Francis Alÿs’s photograph of a walk with his edition for Parkett 69 in Mexico City. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Francis Alÿs’s photograph of a walk with his edition for Parkett 69 in Mexico City. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Selected Parkett Editions 1984-2017
Parkett was a unique international voice in contemporary art publishing from 1984 to 2017. The publication, whose early slogan was “Parkett is for keeps,” was meant to be collected, displayed, and read often. Its 101 volumes were devoted to monographic artist “portraits”: three to five texts about a single artist by renowned authors and curators. Featured artists were invited to contribute to the book’s design and content and to create a special artwork in the medium of their choice.
This online presentation coincides with a group exhibition of the same name at David Zwirner’s 20th Street location in New York, on view June 30–August 5, which features work by more than forty artists created in collaboration with Parkett. The exhibition honors the legacy of Parkett’s publisher and cofounder, Dieter von Graffenried, who passed away in December 2021. Here, we highlight some of the captivating stories behind the making of the editions and the history of Parkett.
- TOMMA ABTS
- FRANCIS ALŸS
- NAIRY BAGHRAMIAN
- JOHN BALDESSARI
- LOUISE BOURGEOIS
- CAROL BOVE
- MARLENE DUMAS
- KATHARINA FRITSCH
- RASHID JOHNSON
- YAYOI KUSAMA
- SHERRIE LEVINE
- BRUCE NAUMAN
- MERET OPPENHEIM
- LAURA OWENS
- NICOLAS PARTY
- CHARLES RAY
- JASON RHOADES
- BRIDGET RILEY
- JOSH SMITH
- ANDY WARHOL
- FRANZ WEST
- JORDAN WOLFSON
- CHRISTOPHER WOOL
- PARKETT INSERTS
Francis
Alÿs
Two children, each with a Francis Alÿs Ghetto Collector, walking through the streets of Zurich, 2003. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Two children, each with a Francis Alÿs Ghetto Collector, walking through the streets of Zurich, 2003. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
For Parkett 69, Alÿs created a series of sculptures—individual dogs made of tin, magnets, string, and rubber wheels—that relate to the artist’s 1990–1992 performance piece entitled The Collector, in which he walked the streets of Mexico City pulling a small magnetic toy dog behind him.
The toy collected metallic objects and urban debris, such as bottle caps and scraps of metal, creating a souvenir of his walk through the city.
“After three days people started talking about the crazy gringo walking around with his magnetized dog, but after seven days, the story, the anecdote, had remained even though the characters were gone. That’s how I started developing the idea of introducing tales and fables into a place’s history at a particular moment of its local history.”
—Francis Alÿs
Francis Alÿs, Collectors, 2006. © Francis Alÿs. Photo © Tate
Francis Alÿs, Collectors, 2006. © Francis Alÿs. Photo © Tate
Sherrie
Levine
Sherrie Levine’s exhibition at 3 Mercer Gallery in 1977, where pairs of shoes sold out immediately. Levine later learned Roberta Smith and Paul Schimmel each bought a pair.
Sherrie Levine’s exhibition at 3 Mercer Gallery in 1977, where pairs of shoes sold out immediately. Levine later learned Roberta Smith and Paul Schimmel each bought a pair.
This work, created in collaboration with an Italian shoemaker, is based on a ready-made pair of shoes that Levine exhibited in 1977 in her first solo show in New York. For the exhibition, seventy-five pairs of children’s shoes, which the artist had bought at a thrift shop, were arranged on a table in a storefront gallery in SoHo and offered for sale.
Sherrie Levine
Two Shoes, 1992
Pair of brown leather children's shoes
Two (2) shoes, each: 6 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches (16.5 x 6.3 x 6.3 cm)
Levine’s edition for Parkett is a tongue-in-cheek comment on the porous distinction between commercial commodities and collectibles, as well as on the artist as entrepreneur.
“In the early seventies... I lived in Berkeley and taught in the area.... I used to stop at a thrift shop on my way home. One day I went in and saw a carton of seventy-five pairs of little black shoes for fifty cents a piece. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.... And when I moved to New York in 1975, I had nothing but a suitcase and this carton of shoes.”
