DUMB LUCK

The goal was to create The First Big Book of Gary Baseman for the Los Angeles-based artist. The challenge was determining how to organize a massive, diverse body of work into an engaging, cohesive format. Through the always-intense process of curating content, visual and conceptual themes became apparent in Baseman's work. This inspired a way to edit and assign meaningful placement for imagery into cleverly named chapters. In order to create context and establish pacing, elements from the artist’s copious sketchbooks, vintage snapshots and images from a photo shoot of the artist’s personal collections were integrated throughout.

Concept development, project supervision, editorial management,
book design and production: Jill von Hartmann
Publisher: Chronicle Books

Casebound with dust jacket; 11.75" x 8.25"; 336 pages

“We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we dislike?”
—Jean Cocteau