Author Description

Hans Arp, considered one of the pivotal artists of the early 20th century, is still influencing artists today. This inventive, complex exhibition catalog from Germany's Hans Arp Museum focuses on Arp as a pioneer in organic abstraction - using the shapes and processes of nature, growth and change in his work - and shows his work in tandem with a plethora of contemporary works that reverberate with his influence. Terrific photos and a thoughtful, absorbing text compare and contrasts Arp's work with works by Gerhard Mantz, Tony Cragg, Louise Bourgeois, Ernesto Neto, Birgitta Weimer and many others. As Arp said in the 1930s, "We were looking for an elemental form of art which would cure mankind of the madness of our times." Apparently as a culture and as artists, we're still looking.