Viggo Mortensen: Recent Forgeries - New Copy

Recent Forgeries documents Viggo's first solo exhibition as a painter. It is an extraordinary look into the mind of an artist whose boundless creative output touches a myriad of media, from photography to painting to poetry to acting. A minute gesture, an accidental encounter, a change of light—Mortensen uses his art to capture the simple moments of his life, to give them meaning, to satisfy his curiosity, and to express his wonder at the "suchness" of people and things in the passing world. The writings, paintings, collages, and photographs (color as well as black and white) in this book point to the fluidity of meaning in a world of flux. Illustrated within this publication are some of the painting Viggo did for the movie A Perfect Murder. Recent Forgeries includes a CD with music and spoken-word poetry. Introduction by Dennis Hopper.

110 pages, Softcover, 7 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches, 2002

ISBN #1889195324

Published by Smart Art Press, which is the publishing wing and thigh of Track 16 Gallery.

"As publishers of artists’ books, monographs, catalogues, and other art ephemera, Smart Art Press is modeled on New York artist/theorist Dick Higgins’ Something Else Press of the sixties, publishing an eclectic and eccentric mix of works by and about artists, as well as related literary endeavors that seek to vitalize the scene and expand the understanding of contemporary art and culture."

That was our mission as written thirteen years ago when we began and it remains central to our publishing to this day. Over the thirteen years we’ve published over a hundred books and catalogs plus many other wonderful oddities from films to bumper stickers. The press works hand in hand within Bergamot Stations’ Track 16 Gallery, though the press is far from limited to just covering the gallery’s endeavors. Over the next thirteen years we hope to continue fulfilling our mission of stepping in to publish gems before they fall through the cracks.