War, Myth, Desire

Since the mid-1970s, New York based photographer David Levinthal (born 1949) has been exploring the relationship between photographic imagery and the fantasies, myths, events and characters that shape contemporary America's mental landscape. David Levinthal: War, Myth, Desire is the most comprehensive publication ever produced on the artist, containing major contributions to scholarship on the artist by curator Lisa Hostetler and contemporary art specialist Joanna Marsh, as well as commentary by art critic Dave Hickey. The volume is illustrated with examples from all of Levinthal's major series to date - including Hitler Moves East (1972-75), Modern Romance (1983-85), Wild West (1986-89), Desire (1991-92),Blackface (1995-98), Barbie (1997-98), Baseball (1998-2004) and History (2010-15). Levinthal's work has been a touchstone for conversations about theories of representation in photography and contemporary art, and through his work, he has investigated the overlapping of popular imagery with personal fantasy in the contexts of romance, sex, war, history, sports, space and social stereotypes. This publication gives readers the opportunity for the first time to consider the full scope of Levinthal's career as an artist.