Tim Hawkinson

This book is the first comprehensive survey of the work of Los Angeles-based artist Tim Hawkinson (b. 1960), whose ingenious constructions of found objects and everyday items have brought him widespread recognition as one of the most original sculptors working in America today. Accompanying an exhibition opening in February at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Tim Hawkinson provides an in-depth look at this prolific and endlessly creative artist. Known primarily for his large-scale kinetic and sound-producing works, such as the monumental Überorgan, Hawkinson has also created a bird skeleton from his own fingernail parings, a latex cast of his body inflated with air, and clocks fashioned from a Coke can, a manila envelope, and a toothpaste tube. His fantastical assemblages, which may include sculpture, painting, photography, drawing, or printmaking, suggest the profound strangeness of life, matter, and time. With 250 color illustrations and three insightful essays, along with the artist's commentary on more than 150 of his hugely varied works, Tim Hawkinson will prove a revelation to all those interested in contemporary art. AUTHOR BIO: Lawrence Rinder is adjunct curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art and dean of graduate studies at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco. He was the curator of the Whitney's 2002 Biennial, among other exhibitions. Howard N. Fox is curator of modern and contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He has organized numerous major exhibitions, including Avant-Garde in the Eighties and Eleanor Antin. Doug Harvey is an art critic and writer for LA Weekly.