THE ART OF VON DUTCH by Aaron Kahan, et al
Shortly after Kenneth Howard’s death in 1992, his daughters sold the rights to his name and logo—Von Dutch. And Von Dutch fashion was born, bringing the name to a more mainstream audience with celebrities even adorning the apparel. The Art of Von Dutch—even with its five-color printing and 1000 images—is not about fashioning hip wearables. It is, however, about fashioning pinstripes, guns, knives, as well as engraving, machining, sign painting and self-taught mechanical ability.

The book is about Kenneth Howard, the artist and possible “father of modern day pinstriping.” Howard became notorious for his two-handed pinstriping method and custom hot rod flames. The book glazes over the more controversial points of Howard’s life (such as his alcoholism, running from the law for possible manslaughter and racist attitudes) and places the focus on Howard’s artistic achievements, of which there are many, and the Southern Californiabased trend known as Kustom Kulture that he kick-started.

LA-based Tornado Design was invited to curate the Von Dutch gallery show at Cal State Northridge. The exhibition opened in 2002 and later traveled to Cal State Fullerton’s gallery. “We decided to do a catalog to document the exhibition,” says Jeff Smith, principal and creative director, who created and published The Art of Von Dutch. It “grew into a 5-lb. coffee table book as we began to acquire more and more imagery and stories. Four and a half years—and countless adventures with some very interesting characters—later our little ‘side project’ had practically consumed the studio.”

“Along with the regular hardcover book,” says Smith, “we produced a collector’s edition that came in a custom slipcase modeled after Dutch’s personal paint box. The real box just sold in a high-profile auction of his work for $310,500. The set also included an old-school water decal and a photo print by acclaimed photojournalist Barry Feinstein.” The collector’s edition sold out, and the book’s success has led Tornado to publish a second book, Rat Fink’s Revenge, on the art of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth.
$75, hardcover, 421 pages, Tornado Design

THE COLOR OF LOVE by Marielle Bancou
“The Color of Love is an arresting dialogue between a master painter and her favorite poets throughout the ages. Reading this book is a sacred act which might just change the way you read forever,” says poet Bryan Doerries. We couldn’t agree more. We would never throw out our beloved volumes of poems, stories and more simply because the words reside on paper aged to a pale yellow with still strong, though slowly fading, black type. But we may change our purchasing habits as Marielle Bancou’s amazing pages sway us to a new way to enjoy old favorites.

The Color of Love—originally created over 10 years ago as an extremely limited, silk-screened edition—is now being offered in a beautiful slipcased edition. Bancou sensuously paints each page, each word, each emotion. Caroline Cunningham of House & Garden Magazine says, “Marielle Bancou’s hand-painted books are works of art that are also physically irresistible—when you see them you need to touch them. … You want to wander through their pages, into the lyrical enchantment of color and words.”

Donne, Battista, Browne, Byron, Shelley, Joyce, Frost, St. Vincent Millay, Poe … and Bancou: These names and more grace the pages of The Color of Love. To make your collection complete, the publisher is also offering a limited-edition, hardcover edition ($250)—each copy with a piece of art signed by Bancou.
$85, hardcover, 96 pages, Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

SHEILA HICKS: WEAVING AS METAPHOR by Arthur C. Danto and Joan Simon
With every fiber, Sheila Hicks: Weaving as Metaphor is a book you must touch and hold, and one that will touch and hold you as well. Printed on a hefty, deckle-edged paper, the book provides readers with a unique tactile element.

Along with Irma Boom’s must-touch cover design, the book includes three in-depth essays: Arthur C. Danto, emeritus Johnsonian professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, analyzes the metaphorical uses Plato makes of weaving; Joan Simon, curator- at-large for the Whitney Museum of American Art, examines Hicks’ small format and its function as an essential aspect of her artistic production; and Nina Stritzler- Levine considers the specific design connections between the weavings and Hicks’ larger architectural works. The book also features commentaries by Hicks about the individual weavings, color photographs of all work in her exhibition of the same name as the book, and photographs, drawings and sketches that document her unique artistic and design practice.

“Although she is best known for her role in the international fiber revolution that transformed textiles into a 3D art during the 1960s … Sheila Hicks’ contribution extends far beyond that historical moment. This book examines a singular aspect of her practice, situating her small weavings in the context of philosophy and of contemporary art and design,” explain the authors in the book’s foreword. With their distinctive colors, thoughtful compositions and narrative, Hicks’ miniature creations reveal the emergence and continuity of the artist’s approach to her work. “I found my voice,” says Hicks, “and my footing in my small work. It enabled me to build bridges between art, design and architecture, and decorative arts.”
$45, hardcover, 415 pages, Yale Book

WORLDCHANGING: A USER’S GUIDE FOR THE 21st CENTURY edited by Alex Steffen
“The future, whether we like it or not, is imminent. It may be unprecedented in shape and structure, difficult to describe with the language of the past, but it will surely come to be, and we will see it. It won’t come flying in from outer space, phonily perfect and chrome plated; it will be a quotidian, functional, yet currently unimaginable thing. … ‘Worldchanging,’ the gerund-as-noun, is WorldChanging.com, a website, and the starting point for this worldchanging book. This book is the result of the thinking behind that website, which is a densely annotated creative engagement with the ongoing transformation of our planet,” says the introduction for Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century.

Let’s start off with How to Use This Book: “Changing the world is a team sport, and there’s a spot on that team for every person on the planet, though finding our spot can be damn hard. Learning what we can do is not easy in itself, but discovering what each of us feels called to do, in a way that only we can do it, is one of the hardest tasks life has to offer. In these times, the question ‘What will I do?’ is one of the toughest we may ever ask ourselves. Because the question is not easy, this book doesn’t offer easy answers. This book isn’t about lists of Ten Simple Things You Can Do. It’s about providing you with ideas for rethinking your own life and providing approaches to change.”

From home and work to technology, cities, community, business, politics and the planet, this book offers a myriad of steps ranging from small to grand that one can take on the road to improving our world. Each chapter is packed with useful tips like this one from the chapter “Using Energy Efficiently”: “Two new devices, the Kill A Watt and the Wattson, help make the invisible visible. Plug any appliance into the front of the Kill A Watt, plug the Kill A Watt into a wall outlet, and the system will show you how much power you’re using. The kilowatt-hour readout in combination with the time-used readout makes it easy to figure out which appliances should be at the top of the ‘must replace’ list.” Make this book a must-read for our must-change world.
$37.50, hardcover, 600 pages, Harry N. Abrams, Inc.