PROJECT DESCRIPTION

A comprehensive monograph spanning the forty-year career of Palm Springs–based, artist Jim Isermann (born 1955), this title shows the artist’s first twenty years of extensive, chronological research of postwar art and design filtered through popular culture and consumerism, followed by twenty years of site-specific public projects and a studio practice of labor-intensive painting, sculpture, and the occasional product design project.

In 1980, there were no guidebooks to California design or what we now call Midcentury Modern. Isermann constructed his own timeline, object by object, from thrift stores, flea markets and swap meets, making bodies of work that included latch hook rugs paired with painting, stained glass window panels, and hand-sewn fabric wall hangings. By 1999, Isermann had his first computer, and so began the second twenty years of his career, with complex digitally designed patterns that found their form in commercially manufactured modules. Isermann continues to be inspired by the unpredictable, serendipitous moments that breathe life into his work.

The design of the book is inspired by the artist's approach to all his work. Often an industrial designer, we had him create the pattern for the covers as though he were making a textile design. We then printed the design in 3 different color ways, on cloth, and bound the books in the result. The endpapers are reproductions of the original drawings Isermann made for the covers.

BOOK INFORMATION

Trim Size: 8.75 x 12 inches

Number of Pages: 320

Binding Method: hardback, sewn sections, 3mms board cover with minimum hinge, round spine

Paper: GardaPat Bianka / Arena White Rough

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CREDIT INFORMATION

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Book Designer: David Chickey / Mat Patalano

Jacket/Cover Designer: David Chickey / Mat Patalano

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