Matt Mullican's Photography Catalog 1967–2017 Published by Skira

A comprehensive volume titled "Mullican. Fotografie. Catalogo 1967–2017," edited by Roberta Tenconi and published by Skira in 2019, compiles five decades of Matt Mullican's photographic work. The 608-page book, priced at €50, goes beyond being a mere exhibition catalog for the 2018 show at Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan; it functions as a general catalog exploring the evolution of photographic imagery within contemporary art. It includes early images taken by a 15-year-old Mullican in 1966 and features a conversation with James Welling. A key series, "Doll and Dead Man" (1973–74), shows Mullican alongside a corpse, photographed by a medical student. Mullican discusses the taboo of death and the subject-object dichotomy. The book also examines Mullican's use of hypnosis in performances as a tool to access memory, a central element of his practice. Mullican, born in 1951 in California, considers photography a tool rather than an end, and his work is influenced by John Baldessari.