publications no. 1

Hans-Peter Feldmann

The main work of Hans-Peter Feldmann consists of books and printed matter. In Feldmann’s five solo exhibitions at the gallery since 1995, the focus has been repeatedly put on his book works. We begin our new online section with a selection of rare books, editions and posters by Feldmann – starting with his early Zeitserien (time-series), book objects from the 1970s with original photographs glued on cardboard, to works with glued in photocopies and his magazine projects, such as the piece Profil Nr. 6, 7. Februar 2000 / Profil ohne Worte. From Feldmann’s famous early work series Bilder (pictures), small grey booklets with stamp imprint and offset printed images, we present the football players.

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Autoradios, photographiert, als schöne Musik spielte.

n.y. (ca. 1970–1990)
16 pages, 4 b/w and 2 colour photographs (various formats),
originals, mounted, handwritten title pages, stitched, 22 x 31.5 cm

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Zeitungsleser

n.y. (1970s)
Time series, 19 original b/w photographs, loose (each 12 x 12.5 cm),
in paper portfolio, installation/overall dimensions variable

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Die Brücke

1974
Time series, 21 cardboards (each 20 x 33 cm) with 36 mounted original b/w photographs
(each 8.5 x 12.5 cm), handwritten title pages, in grey portfolio (20.5 x 33.5 cm)
with black ribbon and handwritten title
Drei Möwen Verlag

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Rosanna

1972
Time series, 11 pages, 36 mounted original b/w photographs (each 15 x 10.5 cm),
handwritten title pages, stitched, in grey cover portfolio (34.5 x 25 cm)
with black ribbon and handwritten title

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Strapse

n.y. (1970s)
Time series, 9 cardboards (each 21 x 15 cm) with 48 mounted original b/w photographs
(each 5.5 x 5.5 cm), handwritten title pages, in blue portfolio (23 x 16 cm)
with black ribbon and handwritten title

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Vorher Nachher (Badewanne)

n.y.
2 original colour photographs (each 13 x 18 cm), mounted on cardboard folder (18 x 25.5 cm),
handwritten captions

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Blicke aus Hotelzimmerfenstern

n.y. (1975–1999)
72 pages, foldout partly, 93 b/w and colour photographs (various formats), originals, mounted,
handwritten title pages and captions, spiral binding, 24 x 35 cm

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Paris

1998
33 cardboards (each 20 x 20 cm) with 30 mounted original b/w photographs (each 10.5 x 15 cm),
handwritten title pages and page numbering on the back, in grey portfolio (21 x 21 cm)
with black ribbon and stamped title
3 Möwen Verlag

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Enzyklopädie

1994
2 volumes, altogether 187 loose cardboards (each 21 x 15 cm) with more than 360 mounted
b/w photocopies of lexicon images (various formats), in 2 grey portfolios (each 21.5 x 16 cm)
with black ribbon
Feldmann Verlag

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Farbig photographieren

1995
20 pages, 8 cut out and mounted colour photocopies (various formats) with captions,
stapled, 25.5 x 19 cm
3 Möwen Verlag

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Köln am Rhein

n.y. (1991)
28 pages, 26 cut out and mounted colour photocopies (various formats),
handwritten title pages, stitched, 26 x 22.5 cm
3 Möwen Verlag

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Teppiche

n.y. (1992)
20 pages, 9 cut out and mounted colour photocopies (various formats),
handwritten title pages, stapled, 25 x 21 cm
Drei Möwen Verlag

Hans-Peter Feldmann
6 Bilder von Feldmann (Fußballer)

1971
8 pages, 6 b/w images, grey cover with stamped title, stapled, 14 x 10.4 cm

Hans-Peter Feldmann
Profil Nr. 6, 7. Februar 2000 / Profil ohne Worte

2 parts, each 138 p., once with once without text, each numerous coloured images,
each 28 x 21 cm, stapled. museum in progress, Vienna & Feldmann Verlag, Dusseldorf 2000