Paul Neagu – The Monograph

Paul Neagu – The Monograph represents the first large-scale publication to examine the artistic itinerary of Romanian-born, UK-based artist Paul Neagu (1938-2004) who settled in London in 1971. The monograph aims to offer a new understanding of the artist’s oeuvre at a time when his activities as an artist, both in Western and Eastern Europe, are ripe for reassessment. A versatile artist, excelling in both two and three-dimensional forms of expression, Neagu was also a performer, thinker and poet. Commissioned by the Paul Neagu Estate (UK), the publication also analyses critically the prevailing narrative about him, which has focussed on his work from the first half of the 1970s, shedding light, most particularly, on the performative aspect of his practice. By broadening the frame of reference and extending the theoretical underpinnings beyond the familiar tropes, the volume offers new interpretations of certain themes and cycles of works – such as palpable art, the concept of Anthropocosmos, the Hyphen, his major sculptural invention, and later projects of “visual hermeneutics”

The editorial approach has assumed the task of looking into the artist’s archives, that is, into the visual documentation of his work and work processes, but also into the rich collection of sketchbooks/notebooks and visual albums, which form an as yet untapped resource for Neagu scholarship. This newly researched material has infused both the visual section of the publication and some of the scholarly contributions to it. Based on archival research and an extensive investigation of the available documentary sources, the monograph covers multiple facets of Neagu’s practice, drawing attention to contemporary perspectives on this singular artistic and cultural trajectory, while at the same time deepening its historical contextualization.

The book (English edition) can be purchased from Cornerhouse Publications (orders from the UK), artbook (orders from the USA), les presses du réel (orders from France) and La Două Bufnițe online bookshop (orders from Romania). Other retailers to be added in the future.