—Sherrie Levine
Jason
Rhoades
One of eleven snapshots included in Bottle Pumpkin from Perfect World, 2000. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
One of eleven snapshots included in Bottle Pumpkin from Perfect World, 2000. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Rhoades’s edition for Parkett 58 includes a hand-painted gourd with seeds, a backpack, eleven photographs, and one cylindrical cardboard container that serves as both the gourd’s storage box and its display pedestal.
The gourds were grown in Rhoades’s parents’ garden, and some of the photographs—which are tucked into each backpack—show his parents hand-painting them.
One of eleven snapshots included in Bottle Pumpkin from Perfect World, 2000. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY, and The Estate of Jason Rhoades
One of eleven snapshots included in Bottle Pumpkin from Perfect World, 2000. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY, and The Estate of Jason Rhoades
One of eleven snapshots included in Bottle Pumpkin from Perfect World, 2000. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY, and The Estate of Jason Rhoades
One of eleven snapshots included in Bottle Pumpkin from Perfect World, 2000. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY, and The Estate of Jason Rhoades
One of eleven snapshots included in Bottle Pumpkin from Perfect World, 2000. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY, and The Estate of Jason Rhoades
One of eleven snapshots included in Bottle Pumpkin from Perfect World, 2000. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY, and The Estate of Jason Rhoades
This multiple unpacks to stack into a homegrown Brâncuși sculpture complete with pedestal. (A bottle in a valise, this multiple stands as a reminder of one of Duchamp’s bigger business ventures, acting as an agent for his friend Brâncuși’s work in New York.)
—Ingrid Schaffner, curator
Katharina
Fritsch
Katharina Fritsch recently received the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale for her life’s work. The image shows her work Elephant, 1987, in The Milk of Dreams, the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, 2022. For her Parkett edition, she created a representation of an apple, which she hand-finished with matte paint. Photo by Riccardo Bianchini/Alamy Stock Photo
Katharina Fritsch recently received the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale for her life’s work. The image shows her work Elephant, 1987, in The Milk of Dreams, the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, 2022. For her Parkett edition, she created a representation of an apple, which she hand-finished with matte paint. Photo by Riccardo Bianchini/Alamy Stock Photo
Jordan
Wolfson
Jordan Wolfson, Colored sculpture, 2016. Photo by Dan Bradica
Jordan Wolfson, Colored sculpture, 2016. Photo by Dan Bradica
Jordan Wolfson
Untitled, 2017
Nine-color screenprint on Yupo paper
27 3/8 x 19 3/8 inches (69.5 x 49.2 cm)
Charles
Ray
Charles Ray’s cover for Parkett 37 (detail). Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Charles Ray’s cover for Parkett 37 (detail). Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Charles Ray
The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, 1993
A set of nine (9) unique color snapshots of Tatjana Patitz
Each: 4 x 6 inches (10.2 x 15.2 cm)
An image from Charles Ray’s Parkett edition. Notably, no two sets of photographs are alike as each edition is comprised of nine distinct images Ray captured. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY, and the artist
An image from Charles Ray’s Parkett edition. Notably, no two sets of photographs are alike as each edition is comprised of nine distinct images Ray captured. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY, and the artist
Ray describes and draws his suggested layout for the cover of Parkett 37. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles; Ray’s cover for the issue, featuring supermodel Tatjana Patitz, who also appears in the unique photographs of Ray’s edition The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, 1993. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY and Luma Living Archives, Arles
Ray describes and draws his suggested layout for the cover of Parkett 37. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles; Ray’s cover for the issue, featuring supermodel Tatjana Patitz, who also appears in the unique photographs of Ray’s edition The Most Beautiful Woman in the World, 1993. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY and Luma Living Archives, Arles
Each work in Ray’s edition consists of a specific grouping of nine unique snapshots of German supermodel Tatjana Patitz, who also appeared on his cover for Parkett 37.
Ray designed the cover using the tropes of the fashion magazine, recalling the glossy, highly stylized photographs of the era. His edition features intimate snapshots of Patitz, showing her seemingly without professional styling as she lounges at home, subverting the standards of beauty and glamour of the time.
