Books by Adrienne Edwards

member: Pope.L, 1978–2001

by Naomi Beckwith, Danielle Jackson, Adrian Heathfield, Adrienne Edwards, André Lepecki, Malik Gaines, Martha Wilson, Thomas Lax, Mark Bessire, C. Carr, EJ Hill, Martine Syms

An absurdist provocateur and brilliant interventionist, Pope.L is a seditious force in contemporary American art
Pope.L is a consummate thinker and provocateur whose practice across multiple mediums―including painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, theater and video―utilizes abjection, humor, endurance, language and absurdity to confront and undermine rigid systems of belief. Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art that will feature a combination of videos, photographs, sculptural elements, ephemera and live actions, member: Pope.L, 1978–2001 presents a detailed study of 13 early works that helped define Pope.L’s career. Essays by curators, artists, filmmakers and art historians, plus an interview and artistic interventions by the artist, establish key details for each work and articulate how the artist continues to think about the legacy of these ephemeral projects unfolding in time.

Among the works included are performances rooted in experimental theater, such as Egg Eating Contest (1990), Aunt Jenny Chronicles (1991) and Eracism (2000), as well as street interventions such as Thunderbird Immolation a.k.a. Meditation Square Piece (1978), ATM Piece (1997) and The Great White Way: 22 miles, 9 years, 1 street (2001–09), among others. Together these works highlight the role that performance has played within a seditious, emphatically interdisciplinary career that has established Pope.L as an influential force in contemporary art.

Pope.L (born 1955) is an acclaimed and prolific interdisciplinary artist best known for his provocative performances, such as ATM Piece (1997) and his decades-long Crawl series―most notably Times Square Crawl (1978), Tompkins Square Crawl (1991) and The Great White Way: 22 miles, 9 years, 1 street (2001–09)―in which the artist drags his body across New York City. Pope.L received his MFA from the Mason Gross School of Arts at Rutgers University and has exhibited internationally. He lives and works in Chicago.

Adam Pendleton: Black Dada Reader

by Adrienne Edwards, Laura Hoptman, Tom McDonough, Jenny Schlenzka, Susan Thompson

Now available in paperback, Black Dada Reader is a collection of texts and documents that elucidates "Black Dada," a term that acclaimed New York–based artist Adam Pendleton (born 1984) uses to define his artistic output. The Reader brings a diverse range of cultural figures into a shared conceptual space, including Hugo Ball, W.E.B. Du Bois, Stokely Carmichael, LeRoi Jones, Sun Ra, Adrian Piper, Joan Retallack, Harryette Mullen, Ron Silliman and Gertrude Stein, as well as artists from different generations such as Ad Reinhardt, Joan Jonas, William Pope.L, Thomas Hirschhorn and Stan Douglas. It also includes essays on the concept of Black Dada and its historical implications from curators and critics, including Adrienne Edwards (Walker Arts Center/Performa), Laura Hoptman (MoMA), Tom McDonough (Binghamton), Jenny Schlenzka (PS122) and Susan Thompson (Guggenheim).

Adam Pendleton

by Adrienne Edwards, Andréa Picard, Alec Mapes-Frances

The first encompassing publication on the work of the American neo-conceptual artist Adam Pendleton

Adam Pendleton is a Virginia-born, New Yorkbased artist known for his multifaceted, language-based practice, which includes film, collage, painting, performance, and publishing. His re-contextualization of history often results in fresh interpretations of the present, where new and old narratives and meanings co-exist, as one of his main projects, Black Dada (2008-ongoing) testifies. Working predominantly in black-and-white, and often in collaboration with other artists, Pendleton's work constantly explores issues related to mechanisms of representation and notions of race.

Carrie Mae Weems: Kitchen Table Series

by Sarah Lewis, Adrienne Edwards

Kitchen Table Series is the first publication dedicated solely to this early and important body of work by the American artist Carrie Mae Weems. The 20 photographs and 14 text panels that make up Kitchen Table Series tell a story of one woman’s life, as conducted in the intimate setting of her kitchen. The kitchen, one of the primary spaces of domesticity and the traditional domain of women, frames her story, revealing to us her relationships―with lovers, children, friends―and her own sense of self, in her varying projections of strength, vulnerability, aloofness, tenderness and solitude. As Weems describes it, this work of art depicts "the battle around the family ... monogamy ... and between the sexes." Weems herself is the protagonist of the series, though the woman she depicts is an archetype. Kitchen Table Series seeks to reposition and reimagine the possibility of women and the possibility of people of color, and has to do with, in the artist’s words, "unrequited love."
Carrie Mae Weems (born 1953) is considered one of the most influential contemporary American artists. In a career spanning over 30 years, she has investigated family relationships, cultural identity, sexism, class, political systems and the consequences of power. Weems’ complex body of art employs photographs, text, fabric, audio, digital images, installation and video. Weems has received numerous awards, grants and fellowships, including the prestigious MacArthur "Genius" grant and the Prix de Roma. She is represented in public and private collections around the world, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Edges of Ailey

by Adrienne Edwards

A revelatory look at the life, work, and legacy of the legendary choreographer Alvin Ailey



"A rich, multitudinous window into the world of the choreographer Alvin Ailey. . . . It does everything but dance."--Leah Greenblatt, New York Times



Alvin Ailey is one of the most celebrated choreographers of the twentieth century. The creator of iconic works such as Blues Suite, Revelations, and Cry, he is widely recognized for the dance company he founded in 1958 when he was just twenty-seven years old. Ailey imagined and cultivated a platform for modern dance through his innovative repertoire, interdisciplinary sensibility, and support of dancers and choreographers. This expansive volume situates Ailey within a broader social, creative, and cultural context, looking at the artists who influenced and collaborated with him, the spaces and scenes he frequented, the dynamic themes within his dances, and how his vision and work changed contemporary dance.



Essays by artists, scholars, and critics cover topics ranging from the Black church, the South, and the Great Migration to nightclubs, musical influences, and queerness. With more than four hundred images including photographs of works Ailey choreographed, archival materials such as notebooks, sketches, letters, and never-before-published behind-the-scenes photos, and conversations about the legacy of the company with Sylvia Waters, Judith Jamison, and Masazumi Chaya as well as several contemporary dancers and scholars, this study offers an unprecedented full picture of one of the twentieth century's leading artists and the way his work continues to inspire today's generation of dancers.



Distributed for the Whitney Museum of American Art



Exhibition Schedule:



Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

(September 25, 2024-February 9, 2025)

Firescaping Your Home A Manual for Readiness in Wildfire Country

by Adrienne Edwards, Rachel Schleiger

"Destructive wildfires are becoming larger, hotter, and more frequent. Since 2000, an average of 7.1 million acres have burned across the US, more than double the average acreage that burned in the 1990s. At the same time, more people are choosing to live adjacent to fire-prone wildlands. There is currently no comprehensive guide to help homeowners minimize wildfire risks while optimizing the ecological integrity of wildland areas. Living in fire-prone landscapes should not mean that you must scrape all vegetation hundreds of feet away from structures. This book will empower readers to evaluate fire risks on their own property and take simple, actionable steps to mitigate them. The book will include specific recommendations, examples, and resources for planting and maintenance, making it an essential resource for western homeowners"--