Buy this book on-line

Deruytter, Wouter (Artist/Photographer) & Bussche, W. van Den (Contributor) : Knights Of The Impossible: "anachronism Abroad", "arabian Knights", "circus In Egypt", "transgenderism", And "brave In The West"

Museum Of Modern Art Ostend PMMK, Ostend, Belgium, 1998

ISBN 9074377653

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 143 pages. Exhibition Catalog. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a softcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. An austerely elegant production by Wouter Deruytter: Oversize-volume format. Pictorial softcovers with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Wouter Deruytter. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in Belgium to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Published on the occasion of the landmark retrospective exhibition of the same name held at the Museum of Modern Art in Ostend, Belgium in 1998. Presents Wouter Deruytter's "Knights of The Impossible". His most brilliant work, in five sequences: "Anachronism Abroad", "Arabian Knights", "Circus In Egypt", "Transgenderism", and "Brave In The West". Deruytter's work is about the quest for identity, a theme that was influenced by his mentors in Nan Goldin and Duane Michals. There is nothing terribly original about this idea, and we need to be reminded that the quest for personal identity is a quest for belonging, is inseparable from the idea of belonging to a particular community, whether it's the LGBTQ or the American Cowboy. What makes Deruytter's work fascinating is that he envisions the quest as fluid: Whether through disguise/concealment or revelation, reinvention/makeover or clinging to a set of ancient rites and rituals, momentary transformation (costume and makeup) or the committed cultivation of an eccentric lifestyle. He has no interest in photographing what is merely of passing interest ("interesting"). His commitment to his chosen subjects is complete, which is admirable considering that he is a restless traveller who wants to see as much as he can of the world. Still, he spent almost a decade chronicling the lives of the American artist couple, David McDermott and Peter McGough, who live as though the Modern Era never happened. He developed an attachment to Jem Jender, a transgender person, neither male nor female, but rather male AND female, effortlessly slipping back and forth between the two opposite poles of gender identity. He also spent successive summers photographing the American Cowboy, the real ones, living in harsh conditions. In the conformist, social-media world we live today, Deruytter celebrates his royal "Knights of The Impossible". An absolute "must-have" title for Wouter Deruytter collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed, dated (in the year of publication), and inscribed in blue ink-pen on the title page by the photographer: "To Polly Sunshine, Wouter Deruytter May '98". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. "Polly Sunshine" is not a real person, but rather the photographer's dedication to All Others, that is to say, everyone who embraces a different identity and dares to be different. This title is now collectible. As far as we know, this is the only such signed, publication-year dated, and inscribed copy of the First Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. A rare signed copy thus. 150 duotone plates. One of the most brilliant artist/photographers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER WOUTER DERUYTTER TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 9074377653.

1
1

Bibliophile Bookbase for antiquarian books, maps and prints.