Rashid
Johnson
Rashid Johnson in his studio in Brooklyn, 2011. Photo by Todd Heisler/The New York Times/Redux
Rashid Johnson in his studio in Brooklyn, 2011. Photo by Todd Heisler/The New York Times/Redux
Rashid Johnson
I Love Music, 2012
Cast bronze
9 3/4 x 7 5/8 x 1/2 inches (24.8 x 19.4 x 1.3 cm)
I should tell you that no publication has had a more significant effect on me as an artist .... Thank you for all you’ve done.
—Rashid johnson
Carol
Bove
Carol Bove’s edition relates to a body of sculptural works and installations she made in the 2000s that employ materials spanning books, driftwood, peacock feathers, metal, concrete, foam, coral, and, in some cases, works by other artists. Carol Bove, La Traversée Difficile, 2008
Carol Bove’s edition relates to a body of sculptural works and installations she made in the 2000s that employ materials spanning books, driftwood, peacock feathers, metal, concrete, foam, coral, and, in some cases, works by other artists. Carol Bove, La Traversée Difficile, 2008
Tomma
Abts
Tomma Abts, Weet, 2006 (detail)
Tomma Abts, Weet, 2006 (detail)
Tomma Abts
Untitled (Uto), 2008
Archival pigment print on Angelica paper mounted on Sintra in custom frame
19 3/4 x 15 7/8 inches (50.2 x 40.3 cm)
Yayoi
Kusama
Yayoi Kusama, Horse Play, 1967, performance, Woodstock, New York. Featured in Parkett 59. © YAYOI KUSAMA
Yayoi Kusama, Horse Play, 1967, performance, Woodstock, New York. Featured in Parkett 59. © YAYOI KUSAMA
Yayoi Kusama
Infinity Nets, 2000
Silkscreen on mirror
10 x 8 1/4 x 1/8 inches (25.4 x 21 x 0.3 cm)
Detail of Infinity Nets, 2000
Detail of Infinity Nets, 2000
Kusama’s edition brings together two of the artist’s central motifs: Infinity Nets and mirrors.
The silkscreen on mirror, created for Parkett 59 and designed to be similar in dimensions to a Parkett volume, combines Kusama’s celebrated motifs and materiality in work that is uniquely domestic in scale.
Meret
Oppenheim
Man Ray, Erotique voilée, 1933–1980 (detail). © Man Ray Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Man Ray, Erotique voilée, 1933–1980 (detail). © Man Ray Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Meret Oppenheim
Glove, 1985
Two (2) goat suede gloves with silkscreen and hand-stitching
5 5/8 x 3 1/2 inches (14.3 x 8.9 cm)
In 1985, Oppenheim collaborated with Parkett on a limited-edition pair of gloves, realizing a design she had first conceived in 1936 while working as a designer for Elsa Schiaparelli, the haute couture designer known for her playful surrealist garments.
The sky-blue goat-suede gloves feature red veins in both hand-stitched embroidery and silkscreen, metaphorically turning the hands of the wearer inside out.
Meret Oppenheim with her edition. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Meret Oppenheim with her edition. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Oppenheim adapted her designs for Glove from sketches she made while working for fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli in Paris on a line of surrealist gloves, realizing specifically a design she made in 1936 (the same year she created her iconic fur-lined teacup, saucer, and spoon). A sketch from 1984 in which the artist outlines her glove project with written words for Parkett 4. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Oppenheim adapted her designs for Glove from sketches she made while working for fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli in Paris on a line of surrealist gloves, realizing specifically a design she made in 1936 (the same year she created her iconic fur-lined teacup, saucer, and spoon). A sketch from 1984 in which the artist outlines her glove project with written words for Parkett 4. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Oppenheim signing her finished glove edition. The artist worked on the edition with Parkett magazine cofounder Bice Curiger, who was also Oppenheim’s biographer and the author of her catalogue raisonné. Each individual glove is signed in black ink on the interior. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Oppenheim signing her finished glove edition. The artist worked on the edition with Parkett magazine cofounder Bice Curiger, who was also Oppenheim’s biographer and the author of her catalogue raisonné. Each individual glove is signed in black ink on the interior. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Meret Oppenheim, Glove, 1985
Meret Oppenheim, Glove, 1985
Christopher
Wool
Works in progress in Christopher Wool’s studio, 2018. Photo by Stephen Shore
Works in progress in Christopher Wool’s studio, 2018. Photo by Stephen Shore
Christopher Wool
2008, 2008
Two-color silkscreen on Dur-O-Tone Newsprint paper
Image: 32 1/4 x 24 1/8 inches (81.9 x 61.3 cm)
Sheet: 38 x 25 inches (96.5 x 63.5 cm)
Sheet: 38 x 25 inches (96.5 x 63.5 cm)
Josh
Smith
Josh Smith in his studio with his Parkett edition, 2009. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Josh Smith in his studio with his Parkett edition, 2009. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Josh Smith
Parkett Book Collage, 2009
Ink wash and collage on wood panel mounted on insulation board, two sided
23 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 1 inches (60 x 45 x 2.5 cm)
I LOVE TO THINK OF PARKETT THE WAY FRANZ (WEST) MAY HAVE, WHICH IS AS A SHARP COLLECTION OF IMAGES, THOUGHTS, AND IDEAS SITTING QUIETLY ON A SHELF (FRANZ’S SHELF).… THAT’S THE WAY I EXPERIENCE IT. I WILL ALWAYS BE HONORED TO HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN PARKETT WITH SO MANY GREAT ARTISTS AND WRITERS.
