More about Contemporary Artists Series

Phaidon’s Contemporary Artists Series is the longest-running book series dedicated to contemporary art. Launched in 1995, this year it celebrates its 30th anniversary and 100th artist monograph.

Described by Artforum as ‘the boldest, best executed, and most far-reaching publishing project devoted to contemporary art,’ the series features the greatest contemporary artists of our time – among them Mark Bradford, Cecily Brown, Rashid Johnson, KAWS, William Kentridge, Yayoi Kusama, Kerry James Marshall, Yoko Ono, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Nicolas Party, Adam Pendleton, Dana Schutz, Lorna Simpson, Frank Stella, Sarah Sze, Wolfgang Tillmans, and more – with contributions from leading critics, curators, and writers such as Okwui Enwezor, Massimiliano Gioni, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Claudia Rankine, Ralph Rugoff, Nancy Spector, and Robert Storr.

The Contemporary Artists Series was launched by Iwona Blazwick, at the time a commissioning editor for Phaidon, and later, Whitechapel Art Gallery director. The series’ unique editorial approach, which prioritizes a diverse variety of perspectives from multiple experts, includes a conversation with the artist, a long survey text, and a shorter focus text on a single body of work, in addition to artist’s writings, a studio visit, and a comprehensive chronology. Recent monographs in the series have featured the artists Shilpa Gupta, Cameron Jamie, and William Monk.