New Books: November 2023

"Written by a cognitive psychologist who has spent decades studying how we learn, OUTSMART YOUR BRAIN is the definitive guide to help students master the skills of understanding material and retaining information. In clear, accessible prose, Dan Willingham lays out the techniques necessary for students at any stage to succeed and thrive when learning, studying, and taking exams. When studying, the tendency is to focus on the mental tasks that we control most easily, and which create a sense of familiarity, like rereading and highlighting, But, as explained in OUTSMART YOUR BRAIN, familiarity is not the same thing as retention or comprehension. Real learning comes from practices we may not be as likely to implement, like self-testing. Each chapter in the book is devoted to one process that contributes to learning, but which such as avoiding procrastination or understanding what you're trying to learn."

"The "Panic of 1907," as it was called, is considered the third worst stock market crash in history. Historians say it lasted from January 19, 1906, through November 15, 1907. The market crash was primarily caused by a credit crunch in New York that slowly spread across the country. To try to offset the decline, the U.S. Treasury Department bought $35 million worth of government bonds. The Panic of 1907 aims to discuss the drivers of this crash and the major players involved, including F. Augustus Heinze and his bank, Knickerbocker Trust, as well as what lessons we have learned and can continue to learn from the panic"--

"Kentgen explores the ways in which we as a society experience isolation and its effects on our mental and physical healths; she proceeds to offer solutions in order to collectively work towards building a sense of authentic belonging and communication in six specific ways"--

"In this biography Mark C. Carnes profiles Sitting Bull, a military and spiritual leader of the Lakota people who remained a staunch defender of his nation and way of life until his untimely death"-

"From red flags to crossed boundaries, to lies and gaslighting, you've recognized that you were or currently are in a toxic relationship. But now what? It's time to fully let the relationship go and begin to heal. With Toxic Relationships, you'll address the ways that you were wronged during your relationship. You'll learn strategies for how to trust other people and yourself again after being gaslit, find the warning signs of toxicity and narcissism in others, and reframe negative, harmful thoughts to a positive outlook on life. As you work to let go of the toxic relationship that ate away at your happiness, you'll learn how to carve out space for you to be happy on your own and to love yourself for who you are. When you're ready to enter another relationship, you'll implement healthy boundaries and clear communication. Put yourself first with Toxic Relationships"--Provided by publisher.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Walt Hickey explores exactly how this thing we blithely call "entertainment" has such a tremendous effect on us. Through compelling reporting and research and the creation of dozens and dozens of colorful data visuals, Hickey shows how something like a movie or TV show not only has a direct physical effect on the viewer--how the chemistry of our breath changes with a movie's ups and downs, or a scary scene can be literally bloodcurdling--but also has a measurable impact on society, politics, the economy, and even the future.

Since the mid-1970s, Barbara Kruger (born 1945) has been interrogating consumer culture in works that often combine visual and written language. In her singular graphic style, Kruger probes aspects of identity, desire and consumerism that are embedded in our everyday lives. This volume traces her continuously evolving practice to reveal how she adapts her work in accordance with the moment, site and context. The book features a range of striking images--from her analogue paste-ups of the 1980s to digital productions of the last two decades, including new works produced on the occasion of the exhibition. Also featured are singular works in vinyl, her large-scale room wraps, multichannel videos, site-specific installations and commissioned works. The book also showcases how Kruger's site-specific works have been reconceived for each venue, and includes a section of reprinted texts selected by the artist. Renowned for her use of direct address and her engagement with contemporary culture, Kruger is one of the most incisive and courageous artists working today. This volume explores how her pictures and words remain urgently resonant in a rapidly changing world. Exhibition: Art Institute of Chicago, USA (25.04.-22.08.2021) / Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA (03.10.2021-22.05.2022) / The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA (27.02.2022-02.01.2023).

