Kerouac. Beat Painting edited by Sandrina Bandera, Alessandro Castiglioni, Emma Zanella
A selection of paintings and drawings by Jack Kerouac, one of the literary icons of the 20th century.
This book features eighty paintings and drawings by Jack Kerouac—the majority published for the first time—that reveal the father of the “Beat Generation” in a completely new light.
The book takes a comprehensive look at Kerouac’s paintings, offering a unique opportunity to admire works which until now had only been exhibited in select museums, such as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and the ZKM in Karlsruhe.
A founding member of the “Beat Generation”, Jack Kerouac represented the literary and artistic current that first began to shake up the values of American society towards the end of the 1940s. His work subsequently arrived in Europe, where it spread quickly and was translated almost immediately.
Using everything from portraits of famous figures—including Joan Crawford, Truman Capote, Dody Muller and Cardinal Montini—to Beat culture references such as Robert Frank, Allen Ginsberg or William S. Burroughs, Kerouac. Beat Painting conveys the comprehensive identity that Kerouac squeezed into both his life and into every form of creative expression that he employed: literary works, painting, music, singing, poetry, and film.
A special focus is given to Kerouac’s labyrinthine creative process, as well as to his relationships with traditional American visual culture and with the masters of Art Informel and the New York School, whom he began to frequent in the latter half of the 1950s.
The book also explores Kerouac’s relationship with Italy, through a selection of photographs taken by Robert Frank and Ettore Sottsass of Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Sottsass’ wife Fernanda Pivano.
Authors Sandrina Bandera was superintendent of Milan and director of Brera Museum. She is president of Ma*Ga Fondazione Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. Alessandro Castiglioni is an art historian and curator. Emma Zanella is director of Ma*Ga.
Publication
September 2018
Length: 176 pages
Size: 6.5 x 9.5 in. (16,5 x 24 cm)
Illustrations: 87 colour
Binding: Hardcover
Price: £30.00 $39.95 US $50.00 CAN€34.00
ISBN: 978-88-572- 3779-4