Book of the Day: "The Sprawl" by Ed Templeton
From the publisher: "The word 'sprawl' is often coupled with the word 'urban' or 'suburban', as in 'suburban sprawl' which refers to the spreading of houses, apartments, office buildings and shopping centers on undeveloped land surrounding a densely populated city. Essentially, it is unrestricted growth over large expanses of land, with little concern for urban planning. Ed Templeton lives in one of these suburbs, Huntington Beach, which is part of the urban sprawl surrounding the cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles. As Templeton explains: 'It takes one hour of driving from LA to my house and it's non-stop cement and asphalt - continuous development.' Part of what drove this expansion in the 1950s and 60s was called 'white flight' - a term used to describe the mass migration of white people from cities to more distant suburbs as a response to the growing racial and ethnic diversity in urban areas post-desegregation. This is a sub-narrative setting a contextual framework for the specific mixture of modern beach culture and suburban sprawl that Templeton depicts in his work. The beach and the pier are popular places and bring together the religious zealots, surfers, and tourists alike. The endless blocks of tract housing surrounded by walls are ubiquitous in this area. These walls act like a theater backdrop in these new paintings. Templeton: 'My work over the last decade has been in direct dialogue with the people, the environment, and the architecture of this place I live.'" A brand new example of the 2024 first edition of this awesome, beutifully illustrated hardbound compendium from Tim Van Laere Gallery in Antwerp additionally SIGNED WITH A SMALL EYE DRAWING by The Tempster at Arcana in black ink on the title page. 174pp, profusely illustrated in color and b&w. Text in English, Dutch, French and Italian. Book of the Day!