The ecstatic face of a disco dancer in Berlin; a rural panorama in Derry, where a country road has been made into a Pollock-like canvas of red, white and blue; an ashtray, framed by a lacy spray of blood in a Barcelona toilet. Paul Graham uses and abuses classic genres of photography - the portrait, the landscape, the still life - to map a cultural topography. His jewel-like colours and unsettling compositions reveal how social relations and political trauma are inscribed in the everyday. This book brings together for the first time all of Graham's successive series, from his journey along the A1 in Britain to intimate studies of Japan. Graham's work has been celebrated in exhibitions around the world, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Tate Britain, London.

Art historian Andrew Wilson has written extensively on contemporary European art and is the author of Gustav Metzger: Damaged Nature, Auto-Destructive Art. He charts the development of Graham's most significant series as defined by the journeys the artist has taken, weaving relations between an emerging aesthetic and the specifics of time and place. In the Interview, Paul Graham speaks with British artist Gillian Wearing, internationally renowned for her photographs and videos that explore the imaginary worlds of ordinary people. Focusing on a triptych from the New Europe series is the celebrated American writer Carol Squiers, Senior Editor at American Photo magazine and editor of The Critical Image: Essays on Contemporary Photography. In juxtaposition with this work, Graham has chosen texts by Japanese authors Kazuo Ishiguro and Haruki Murakami. A series of notes by the artist and an interview with Lewis Baltz provide further insight.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Format: Paperback
Size: 290 x 250 mm (11 3/8 x 9 7/8 in)
Pages: 160 pp
Illustrations: 120 illustrations
ISBN: 9780714835501

Andrew Wilson is an art historian, critic and curator living in London. He has been a regular contributor to Art Monthly since 1991 and Deputy Editor since 1997.

Gillian Wearing is an artist living in London. Winner of the 1997 Turner Prize, Wearing is internationally known for her video and photography based work. She is the subject of a monograph in Phaidon's Contemporary Artists series.

Carol Squiers is Curator at the International Center of Photography, New York. Fomerly Senior Editor at  American Photo (1990-2000), Squiers has contributed to numerous publications, including the New York Times, Artforum and Aperture.

"The perfect composition and intense colour of Graham's photographs create a social and cultural map for our times."—Marie Claire

"Phaidon's new volume capably summarizes Graham's career and analyses his creative strategies in intelligent and lucid essays."—Hot Shoe International

On the Contemporary Artists Series

"The boldest, best executed, and most far-reaching publishing project devoted to contemporary art. These books will revolutionize the way contemporary art is presented and written about."—Artforum

"The combination of intelligent analysis, personal insight, useful facts and plentiful pictures is a superb format invaluable for specialists but also interesting for casual readers, it makes these books a must for the library of anyone who cares about contemporary art."—Time Out

"A unique series of informative monographs on individual artists."—The Sunday Times

"Gives the reader the impression of a personal encounter with the artists. Apart from the writing which is lucid and illuminating, it is undoubtedly the wealth of lavish illustrations which makes looking at these books a satisfying entertainment."—The Art Book