A large volume, private exhibition of decadent classicism in contemporary photos. This unusual suite of photographs uses the poetic form of Sestina combined with other signature Stivers' elements: Romanticism, mysticism, Gothic and Baroque art, Symbolism and film. With a contemporary edge eerily recalling the past, the photos seem dredged up from a seance. Named after a complex French poetic form based upon repetition, the Sestina was practiced by Swinburne, Kipling and Auden, and transformed by Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and ...
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A large volume, private exhibition of decadent classicism in contemporary photos. This unusual suite of photographs uses the poetic form of Sestina combined with other signature Stivers' elements: Romanticism, mysticism, Gothic and Baroque art, Symbolism and film. With a contemporary edge eerily recalling the past, the photos seem dredged up from a seance. Named after a complex French poetic form based upon repetition, the Sestina was practiced by Swinburne, Kipling and Auden, and transformed by Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and Elizabeth Bishop. Here, John Woods' poetry illuminates Stivers' surreal imagery.
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Seller's Description:
New in New jacket. First edition, first and only printing. Limited edition of 25 numbered copies, signed in black ink on the half-title page by Stivers, in a deluxe clamshell box, with an original 14 x 11 inch toned gelatin print, "The Clearing" (also numbered and signed in pencil on verso by Stivers). Hardcover. Black cloth with title debossed on front cover, with photographically illustrated dust jacket. Photographs by Robert Stivers. Text by John Wood. Designed by Jack Woody. 44 pp., with 28 four-color reproductions. 20 x 16 inches. Out of print. Scarce. New. From Robert Stivers: "I believe it is the true nature of photography not necessarily to document, but to alter or transform the scene or event--whether contrived or not--into a personal alternate reality." From the publisher: "'The world according to Robert Stivers is an anxious place in which vision of all is impaired, and in which no one, introvert or extrovert, can immediately feel entirely comfortable or secure...' A.D. Coleman. Robert Stivers' photographs hover somewhere between the realms of representation and the actual. Objects, bodies, other works of art and nature all serve as raw materials; his pictures are his vision. There are diverse and sundry elements that have always infused Stivers' work; Romanticism, mysticism, Gothic and Baroque art, Symbolism and film, as well as architecture, dance and design. All of these hold a place of value in Stivers' creative arsenal. But although many of his photographs seem to borrow or relate to earlier periods of culture and art, Stivers is resolutely of the moment, of the here and now, inflecting his pictures with a contemporary edge that eerily recalls the past, dredged up as if in a séance. This is what gives his imagery such power over the viewer. We recognize ourselves in the photographs--if only for a second, before the mind continues to wander through the decadent layers of his work. Published in an unusually large volume that is 20 x 16 inches in size, the viewer confronts the photographs as if in a private exhibition. In Sestina, Stivers has reached one of the pinnacle moments of his career, composing photographs of lasting beauty that will resonate for all time. It is a unique book and vision that viewers will not want to miss." Signed by Author.
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Seller's Description:
Good. Heavy scuffing/dust wear to jacket. General shelf wear. Pages/boards clean, binding sturdy. Very Clean Copy-Over 500, 000 Internet Orders Filled.
