Francesca Gavin's Phaidon Survey 'Fungi: The World of Mushrooms' Maps Mushrooms Across Art and Design
Fungi: The World of Mushrooms, authored by Francesca Gavin and published by Phaidon, is a 232-page exploration of the role of fungi in various fields such as art, design, fashion, film, and natural history. It showcases contributions from notable artists including Marc Chagall, Hilma af Klint, Andy Warhol, and Takashi Murakami. Gavin emphasizes that mushrooms serve as valuable metaphors in the face of climate and technological issues. Her work draws on three exhibitions held at Somerset House and Fundação de Serralves, reflecting a change in European perspectives on fungi over the past 140 years. The book also features artists like Takeshi Homma, Seana Gavin, Max Hooper Schneider, and Carsten Höller, critiques anthropocentrism, and cautions against overly optimistic views of technology. It retails for £34.95.
Key facts
- Fungi: The World of Mushrooms is published by Phaidon, runs 232 pages and contains more than 200 images
- Author Francesca Gavin has curated three exhibitions on mushrooms in art and design, including at Somerset House in London and Fundação de Serralves in Porto
- The book includes works by Marc Chagall, Hilma af Klint, Andy Warhol and Takashi Murakami
- Gavin dates the intense blossoming of mushrooms in visual culture to the past 140 years, following their entry into 19th-century children's book imagery
- Takeshi Homma photographed mushrooms collected in the toxic aftermath of Fukushima
- Carsten Höller's Upside Down Mushroom Room (2000) at Fondazione Prada is among the featured works
- Mae Ling Lokko's mycelium-based bricks explore fungal materials for construction
- The Hypha typeface was developed by Pentagram with Counterpoint Studio and Rosie Emery
- The book is priced at £34.95
Entities
Artists
- Francesca Gavin
- Marc Chagall
- Hilma af Klint
- Andy Warhol
- Takashi Murakami
- Carsten Höller
- Takeshi Homma
- Seana Gavin
- Max Hooper Schneider
- Viktor Hugo
- Mae Ling Lokko
- Paul Stamets
- Tobias Rees
- Merlin Sheldrake
- John Tenniel
- Kristel Peters
- Greg Allen
- Kathleen Ryan
- Geertje Geertsma
- Rosie Emery
- Alake Shilling
- Sage Vaughn
- Daniel Del Core
- David Åberg
- Björk
- Edda Gudmundsdottir
- Vidar Logi
- Nongzao
- Attilio Maranzano
- Evan Bedford
- Shio Kusaka
- Jonas Wood
Institutions
- Phaidon
- designboom
- Somerset House
- Fundação de Serralves
- Fondazione Prada
- Pentagram
- Counterpoint Studio
- Studio Cojak
- Jeffrey Deitch
- Sustainable Design (Material) Museum
- Hiscox Collection
- INDX|GLOBAL
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- Porto
- Portugal
- Fukushima
- Japan
- Graz
- Austria
- Milan
- Italy
- New York
- Los Angeles
- United States
- China
- Netherlands
- Russia
- South America
- Asia