"Cindy Sherman is one of the most influential and consistently original artists of our time. Masquerading as a myriad of characters in front of her own camera, Sherman creates invented personas and provocative tableaus that examine the construction of identity and the nature of representation. Her works speak to our increasingly image-saturated world, drawing on the unlimited supply of visual material provided by the mass media, pop culture, and art history. Whether portraying a career girl or a blond bombshell, a fashion victim or a clown, a French aristocrat or a society lady of a certain age, Sherman's work has always had the ability to reflect the ideas of the culture at large and to resonate with a wide audience. Cindy Sherman presents the most up-to-date overview of her groundbreaking career, from the mid-1970s to the present, and provides new insight into the work of this relentlessly innovative artist."--Publisher's website.

"Pop artist, painter of modern life, landscape painter, master of color, explorer of image and perception--for six decades, David Hockney has been known as an artist who always finds new ways of exploring the world and its representational possibilities. He has consistently created unforgettable images: works with graphic lines and integrated text in the Swinging Sixties in London; the famous swimming pool series as a representation of the 1970s California lifestyle; closely observed portraits and brightly colored, oversized landscapes after his eventual return to his native Yorkshire. In addition to drawings in which he transfers what he sees directly onto paper, there are multiperspective Polaroid collages that open up the space into a myriad of detailed views, and iPad drawings in which he captures light using a most modern medium--testaments to Hockney's enduring delight in experimentation. This special edition has been newly assembled from the two volumes of the David Hockney: A Bigger Book monograph to celebrate TASCHEN's 40th anniversary."

"The Museum of Modern Art has one of the greatest collections of twentieth-century photography in the world. As one of three volumes dedicated to a new history of photography published by the Museum, this publication comprises a comprehensive catalogue of the collection post-1960s and brings a much-needed new critical perspective on the most prominent artists who have worked with the photographic medium over the last half-century. At a moment when photography is undergoing fast-paced changes and artists are seeking to redefine its boundaries in new and exciting ways, Photography at MoMA serves as an excellent resource for understanding this expanded field. The book begins with an in-depth introduction followed by eight chapters of full-color plates, each introduced by a short essay. Nearly 250 artists are featured, including Diane Arbus, John Baldessari, Jan Dibbets, Rineke Dijkstra, William Eggleston, Lee Friedlander, Louise Lawler, Zoe Leonard, Helen Levitt, Sigmar Polke, Cindy Sherman, Wolfgang Tillmans, Jeff Wall, Carrie Mae Weems, Hannah Wilke, and Garry Winogrand."--Publisher's website.

First published in 1976 in conjunction with the exhibition, Photographs by William Eggleston. The second edition recreates the original with new digital scans of the artist's original 35mm transparencies with the exception of two plates for which the original transparencies were lost. --Title page verso.
Summary: Presents a collection of forty-eight photographs taken between 1969 and 1971 depicting people and places around the photographer's hometown of Memphis.

This comprehensive publication, originally published to accompany a sell-out exhibition at Matsumoto City Museum of Art, offers a comprehensive overview of Kusama's entire career, including works from her youth, when she indulged in drawing in order to escape from her hallucinations; paintings made when she was based in New York, including 'Infinity Nets' and 'Polka Dots'; works from the1980s and 1990s, when she participated in the Venice Biennale; and last but not least, the ongoing large-scale series 'My Eternal Soul'. The plates are in chronological order and followed by detailed captions.00Exhibition: Matsumoto City Museum of Art, Matsumoto-shi, Japan (03.03.-22.07.2018).

This visually stunning volume not only celebrates the updating of the Italianate-Greek Revival Illinois Governor's Mansion in Springfield but also tells the story of the house's evolution since 1855, of the lives and times of the renowned personages who inhabited it, and of the illustrious visitors, including Abraham Lincoln and FDR. The rooms have been enhanced with sophisticated color palettes, gorgeous fabrics, wallpapers, and bespoke furniture. In celebration of Illinois, one hallway is covered in a striking corn-motif pattern; the Governor's Dining Room is embellished with a charming folk-style mural; and the chic Chicago Room was created, featuring Frances Elkins's canopied beds and a Samuel Marx secretary cabinet. This book is ideal for those who love architecture, antiques, and learning about the lives of prominent Americans.--