An exhibition book commissioned by Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London. Made to accompany the works of James Rosenquist (29/11/33 – 31/03/17), a leading American Pop artist. Like his contemporaries, Rosenquist’s background in commercial art deeply influenced his early career and this exhibition contained works and notes from this crucial early period showing how, calling on his experience as a billboard painter, he culled imagery from print advertisements, photographs, and popular periodicals and recombined these to create mysterious and bold compositions.
There’s always time pressure with exhibition books because the original work usually arrives too close to the opening to be helpful when proofing the book.This was true here, but because the final selection of works for the exhibition was made in good time, our designer (Billie Temple) was also able to design the layout of the book ahead of time.
When the original artworks arrived in London we opted to proof on screen before running physical proofs. These were checked by the curator before sending on to the artist’s studio in New York. Very importantly, we developed a joint language around colour comments that allowed us to make changes based on an understanding of phrases like ‘slightly less’ or ‘too warm’ to enable us to change images in an accurate and predictable way. The book was delivered on time and on budget and was much-liked by the Studio.
