AAH News and Events
AAH Art Book Award 2009
The Editorial Board of The Art Book and the Association of Art Historians have great pleasure in announcing the winner of The Art Book Award 2009.
The award goes to:
Angaza Afrika: African Art Now
by Chris Spring, published by Laurence King Publishing, London, 2008.
Publisher: Laurence King
Author: Chris Spring
Editor: Donald Dinwiddie
Commissioning Editor: Kara Hattersley-Smith
Copy Editor: Anna Lethbridge
Designer: Studio8 Design
Production: Simon Walsh
Picture Researcher: Annalaura Palma
Reproduction by DL Repro Limited, London
Printed by C & C Offset, Shenzhen, China
The award aims to promote and acknowledge the best in art publishing by honouring the contributions and collaboration of the many different people involved in writing and publishing an outstanding illustrated art book.
Launched in 2007, The Art Book Award is unique in acknowledging the combined skills and imagination of the teams contributing to the publication of illustrated art books. All books reviewed annually in The Art Book over the year’s four issues are eligible for nomination and one winner is chosen from a shortlist.
Good art books have interesting texts but authors need publishers with the perception to realise that to be marketed in a very competitive world, manuscripts need to be turned into books that do justice, in their presentation, to the ideas expressed, and to the beauty and originality of the objects they discuss. Copy editors and proofreaders
turn manuscripts into text that is transformed into books by designers and printers. Effective reading and looking are facilitated by imaginative designers, alert to the dialogues between words and pictures, typography and paper, jacket and pages.
This year, The Art Book Award was made from a shortlist comprising five excellent, very different books: a visually engaging study of contemporary African art; a sumptuously illustrated historical study of grotesque ornamentation; a poignant and insightful exploration of the studio practice and image-making processes of Paula Rego; a meticulously researched study of the photographic work and ethnographic approach of Dorothea Lange; and a well-produced exhibition catalogue documenting European photomontage in the early twentieth century. Each book makes a fascinating contribution to its field, in which the quality of research and writing is complemented by the quality of presentation. Angaza Afrika, African Art Now was written by Chris Spring, curator of the Sainsbury African Galleries at the British Museum and author of many books on African art and culture. The book is a survey of contemporary art across the continent of Africa with an introductory essay and short informative commentaries on distinctively African practices, from tent-making in Cairo to creating kangas (printed cloths) and metalwork. The main part of the book has an alphabetically structured selection of works by over 60 artists, including some well-known African artists such as Sokari Douglas Camp and Pterona Morrison, now residing outside Africa. The clearly laid out texts are enhanced by the visually powerful imagery, which reflects the hybridity and vibrancy of African cultures and their diasporas. The editors of The Art Book believe that the 2009 shortlist draws attention to publications produced by a high standard of professional team effort. In Angaza Afrika, African Art Now we found a book of rare quality. The author, Chris Spring, and the editorial and production teams at Laurence King, deserve our warm congratulations and thanks for sharing their expertise with readers. Angaza Afrika, African Art Now meets our criteria by achieving an overall balance between:
• the quality of research and presentation of ideas
• readability (the use of reader-oriented language)
• production (in-house editing, copy editing, proofreading,
• typesetting and printing)
• text design and jacket design.
Judge's comment: Angaza Afrika, African Art Now provides a feast for the eye, matching extensive colour illustrations with clear, contemporary book design. With a wealth of information on lesser-known artists and practices, this book makes a much-needed and valuable addition to resources on the diverse visual cultures of Africa. All in all, an appealing and accessible publication which highlights the complexities, richness and vibrancy of contemporary African art.. For further comment on the award-winning book, see Marion Arnold’s original review in The Art Book, Vol 16, Issue 2, May 2009, pp. 38.40.
The Art Book Award 2009 shortlist comprised the winning publication and (in alphabetical order by author):
Lutz Becker, Cut and Paste: European Photomontage 1920-1945, Estorick Collection/Gangemi Editore
John McEwen, Paula Rego: Behind the Scenes, Phaidon
Anne Whiston Spirn, Daring to Look: Dorothea Lange’s Photographs and Reports from the Field, University of Chicago Press
Alessandra Zamperini, trans. Peter Spring, Ornament and the Grotesque:
Fantastical Decoration from Antiquity to Art Nouveau, Thames and Hudson