{"title":"Books by Alastair Gordon","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781789742367","title":"Why Art Matters – A Call for Christians to Create","description":"In a world of turmoil, art matters more than ever. Art can bring about  political action, even social revolution. Art reminds us of the things  that really matter. It lifts our eyes to eternity and show us the  importance of the here and now. With illustration from  contemporary art and reference to theatre and film, this book shows the  importance of art for all, not just the professionals. Creativity helps  humans to flourish and reflects the character of a creative God. This is a book to return to time and again for inspiration and encouragement. Illustrated by author Alastair Gordon, Why Art Matters encourages us to embrace creativity at home, church, in play and professionally in the creative arts and industries.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56306735874421,"sku":"9781789742367","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781789742367_691070c6-a4fb-4794-b873-1a1b1eacbdeb.jpg?v=1786034538"},{"product_id":"9781910221488","title":"Alastair Gordon – Quodlibet","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlastair Gordon (b.1978, Edinburgh), is an artist based in London.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis, the first major monograph of the artist’s career, includes over 160 paintings, drawings and documentational photographs, along with notes by Gordon himself. The book introduces this accomplished and engaging new voice in British painting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGordon’s paintings bring the historic languages of genre painting and the quodlibet into a contemporary discourse that pushes the boundaries of realism, figuration and illusionism to focus on everyday moments. His work often elevates seemingly ordinary objects – feathers, matchsticks, postcards – allowing them to speak to wider concerns of beauty, truth, life and death. The documented works, produced between 2012 and 2023, include paintings made in oil or acrylic on MDF, wood, ‘found’ wood, gesso panel, paper, canvas and occasionally linen. Each is distinctive for its style and for the recurring motifs Gordon selects such as masking tape, paper ephemera and repeated, subtly different studies of the same subject.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGordon’s texts describe how objects found mud larking on the banks of the River Thames, shoes from the London City Mission and rags and papers discarded from art students’ studios have been depicted in paintings, incorporating the histories and stories of each item (and each person) into his work. The book also features recent works influenced by rural landscapes and parkland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn introduction by Julia Lucero, Associate Director of Nahmad Projects, London, emphasises the importance of nature and of meditation within Gordon’s practice. Specifically, Lucero brings out the idea of the ‘axis mundi, that metaphysical and mystical connecting point where heaven meets Earth’. She explores the significance of quodlibet, a seventeenth-century trompe-l’oeil painting technique that Gordon favours, rendering brushstrokes invisible and affording everyday objects new significance, even ‘profound value’. Humble objects such as a matchstick or paper aeroplane might be elevated to the realms of the divine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn essay by Jorella Andrews, Professor of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, describes the influence of Gordon’s time on a research residency in the former studio of Paul Cézanne at Les Lauves on the outskirts of Aix-en-Provence. His experiences there proved pivotal to the direction of his practice, in which both the ‘visual misdirection’ of quodlibet and the qualities of wood have become central. Andrews brings art historical texts and works of art into relation with Gordon’s paintings, making comparisons between subject, form and approach. Andrews’ text further details the recent synthesis of two sides of Gordon’s work: precise illusionism combined with looser observations made in the natural landscape. Edited by Alastair Gordon Studio, designed by Herman Lelie, printed by EBS Verona and published in 2023 by Anomie Publishing, London, the publication has been generously supported by Howard and Roberta Ahmanson through Fieldstead and Company.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlastair Gordon (b. 1978, Edinburgh) is an artist working with painting, drawing and installation, based in London. Gordon received his BA from Glasgow School of Art and his MA from Wimbledon School of Art, London. His work has been shown in recent solo exhibitions at Ahmanson Gallery in Irvine, California (2017), Aleph Contemporary, London (Quodlibet (2021) and Without Borders (2020)) and in the group exhibition Unpacking Gainsborough (2021) at Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308464419189,"sku":"9781910221488","price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781910221488_1ee7a71b-6b33-43c1-8bf7-cb5838607138.jpg?v=1786029632"},{"product_id":"9780847862825","title":"Theater of Shopping","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis lavishly illustrated book celebrates one of the most influential and successful retail centers in the world, from its opening in 1965--when it changed the retail landscape by inviting European designers such as Gucci and Valentino to open stores within a shopping mall--until the present day.