Cahiers d'Art Institute Blog

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Lucas Samaras, Box #134, 1989. © 2017 Lucas Samaras. Photos courtesy Pace Gallery


Artifex Press is pleased to announce the publication of the Lucas Samaras: Boxes Catalogue Raisonné. This is the sixth catalogue raisonné published by Artifex Press, following those for Chuck Close, Jim Dine, Tim Hawkinson, Agnes Martin, and James Siena.

Lucas Samaras: Boxes is the definitive exploration of the artist’s iconic, mixed media series, a total of 295 artworks begun in the early 1960s. Samaras’s boxes delve into the subject of the self, allowing viewers access into the artist’s mind through personal and found objects or manipulated self-portraits, which are sometimes guarded by pins, razor blades, or broken glass. In addition, many works are distortions of the form of the box itself, with playful multi-colored appendages or constructions made entirely of chicken wire. Also included are related room-sized installations, such as the artist’s celebrated Mirrored Room (1966).

Lucas Samaras: Boxes contains vivid color photography of artworks, with images of both the open and closed states of boxes, and provides an extensive collection of primary source documents such as the artist’s note cards, notebooks, and drawings, plus archival photography from important exhibitions from the 1960s and 1970s. In addition, Artifex Press created a series of videos for the catalogue raisonné displaying the moving components of boxes in the round.

Lucas Samaras: Boxes was edited by Hannah Barton, who previously edited Artifex Press’s Tim Hawkinson catalogue raisonné. Barton is building upon work done by Vanessa Wildenstein, who inaugurated this catalogue in 2004 and has served as Consulting Editor. Access to the catalogue is through subscription.

Download the press release here, and visit our press page for other Artifex Press news.

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