Richard Artschwager ― Into the Desert

Richard Artschwager: Into The Desert is the first Artschwager monograph that focuses exclusively on the artist’s drawings, and their intimate and influential relationship on Artschwager’s practice as both a painter and a sculptor.

Artschwager is most known for his use of painting and sculpture in exploring Pop art, conceptual art, Minimalism and even Surrealism, however drawing as a practice was always close to Artschwager’s heart and integral to his work. Artschwager, believing himself to be a poor draftsman, returned to study drawing in his seventies, and it is this later period of the artist’s practice that Into The Desert hones in on.

Featuring works produced between 2003 and 2012 alongside archival imagery or Artschwager at work in his studio, this ambitious new book contextualises Artschwager’s drawings using detail shots, images of his paintings and works from much earlier in his career. The book is prefaced by an introductory text by leading American art writer and critic John Yau, who has written extensively on Artschwager’s work and is something of an authority on the artist’s practice.

John Yau is an American poet, art writer, critic and theorist. He received his BA from Bard College in 1972 and his MFA from Brooklyn College in 1978. He has published over 50 books on a variety of subject including art, design and poetry.