—JOSH SMITH
Franz
West
Franz West in his bedroom with a slightly larger version of a bookshelf in the form and style of his edition for Parkett, which he created for the twentieth anniversary volume of Parkett in 2004 and designed to hold a complete set of Parkett volumes. Photo: akg-images/IMAGNO/Didi Sattmann, 2006
Franz West in his bedroom with a slightly larger version of a bookshelf in the form and style of his edition for Parkett , which he created for the twentieth anniversary volume of Parkett in 2004 and designed to hold a complete set of Parkett volumes. Photo: akg-images/IMAGNO/Didi Sattmann, 2006
John
Baldessari
John Baldessari on the cover of Parkett 29 alongside Cindy Sherman. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
John Baldessari on the cover of Parkett 29 alongside Cindy Sherman. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
John Baldessari
Six Colorful Expressions (Frozen), 1991
Eight-color photographic screenprints on porcelain enamel steel plate
10 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 1/8 inches (26.7 x 11.4 x 0.3 cm)
Bruce
Nauman
Bruce Nauman’s twelve-monitor installation Violent Incident on view at Tate Modern, London, 2017
Bruce Nauman’s twelve-monitor installation Violent Incident on view at Tate Modern, London, 2017
Bruce Nauman
Violent Incident—Man-Woman Segment, 1986
Videotape, color, sound, 30 min
Violent Incident—Man-Woman Segment derives from Nauman’s twelve-monitor video installation Violent Incident (1986), in the collection of Tate, United Kingdom.
Featuring one of the segments from the larger video installation, the plot centers on a prank that goes awry as a man pulls the chair out from under his female dinner companion, leading to an escalating series of violent interactions. Significantly, the work coincides with Nauman’s return to video—an important medium for the artist—after an almost fifteen-year hiatus.
Marlene
Dumas
Marlene Dumas’s watercolor on the cover of Parkett 100/101, the final volume of the publication. Dumas created thirty-five unique handmade works on paper that pay homage to the legacy of Parkett. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Marlene Dumas’s watercolor on the cover of Parkett 100/101, the final volume of the publication. Dumas created thirty-five unique handmade works on paper that pay homage to the legacy of Parkett. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Marlene Dumas
Art is/Always/Having to say/Goodbye, 2017
Indian ink on Arches paper mounted on cardboard
Sheet: 9 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches (24.6 x 21 cm)
Mount: 18 x 14 1/2 inches (45.7 x 36.8 cm)
Mount: 18 x 14 1/2 inches (45.7 x 36.8 cm)
A letter from Marlene Dumas to Parkett, printed in no. 100/101. She poetically reflects on her art, her life, and her connection to the publication. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
A letter from Marlene Dumas to Parkett, printed in no. 100/101. She poetically reflects on her art, her life, and her connection to the publication. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Louise
Bourgeois
Detail from Louise Bourgeois’s cover for Parkett 27. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Detail from Louise Bourgeois’s cover for Parkett 27. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Louise Bourgeois
The Maternal Man, 2008
Archival dyes printed on cloth with hand-stitched initials
10 1/2 x 8 inches (26.7 x 20.3 cm)
Nicolas
Party
Nicolas Party, Portrait with Cat, 2016 (detail). Photo by Isabelle Arthuis. Courtesy the artist and Xavier Hufkens
Nicolas Party, Portrait with Cat, 2016 (detail). Photo by Isabelle Arthuis. Courtesy the artist and Xavier Hufkens
Nicolas Party
Cat’s Head, 2017
Bronze
2 3/8 x 2 x 1 1/2 inches (6 x 5.1 x 3.8 cm)
Andy
Warhol
Andy Warhol’s cover for Parkett 12. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Andy Warhol’s cover for Parkett 12. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Andy Warhol
Photo Edition for Parkett, 1987
Four (4) machine-sewn photographs in parchment cover
9 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches (24.8 x 19.7 cm)
One of the last works Warhol ever made, his edition for Parkett was completed and signed just a few days before his untimely death in 1987.
