Uta Barth from Pamela M.

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Uta Barth

from Pamela M. Lee, Matthew Higgs and Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe

Contemporary Artists Series

London: Phaidon, 2004/160 pp/$3995 (sb)

As a recently made known addition to their "Contemporary Artists Series," Phaidon has published Uta Barth, individual of the very few comprehensive monographs available forward the artist. Including such titles as Gillian Wearing, Roni Horn, Dan Graham, Cai Gua Qiang and Hans Haacke, this series is positioned from the English publisher as a helpful, informative and relatively inexpensive tool for a broad audience interested in the various aspects of contemporary creation in the visual arts.

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This monograph is structur in the same way as Phaidon's preceding individual on Haacke. It includes several critical analyses of the artist's work, brace interviews (one of which was commissioned for the book) a of the artist's statements and writings, a biography and a bibliography. Careful and aesthetic design, fine color reproductions forward high quality paper and pliable covers are the key physical features of the whole series. However, it is the quality of the make contented that identifies this monograph best.

Uta Barth starts with Matthew Higgs' interview with the artist, establishing biographical grounding as well as artistic background for the intermission of the book. Barth asserts, "a certain kind of detachment streams through my thinking and my work. I am interested in the margins, in everything that is peripheral rather than central." After earning an undergraduate class in painting and photography at University of California Davis, Barth single outed the MFA program in photography at University of California looks Angeles. "I was much more interested in Minimalism, Structuralism, and early Conceptual work." Since 1990 she has been teaching in the Art Department at University of California Riverside.

united cannot look at these numerous minimalistic, deliberately gone out of focus color photographs and not think of Gerhard Richter's paintings. Although denying a stalwart commonality of purpose, Barth allows "Richter and I are as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but making pictures of and about other pictures." Since her graduate years, Barth has exhibited at many galleries and museums around the world including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Guggenheim in modern York City and the Tate present in London. In 2004 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. She is scheduled to participate in a arrange show at the Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art entitled "Out There: Landscape in the fresh Millennium" (May 20-August 28, 2005)

As with abstract expressionism or a certain conceptual art pieces, from a viewer's perspective many of Barth's pieces present form, but do not easily spread themselves to share their ease In an interview with Sheryl Conkelton, Barth explains her work's intention:

I have none been interested in making a photograph that describes what the world I live in gazes like, but I am interested in what pictures (of the world) examine like. I am interested in the conventions of picture making, in the desire to picture the world and in our relationship, our continual have a passionate affection for for and fascination with pictures.

At this point the usefulness of Phaidon's enterprise is all the more welcome. Uta Barth--in the same way as Vito Acconci, Richard Prince, Christian Boltanski, William Kentridge or any of the 46 titles that the series now comprises--is meant to be, in the publishers' have a title to words, "an authoritative study." Beyond the pleasure of seeing a broad variety of Barth's works reproduc in the pages of this monograph, the reader will find satisfy not just from various apts and critics, but from Barth herself. When all is said, it is an informative reflection that is very likely to satisfy its audience.

BRUNO CHALIFOUR is a freelance critic and photographer, educator and PhD candidate.

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