Spiritual America (Unique Artist's Book)

This unique artist’s book hand-illustrated and collaged by the celebrated artist Richard Prince is an illuminated version of the 1989 catalogue published in conjunction with Prince’s exhibition at Institut Valencià d'Art Modern. The first publication to encapsulate the artist’s entire oeuvre, the text’s examination and commentary on Prince’s early works is enhanced by the artist’s own intervention, weaving his trademark jokes and appropriations onto the pages of the catalogue. Witty insertions over the catalogue text include “I have to tell you, I’ve got beautiful kids. Thank God my wife cheated on me,” encapsulating some of the earliest versions of the artist’s important Joke series. More than merely surveying his early period, this unique work anticipates Prince’s later preoccupations with conceptual concerns relating to the display and conveyance of artworks to the public.