Susan Tallman Knihy

For nearly two decades Parkett has been the leading international journal on contemporary art. Its in-depth presentations on artists have become the standard for criticism and analysis, and being selected to be in Parkett is considered an honor for contemporary artists worldwide. More than 100 artists have collaborated with Parkett on both the journal's content and the production of special art editions made available to the readers of Parkett. In this new catalogue raisonne, each of the 120 artists' editions are fully documented and reproduced in full color. Along with the editions, this volume also pays tribute to the many authors who have written texts for Parkett by providing a complete index of their contributions, and it reproduces each Parkett cover, now more than 60, in full color. Deborah Wye, a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, writes an essay looking at the various methods of collaboration between Parkett and the artists, including the editions, inserts, spines, covers, and design of the publication. Susan Tallman explores the diversity and richness of the artists' editions through the years. This book coincides with the exhibition Collaborations with Parkettt: 1984 to Now, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in the spring of 2001.

A true gift is intimate. It is a carrier of meaning that involves the capacity to amuse, delight, and identify empathically with our recipient's desires. This exceptional artwork by New York-based conceptual artist Barbara Bloom, entitled Gifts, explores the nature of gifts in relation to aspects such as wrapping, covering and uncovering, pleasure, and generosity. Gifts consists of a unique linen box containing eight different giftwrap papers, designed by Bloom. It also includes a special edition of the book Gifts, with text by Susan Tallman. A passionate collector of ornamental paper from all over the world, Bloom has studied the history and aesthetics of gift-wrapping in detail. In Gifts, she tries to blur the conventional distinction between art and life, whilst offering new insights on notions of concealment and revelation. "Can the box be an artwork? Can the wrapping be the gift?" - she questions her readers. Bloom's work has been shown internationally, including exhibitions at the Venice Biennale and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gifts is both a unique collector's item and a further step in the artist's personal investigation into the world of objects.