I absolutely love art books. I buy exhibition catalogs after almost every show I see. They are my souvenirs, and I look at them over and over again. This past year I’ve been trying to keep up with the books for shows that I have missed, or still hope to see. Here are thirteen, some I’ve purchased, some I still want, in no particular order.

#1: I attended two talks last week on Zoom where Arlene Shechet talked about her new book SKIRTS. Shechet’s show at PACE opened last February, only to close two weeks later due to the pandemic. I watched her live walk-through as she revisited her closed exhibition. The book looks amazing.

#2: B. Wurtz was in one of the talks with Arlene Shechet. His book was released this past September. I adore his pan paintings, and he was truly charming. You can buy a signed copy directly from Hunter Point Press.

• 

#3: KAWS: WHAT PARTY opened this past Friday at the Brooklyn Museum. The exhibit will be up through September 5th, 2021. The book comes in five colors (pink, yellow, orange, black and white), although the white version was a limited edition signed version which sold out, along with all of the KAWS toys, almost immediately.

#4: Shapes from out of Nowhere opened February 22, 2021 and will run through August 29, 2021 at The Met Fifth Avenue.

#5: Alice Neel: People Come First at The Met Fifth Avenue will be open March 22-August 1, 2021. I am hopeful that I’ll be in New York well before the close of this show. I have two children in New York who I’d love to take to some of these shows.

#6: I received Judy Chicago New Views as a birthday present and I’m thrilled. I am so disappointed that her Desert X installation has been cancelled. I had really hoped to get to Palm Springs to see it in person.

#7: Yesterday I did a live virtual tour at the New Museum of the recently opened Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America. The show runs through June 6, 2021. I enjoyed a Zoom conversation with the extraordinary Theaster Gates last week, and I’ve registered to attend many more featuring artists from the show.

#8: Soutine/ de Kooning: Conversations in Paint will be at the Barnes Foundation March 7- August 8, 2021. I’m hopeful that I’ll get to take my Philadelphia-based son with me to the exhibit.

#9: Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle at the Seattle Art Museum March 5- May 23, 2021. This is the first in person museum show I will get the chance to see (next week) in over a year. I am so excited! The last Jacob Lawrence show SAM hosted, The Migration Series, was incredible.

#10: I am guessing I won’t be able to see Ron Nagle: Handsome Drifter at BAMPFA in person. The museum is closed, and the show is scheduled to close at the end of March. Hopefully they will extend it. In the meantime, I looked at the online images of the show, and bought this book to make me feel better.

#11: This new Joan Mitchell (released January 5, 2021) book looks like 384 pages of time well spent.

#12: I KILLED KENNY is in my “saved for later cart”. I’ve been obsessed with Joyce Pensato ever since listening to what I thought was the most charming interview that Talk Art has ever done. It was her last interview, just before her death.

#13: This book, Codex Seraphinianus is also sitting in my “saved for later cart”. It was first published in 1981, and this anniversary redesigned version looks very cool. The original is still available, but even more expensive.