The skeletons relate to the artist’s repeated motif of skulls, which figure prominently in a body of work begun in 1976 and function as a darkly humorous memento mori.
Warhol with Parkett editor-in-chief Bice Curiger on the occasion of his exhibition opening at Kunsthaus Zurich in 1976. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Warhol with Parkett editor-in-chief Bice Curiger on the occasion of his exhibition opening at Kunsthaus Zurich in 1976. Courtesy Luma Living Archives, Arles
Laura
Owens
Installation view, Laura Owens, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2017. Photo by Ron Amstutz
Installation view, Laura Owens, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2017. Photo by Ron Amstutz
Laura Owens
Untitled, 2002
Ten-color lithograph on tan Rives BFK paper, with three collage elements: one hand painted with watercolor on blue Magnani Pescia paper, and two on Rives BFK white paper
18 x 12 inches (45.7 x 30.5 cm)
Nairy
Baghramian
Installation view, Nairy Baghramian, Maintainers A, 2018, in Collection 1970s–Present, 2021, The Museum of Modern Art/New York, NY. Photo by Denis Doorly © The Museum of Modern Art. Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY
Installation view, Nairy Baghramian, Maintainers A, 2018, in Collection 1970s–Present, 2021, The Museum of Modern Art/New York, NY. Photo by Denis Doorly © The Museum of Modern Art. Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY
Baghramian’s edition for Parkett 100/101, Maintainers, features two seemingly identical forms, one in aluminum and one made from the wax used for polishing aluminum. The pairing of the two forms, one of which would in theory consume the other upon their interaction, engages Baghramian’s interest in the relationship between the organic and the mechanical and between sculptures and molds—concepts the artist explores in a series of large-scale Maintainers begun in the late 2010s.
Bridget
Riley
Bridget Riley’s work on the cover of Parkett 61. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Bridget Riley’s work on the cover of Parkett 61. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Bridget Riley
Going Across, 2001
Screenprint on Somerset Satin paper
24 1/4 x 36 inches (61.6 x 91.4 cm)
Framed: 29 3/4 x 41 1/8 inches (75.6 x 104.5 cm)
Edition of 90, Edition of X
Framed: 29 3/4 x 41 1/8 inches (75.6 x 104.5 cm)
Edition of 90, Edition of X
I am sorry that the magazine is closing down…However, it is good to hear that this is by no means the end of your activities on behalf of artists and the art world.
—Bridget Riley, quoted in Parkett Volume 100/101
Parkett
Inserts
Forty-nine original inserts made by artists for Parkett Publishers. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Forty-nine original inserts made by artists for Parkett Publishers. Courtesy Parkett Publishers, Zurich/NY
Parkett Publishers
Parkett Inserts (Special limited edition), 2018
Forty-nine (49) original artist bookpage projects and CD-ROM in custom cardboard box
Insert, each: 10 x 7 7/8 inches (25.5 x 20 cm)
Overall: 10 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches (26 x 21.5 cm)
Overall: 10 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches (26 x 21.5 cm)
These artist-designed inserts were created as removable centerfolds throughout the run of Parkett. Featuring text, drawing, painting, and graphic elements, the inserts honor the tradition of the artist’s book and take a variety of forms, showing the creative possibilities of the printed page.
