Man Ray: Human Equations

Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2015. First edition. Hardcover. New in publisher's shrink wrap. Quarto. 236pp. Illustrated paper boards, with white lettering on the spine. Published in conjunction with an exhibition organized by The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. and The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and held at The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. February 7-May 10, 2015; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, June 11-September 20, 2015; and at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, October 20, 2015-January 23, 2016.

"How does one make sense of a purported link between mathematics, William Shakespeare, and art? The answer lies within the oeuvre of Man Ray (1890-1976). The publication sets out to unravel the Surrealist puzzle beginning with his photographs of mathematical models he encountered at the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris in the thirties. Moreover, it charts a path culminating in his Shakespearean Equations (1947-1954) series of oil paintings, which were inspired by the photographs and painted in Hollywood over a decade later. The arc the images strike from painting back to photography reveals the ease with which Man Ray moved between various disciplines and forged his own path. An inveterate experimenter, he pioneered artistic activities in the realms of painting, object making, film, and photography, challenging conventional boundaries and blurring established aesthetic categories." - The Publisher.