Just Published: Richard Aldrich Book for the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis

We’ve just received copies of our latest project for the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis: Richard Aldrich and the 19th Century French Painting. The 100-page volume, designed by TOKY, is the companion catalogue for the CAM exhibition of the same name, which was on view during the first half of 2011. It was the first solo museum exhibition for Aldrich, a Brooklyn-based artist still in his 30s. The publication includes an introduction by Chief Curator Dominic Molon, as well as essays by Laura Fried, the show’s curator, and Forrest Nash, of Contemporary Art Daily. Reproductions of the artworks are supplemented by photographs of the show’s installation within the CAM galleries.

One especially compelling aspect of the book is that Aldrich has written his own captions for his 20 paintings in the show. Paging through, the reader receives brief personal backstories on how the works were made (pretty interesting information, in Aldrich’s case) and the ways in which he’s nodding to other artists (from Cézanne to Ozu, Bresson to Syd Barrett). Bruce Burton, the TOKY designer (himself an artist) who worked the book, made an interesting comment yesterday about how the literary-minded Aldrich employed those captions—that they were less about the artworks than extensions of them.

You can pick up your copy of Richard Aldrich and the 19th Century French Painting online at the CAM shop.