a groundbreaking work on how the topic of scale provides an entirely new understanding of inca material culture

although questions of form and style are fundamental to art history, the issue of scale has been surprisingly neglected. yet, scale and scaled relationships are essential to the visual cultures of many societies from around the world, especially in the andes. in scale and the incas, andrew hamilton presents a groundbreaking theoretical framework for analyzing scale, and then applies this approach to inca art, architecture, and belief systems.

the incas were one of humanity's great civilizations, but their lack of a written language has prevented widespread appreciation of their sophisticated intellectual tradition. expansive in scope, this book examines many famous works of inca art including machu picchu and the dumbarton oaks tunic, more enigmatic artifacts like the sayhuite stone and capacocha offerings, and a range of relatively unknown objects in diverse media including fiber, wood, feathers, stone, and metalwork. ultimately, hamilton demonstrates how the incas used scale as an effective mode of expression in their vast multilingual and multiethnic empire.

lavishly illustrated with stunning color plates created by the author, the book's pages depict artifacts alongside scale markers and silhouettes of hands and bodies, allowing readers to gauge scale in multiple ways. the pioneering visual and theoretical arguments of scale andthe incas not only rewrite understandings of inca art, but also provide a benchmark for future studies of scale in art from other cultures.

a stunningly illustrated look at how blake's radical vision influenced artists of the beat generation and 1960s counterculture

in his own lifetime, william blake (1757-1827) was a relatively unknown nonconventional artist with a strong political bent. william blake and the age of aquarius is a beautifully illustrated look at how, some two hundred years after his birth, the antiestablishment values embodied in blake's art and poetry became a model for artists of the american counterculture.

this book provides new insights into the politics and protests of blake's own lifetime, and the generation of artists who revived and reimagined his work in the mid-1940s through 1970, or what might be called the "long sixties." contributors explore blake's outsider status in georgian england and how his individualistic vision spoke to members of the beat generation, hippies, radical poets and writers, and other voices of the counterculture. among the artists, musicians, and writers who looked to blake were such diverse figures as diane arbus, jay defeo, the doors, sam francis, allen ginsberg, jess, agnes martin, ad reinhardt, charles seliger, maurice sendak, robert smithson, clyfford still, and many others. this book also explores visual cultures around such galvanizing moments of the 1960s as woodstock and the summer of love.

william blake and the age of aquarius shows how blake's myths, visions, and radicalism found new life among american artists who valued individualism and creativity, explored expanded consciousness, and celebrated youth, peace, and the power of love in a turbulent age.

exhibition schedule:
mary and leigh block museum of art, northwestern university
september 23, 2017-march 11, 2018