MATT MAHURIN: THE JAPANESE RAM EDITION

Tokyo, Japan: Research Of Art Media (RAM) , 1993. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/No Dust Jacket, As Issued.. Tokyo, Japan: Research Of Art Media (RAM) , 1993. Hardcover. Fine/None, As Issued. First Edition/First Printing. 47 pages. Collection of black-and-white and color photographs, presented as an Artist Book. Limited Edition of 2300 copies. The first and only edition. Published as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now rare. A brilliant production by Matt Mahurin and Hideyuki Taguchi: Regular-sized volume format. Black velvety-soft and velvety-smooth cloth boards with gilt-and-red lettering design embossed on the cover and spine, as issued. The design consists of his name in Roman alphabet rendered horizontally in gold and matching Japanese hiragana ("matomahurin") in vertical red Japanese characters. Photographs by Matt Mahurin. There is no text. Printed in gravure on thick, uncoated stock paper by Toppan Printing Company in Tokyo, Japan to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is outstanding in every respect. Without DJ, as issued. Presents "Matt Mahurin". Some of the photographer's finest, most representative, and newest work in a sumptuous Collector's Edition, fully realized by Japanese production values. In 1989, Twelvetrees Press published Matt Mahurin's debut collection of haunting and haunted, luminous and numinous images. After that auspicious debut, Mahurin stopped taking photographs. Working restlessly for several years in digital imagery, writing, and feature filmmaking, Mahurin finally returned to the simplicity of the camera and darkroom. The photographs reflect the mood and vision of his first monograph and include work from America, France, Nicaragua, Ireland, and Mexico. "Mahurin's vision straddles two worlds: Daytime glimpses out of the corner of the mind's eye and night visions we might spy with our eyes closed. Ordinary moments captured in mid-gesture are infused with an unexpected ritualism" (Jack Woody). The book is presented as a triptych: The first panel is a series of black-and-white imagery; the second, extreme closeup portraits in color that are inspired by Japanese Classical painting; and the third, a concluding series of more black-and-whites. Mahurin celebrates life's perpetual cycle as well as the outer (in black-and-white) and inner (in color) worlds we inhabit simultaneously. At his very best, Mahurin is a transcendent artist who captures the inscrutable mystery and elusive beauty of our world in some of the most unforgettale photographs ever taken by a contemporary artist/photographer. An absolute "must-have" title for Matt Mahurin collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed and inscribed in black ink-pen on the title page by the artist/photographer: "For Kory & the shopgirl, Love, Matt". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The recipients, who are named, are unmistakably personally known to the artist. This title is a contemporary art photography classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed and inscribed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. A rare signed copy thus. 44 gravure plates. One of the most brilliant artist/photographers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER MATT MAHURIN TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 4947671017.