This is a follow-up to my earlier post on holiday gift suggestions for people who like their art, and art catalogs, served with a hearty helping of design content.
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Catalog L.A.: Birth of an Art Capital 1955-1985
Centre Pompidou exhibition catalog
For graphic design enthusiasts, the best overview of Southern California’s current
Pacific Standard Time program was published five years ago. And it wasn’t even produced for a Los Angeles show: it was for a 2006 retrospective at the Pompidou Center in Paris.
Succinctly titled Catalog L.A., this book mingles eclectic selections of a variety of art and design from 1955 to ’85. And as a precursor to PST, it includes several of the same graphics-oriented creative talents: Saul Bass, Wallace Berman, and John Baldessari; Robert Heinecken, George Herms, and Dennis Hopper; and of course, Ed Ruscha. It also places a helpful emphasis on cultural events, politics, and printed ephemera of the times.
Catalog L.A. is an enjoyable read. And its smart design and layout makes it a handy visual and text reference for investigating the intersections of news, pop culture, and the arts.
Essays are by Catherine Grenier, Howard N. Fox, and David E. James. Chronicle Books. 384 pages.
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Resources Recommended by Imprint
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Available now: Print Magazine’s Guest Art Director Digital Collection
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Register now for expert help on running an in-house design studio
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Get an inside look at logo design from Chermayeff & Geismar
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Design TV: Improve your design skills with help from experts in the design industry.