“Volume 1 focuses on my timeline, on the work I've done all along, parallel to the band and back to my early 20s.” —Michael Stipe
Volume 1 is the first in a series of publications presenting different aspects of Michael Stipe’s multifaceted artistic practice.
Volume 1 includes a focused presentation of 35 images, bringing together 37 years of Stipe’s practice of creating and collecting photographic materials, in addition to posing as a subject in the photographs of others. The book centers around his unconventional and deeply personal understanding of queerness, conflating figures in his own life with those in American history and popular culture. Throughout the book, the formal qualities of images often relate in a poetic or lyrical way, allowing for unlikely juxtapositions and connections to emerge between subjects. These relationships transcend logical associations between time, place and social structures.
Volume 1 is produced in collaboration with artist Jonathan Berger and designer Julian Bittiner.
As an undergraduate studio art major at the University of Georgia, Michael Stipe (born 1960) studied photography and painting before leaving school upon the formation of R.E.M., the band for which he served as frontman and singer/songwriter until its dissolution in 2011. The sensibility that he began to develop during his time as an art student transferred to the spectrum of his work for R.E.M., from art directing all graphic, video and stage design, to writing, composing and performance, and his iconoclastic personal style. Stipe’s visibility as a media figure in the popular culture of the 1980s and ‘90s left an indelible mark on the aesthetic trends of the time, many of which have trickled down to contemporary culture.
Featured image, captioned "Alexandru Constantin Schmidt (as Robert's Patti), Berlin apartment, 2014," is reproduced from 'Michael Stipe: Volume 1.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Gayletter
Jimmy Olney
Like a testament to an innate and unspoken connection between people, and above all, these photos are remarkably human. Stipe doesn’t appear as an alt-rock icon or artsy film producer in Volume I, but rather someone tender and knowing and very, very queer.
STATUS: Out of stock
Temporarily out of stock pending additional inventory.
Kurt Cobain, Patti Smith, Andy Warhol, William S. Burroughs, River Phoenix and Thurston Moore all make oblique appearances alongside other friends, family, self-portraits and found photographs in this 30-year collection of 32 photographs by, or selected by, Michael Stipe—who has been making art even longer than he's been making music. Featured image is captioned, "River asleep, West to east, Los Angeles to Athens, 1993." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 13 in. / 72 pgs / illustrated throughout. LIST PRICE: U.S. $45.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $60 ISBN: 9788862085915 PUBLISHER: Damiani AVAILABLE: 5/22/2018 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: Out of stock TERRITORY: NA LA
“Volume 1 focuses on my timeline, on the work I've done all along, parallel to the band and back to my early 20s.” —Michael Stipe
Volume 1 is the first in a series of publications presenting different aspects of Michael Stipe’s multifaceted artistic practice.
Volume 1 includes a focused presentation of 35 images, bringing together 37 years of Stipe’s practice of creating and collecting photographic materials, in addition to posing as a subject in the photographs of others. The book centers around his unconventional and deeply personal understanding of queerness, conflating figures in his own life with those in American history and popular culture. Throughout the book, the formal qualities of images often relate in a poetic or lyrical way, allowing for unlikely juxtapositions and connections to emerge between subjects. These relationships transcend logical associations between time, place and social structures.
Volume 1 is produced in collaboration with artist Jonathan Berger and designer Julian Bittiner.
As an undergraduate studio art major at the University of Georgia, Michael Stipe (born 1960) studied photography and painting before leaving school upon the formation of R.E.M., the band for which he served as frontman and singer/songwriter until its dissolution in 2011. The sensibility that he began to develop during his time as an art student transferred to the spectrum of his work for R.E.M., from art directing all graphic, video and stage design, to writing, composing and performance, and his iconoclastic personal style. Stipe’s visibility as a media figure in the popular culture of the 1980s and ‘90s left an indelible mark on the aesthetic trends of the time, many of which have trickled down to contemporary culture.
