Books by Carol S. Eliel

Moholy-Nagy: Future Present

by Jennifer King, Matthew S. Witkovsky, Karole Vail, Carol S. Eliel

An unprecedented study of an important 20th-century artist and his diverse body of work

This exceptional book offers a fresh and extensive examination of the work of pioneering artist László Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946). The first major American survey of his oeuvre in nearly a half century and the most extensive English-language book on the artist in thirty years, the catalogue offers an integrated presentation of Moholy’s production across a range of art forms including painting, sculpture, photography, graphic design, film, advertising, and theater.

Distinguished scholars offer new insights into Moholy's materials and working methods; the relation among writing, administration, and art making in his practice; and his influence on contemporary art. Particular emphasis is given to Moholy's American years and his leadership of the Chicago Bauhaus as well as his reception as a painter.

Over 300 works are illustrated in color, including the artist's early paintings and photograms, his whimsical photomontages---all of which are reproduced together here for the first time---and late works in Plexiglas. Beautifully designed and produced, with a PVC plastic jacket printed on the inside and a foil stamped casewrap, the book is a marvelous tribute to this phenomenally innovative artist.

Light, Space, Surface Art from Southern California

by Carol S. Eliel

A definitive resource on California's Light and Space and Finish Fetish movements of the 1960s and '70s

Published with Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

This volume explores the art of Light and Space and related "finish fetish" pieces with highly polished surfaces. In the 1960s and 1970s, various artists in Southern California began to create works that investigate perceptual phenomena: how we come to understand form, volume, presence and absence through light, whether seen directly through other materials, reflected, or refracted. Many artists used newly developed industrial materials--including sheet acrylic, fiberglass and polyester resin--in their work. Light, Space, Surface draws on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's deep holdings of this material, revealing the vibrancy and diversity of this slice of American art history.
Artists include: Peter Alexander, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Judy Chicago, Gisela Colón, Ron Cooper, Mary Corse, Ronald Davis, Guy Dill, Laddie John Dill, Fred Eversley, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman, John McCracken, Bruce Nauman, Helen Pashgian, Roland Reiss, Roy Thurston, James Turrell, De Wain Valentine, Doug Wheeler and Norman Zammitt.