Published November 2006:
TEXTASY
THE WORK OF BRODY NEUENSCHWANDER
With essays by Peter Greenaway, Karine Bouchy, Sieglinde Vanhaezebrouck and Barbara Baert, and an interview by Jan Middendorp.
TOOHCSMI publishers, Ghent.
Specifications:
Volume: 230 x 310 mm.
168 pages
Hard cover, linen with full-color printing and gold foil lettering
110 full-color illustrations
Printed on Zanders Ikono matt and Saville Row by Igepa Belux
Language: English
Design: Nej De Doncker, Antwerp
Printed in an edition of 2000 copies by Imschoot, Ghent
Price: 70 euros
To order, contact the artist at brody.n@skynet.be
or the publisher at www.imschoot.com
Brody Neuenschwander is one of the great writing masters of our time. He is also a tireless experimenter, who uses his virtuosity to make complex works of art that challenge the viewer to look, and read, and look again. Although he is an accomplished calligrapher, his work has little to do with the ‘beautiful writing' generally associated with that word. He has taken calligraphy into uncharted territory, where the writing is done on monumental walls, whitewashed layers of paper, or naked skin.
As a long-time collaborator of the controversial film director and artist Peter Greenaway, Brody Neuenschwander has created letterscapes for cinema, theatre and architecture. Working with Greenaway has allowed him to stretch the boundaries of calligraphy even further, exploring the possibilities of text in motion, and of writing as a filmed performance.
This book offers a twofold perspective on Brody Neuenschwander's work. It gives a pictorial overview of the collaborative projects with Peter Greenaway, to which Greenaway himself contributed a poignant essay. And it shows the best of Neuenschwander's fascinating collages on paper – his most intimate and personal work.
Collaborations with film director Peter Greenaway, written by Peter Greenaway, including images from Prospero’s Books (film), The Pillow Book (film), One Hundred Objects to Represent the World (installation in Vienna), Not Mozart (television program), Columbus (opera), Writing to Vermeer (opera), Bologna Towers 2000 (sound and light installation) and Writing on Water (sound and light installation).
CASANOVA: FRAGMENTS DE MÉMOIRES
Extracts from the writings of Giacomo Casanova with illustrations by
Brody Neuenschwander
100 pp. Half color. Soft cover. Éditions Alternatives, Paris.
This richly illustrated edition combines extracts from the writings of Casanova on life, love and the folly of man with newly made illustrations by Brody Neuenschwander.
U-TURN
A calligraphic collaboration between Brody Neuenschwander and Kader
Abdolah.
40 pp. plus DVD. Partial color. Hard cover. City of Antwerpen/ABC2004,
Belgium.
This beautifully designed book contains a DVD by Brody Neuenschwander and Kader Abdolah, made for the city of Antwerp. In 2004 Antwerp was the World Book Capital, and 26 artist/author pairs created projects around the 26 letters of the alphabet. U-Turn is one such collaboration, which took the form of a short calligraphic film. In it two pens engage in a dialogue over East-West issues, turning at the midpoint to give equal time to the two writing traditions.
THE CALLIGRAPHIC LINE
Thoughts on the Art of Writing by Hans-Joachim Burgert, translated by
Brody Neuenschwander.
180pp. Black and white photocopy. Burgert Handpresse, Berlin.
The best books often do not get published. Hans-Joachim Burgert’s fascinating study of the principles of calligraphy is a case in point. It is given a place in this bibliography because it is required reading for anyone interested in the esthetics and graphic theories of calligraphy.
Chapters include: Written Form as Remembered Form; Calligraphy and Function; Calligraphy and Text; The New Calligraphic Composition and more. Burgert’s point of view is hard to grasp at first, as it takes us back to the actual shapes of the letters and attempts to establish standards for judging the quality of those shapes. The writing systems of various cultures are considered in this search for good calligraphic forms.
The book can only be ordered by post from Professor Burgert. If you are interested please contact Brody Neuenschwander by email, mentioning Burgert as subject.
LOOKING AT THE SAME MOON
Modern Japanese and Western Calligraphy
120 pp. Full color. Soft cover. Exhibition catalogue. Museum of the Book,
The Hague, Netherlands.
This catalogue contains an essay by Brody Neuenschwander on the problematic place of calligraphy in modern western culture. The examples of work by western calligraphers are, ironically, far superior to the conservative Japanese calligraphy presented in the same exhibition.
LE JARDIN DES MOTS
Calligraphie en création contemporaine
160 pp. Full color. Hard cover. Éditions Alternatives, Paris.
A sumptuously illustrated tour of the ateliers of 25 European calligraphers and text artists, including Pierre Alechinsky, Brody Neuenschwande, Antoni Tapies, Shi Bo and Hassan Massoudy.
WRITTEN ON THE BODY
A Collaboration Between Peter Greenaway and Brody Neuenschwander.
12 page article by Karyn Gilman in Letter Arts Review, volume 12, number 4, 1996.
With handsome illustrations from Prospero’s Books and The Pillow Book.
LETTERWORK
Creative Letterforms in Graphic Design.
Text by Brody Neuenschwander, designed by David Quay and Leonard Currie.
160 pp. Full color. Hard cover. Phaidon Press, London.
A lavishly illustrated overview of handwritten, computer-generated, painted, sprayed, sculpted, faxed, found and photocopied letters. The premise of the book is that graphic designers need more than the fonts in their computers to produce exiting work. The chapters, which include the work of more than 160 designers, are:
- Conveying the Message
- Lettering as Image
- Lettering and Typography
- The Design of Letters
- New Directions
The book also includes a directory of lettering artists to assist graphic designers who wish to commission lettering for specific design projects.
The aim of LETTERWORK is to show the remarkably high standard being set by the best lettering artists and designers in the world today. From the classical and elegant calligraphic forms of Julian Waters to the sculptural purity of the work of Takenobu Igarashi to the dynamic television sequences of Margan Sendall, letterforms of the highest quality are being produced for graphic design.
The book went through three printings and reached graphic designers throughout the world.