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTheater of Shopping\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of retail visionary Stanley Whitman and the creation of Bal Harbour Shops, the most successful luxury fashion shopping center in the world*, and one of the last family-owned malls in America. Written by critically acclaimed author Alastair Gordon, \u003ci\u003eTheater of Shopping\u003c\/i\u003e is a cultural history of both a place and a personal legacy. The open-air mall opened in 1965 as a pedestrian-friendly environment that turned shopping into a kind of theatrical event, while featuring the work of young design talents like Valentino, Versace, Mugler, de La Renta, and other foreign designers who were unknown in America before first showcasing their collections at Bal Harbour Shops. The text weaves together fashion, luxury commerce, architecture, landscape design, urban development, and family history, to create a highly readable narrative illustrated with more than 300 images including never-before-published drawings, plans and photographs by renowned photographers including Richard Avedon and Ezra Stoller.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311974723957,"sku":"9780847862825","price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780847862825_cf5a4a1a-2407-420e-a2b1-244e9ac04144.jpg?v=1786016143"},{"product_id":"9781797241845","title":"Weekend Utopia Revised and Expanded Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn expanded new edition of this fascinating and lavishly illustrated landmark volume offers a guided tour of Hamptons history and the architects and personalities—artists and designers, eccentrics and dreamers—who transformed this once-sleepy rural outpost to the high-powered resort it is today.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eWeekend Utopia \u003c\/i\u003ebrings to vivid life a century in the architectural and social history of the East End.”   \u003cbr\u003e– Best Books of 2001,\u003ci\u003e New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Hamptons have long served as a release valve for the urban pressures of New York City. \u003ci\u003eWeekend Utopia\u003c\/i\u003e traces the competitive, often humorous, and always compelling development of this incandescently beautiful but maddeningly self-conscious seaside paradise. Journalist and critic Alastair Gordon looks behind the hype of this charmed seaside realm to reveal the true legacy of the Hamptons as an incubator of cutting-edge art, architecture, and lifestyle that has helped to redefine the very notion of American leisure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis revised edition includes never-before-seen images and newly researched stories, an updated introduction, and an extensive new concluding chapter that brings the narrative into the present, demonstrating how the region's modernist legacy continues to influence and inspire the East End architecture and culture of today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShowcasing the artistic and architectural innovations of the Hamptons from the 1920s to the current day, \u003ci\u003eWeekend Utopia \u003c\/i\u003eranges from the country clubs of the Social Register elite to the experimental houses and studios of avant-garde artists like Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell to the daring beachfront homes designed by the likes of Peter Blake, Andrew Geller, Philip Johnson, and George Nelson. An ideal gift for Hamptonites, architecture buffs, and beach lovers alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION: The celebrated original edition of \u003ci\u003eWeekend Utopia\u003c\/i\u003e helped ignite the nationwide passion for midcentury modern. Gordon’s update expands the visuals and includes new anecdotes and projects to bring the content up to the present.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED: The sumptuous coffee table book includes more than 420 color and black-and-white images, including sketches, architectural drawings, and photographs—many by the leading photographers of midcentury modernism.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eINSIDE LOOK: Thoroughly researched by critic and journalist Alastair Gordon, who has deep ties to the region and interviewed many of its prominent figures, this is a true insider’s perspective on the architecture, design, and stories behind the singular allure of the Hamptons.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePerfect for:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArchitects and design historians\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCollectors and fans of modern design\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHomeowners and visitors to the Hamptons, and all those who are drawn to its glamour\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLong Island history buffs\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56369184440693,"sku":"9781797241845","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781797241845_a08e5338-e141-4d41-a61a-dfd32dbbea66.jpg?v=1786026734"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-alastair-gordon.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}