News
City of Immortals: Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris
Carolyn Campbell pays tribute to the City of Immortals, the massive and visually astonishing Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, in photography, text, and via satellite. Her project is four-fold:
- An extensive online homage to the cemetery;
- An illustrated print map that features the resting places of some of the most celebrated spirits in the park, including Amedeo Modigliani, Nadar, Edith Piaf, Gertrude Stein, and Oscar Wilde;
- A GPS Walking Tour App in French and English for iPhone and Android featuring the grave sites of 84 cultural icons; and
- The 200 page City of Immortals: Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris published by Goff Books was featured in the Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019 Arts & Books section of the Los Angeles Times The first two weeks of its publication saw “City of Immortals” as #2 on the Bestsellers List for Non-Fiction Paperbacks from the Los Angeles Times; #1 Hot New Release on Amazon, and #1 Bestseller for Non-Fiction Paperback by Book Soup and Vroman’s. It is available in bookstores across the United States, the UK and in Paris, France. See more press coverage .
About the Book
In October of 2019, Goff Books released the hauntingly unforgettable publication, City of Immortals: Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris. The volume contains over 100 original color photographs along with an illustrated pull-out map of the legendary necropolis—the result of Campbell’s three decades of research, study, and photography.
You can order this book on Amazon Whenever possible, however, please consider buying from your nearest independent book store. Ask them to carry my book. Support writers and independent booksellers! Please post a review if you feel so inclined. Much appreciated
The book’s launch was featured at the City of West Hollywood’s WeHo Reads series on Tuesday, October 29, 2019, at 7:00 pm in the City Council Chambers. See excerpts of that event on YouTube
“In City of Immortals, Carolyn Campbell gives readers three books in one; a personal dialogue with the immortals, a scholarly history of funerary architecture and design, and an intimate tour of the world’s most famous cemetery.”
— Michael Webb, author of more than 20 books on modern architecture and design,
including Moving Around: A Lifetime of Wandering
About the GPS Walking Tour App
GPS Walking Tour App available now for $2.99 on Google Play* and the Apple App Store!
*(Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.)
Having researched and studied the cemetery for decades, and taken thousands of photos of the world’s most famous Necropolis, Campbell decided to share her passion for Père Lachaise In her online City of Immortals: The Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris project.
In the Press
A review by Genie Davis in Art and Cake magazine stated: “The artist’s voluminous work is a gorgeous collection of words and images that captures the awe of the place, its legacy, its grace, its sense of peace and mystery.”
The project was featured in West Hollywood Lifestyle: Los Angeles Artist & Writer Carolyn Campbell Launches “City Of Immortals,” An Online Tribute To The Incomparable Père Lachaise Cemetery In Paris, France.
An article by LA Weekly arts editor Shana Nys Dambrot on City of Immortals: Two French Landmarks Get Some Love From U.S. Fans.
Los Angeles architecture and design author Michael Webb’s review in FORM:Pioneering Design magazine: Where the Dead Come to Life.
Laurie Pike commented in her leading The Paris Blog: “It is indispensable for anyone who wants to truly get their mind around this amazing maze of art and death. Thankfully, a passionate American has set her laser focus on these 107 acres of corpses and copses. Carolyn Campbell’s well thought-out map measures 17″ × 19″ and features NO SMALL TYPE!”
In the Sunshine of Neglect
Campbell’s photograph, “Manzanita,” taken in Idyllwild, CA was recently featured in Kim Abeles’ installation “The Map is the Legend (Equidistant Inland Empire)” as part of “In the Sunshine of Neglect: Defining Photographs and Radical Experiments in Inland Southern California, 1950 to the Present” a simultaneous two-part exhibition at UCR ARTS: California Museum of Photography and the Riverside Art Museum. On view from January 19 through April 28, 2019 it was organized by curator by Douglas McCulloh.
Freedom can be found at the margins. That is the theme of a first-ever survey exhibition that presents the title’s territory on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles Basin as an experimental tabula rasa playground for photographers, where nothing was at stake, so everything was possible. Inland Southern California is a region of 4.5 million people, but it is also a periphery. Established photographic artists and rising experimentalists have long used the area as a laboratory. The visions of these artists—experimental, hard-eyed, and imaginative—influenced the course of contemporary art and photography. In the Sunshine of Neglect is the first exhibition to survey this remarkable history.
HOLLYWOOD & FINE
Two images from Carolyn Campbell’s Hollywood Boulevard series were included in “Hollywood & Fine”, a presentation of contemporary and historical fine art focused on Hollywood in all its ramifications. The Venice Institute of Contemporary Art (ViCA) partnered with A.G. Geiger Fine Art Books and opened a new Gallery located at 502 Chung King Road Los Angeles, CA 90012 to present “Hollywood & Fine”. The exhibition was on view April 8 through May 20, 2017
Curator Juri Koll stated, “This show intends to place Hollywood in the spotlight as an important way of seeing the world -from the glitz, to the glamour, to the gutter, from the personalities to the pipe dreams, from stardom to stardust. We are presenting artists in the pantheon of well-known artists such as Edmund Teske and Andy Warhol’s legacy through his screens printed by Louie Waldon. We’re proud to be able to bring the show to the new space we’ve built at A.G. Geiger, in partnership with Michael Delgado and to present a catalog for the show.”
The show presented the following artists: Matt Aston, Jodi Bonassi, Carolyn M. Campbell, Chelsea Cody, Michael Delgado, Lisa Derrick, Corey Deshon, Sam Erenberg, Simone Gad, Tanner Goldbeck, Eva Hassmann, Juri Koll, Reginald Van Langenhove, Ofer, Mei Xian Qiu, Phil Santos, Elena Mary Siff, Sandy Shimooka, Mike Street, Stephanie Sydney, Edmund Teske, Louie Waldon/Andy Warhol.
2017 Women’s March Exhibition
On March 8, in celebration of International Women’s Day, two images were included from Campbell’s series, “2017 Women’s March, Los Angeles” in the LENSCRATCH exhibition; scroll down in the link to Part Five. Aline Smithson, curator. LENSCRATCH
GENDER NATURE
Carolyn Campbell’s Gallery Tally image, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac was published in Macmillan’s “Gender / Nature” Interdisciplinary Handbook. Mary Kosut, Purchase College, State University of New York, Associate Professor of Sociology, Media, Society and the Arts and Gender Studies selected Campbell’s work for her chapter on Nature in the Museum and the sub section, Getting into the Museum: Underrepresentation and Feminist Activism. Great description of Micol Hebron’s groundbreaking project (excerpts), “Its international success is a testament to grassroots activism and social networking and the scope and obdurate nature of sexism and racism in the arts.”… “Feminist collectives and activist art projects such as the Guerilla Girls and the Gallery Tally Project continue to challenge male dominance, white privilege, and other forms of exclusion and segregation in the arts”
Deepest thanks go to Micol Hebron for inviting Campbell to participate in the Gallery Tally Project.
[justified_image_grid ng_gallery=25]
NOW BE HERE
Los Angeles-based artist Kim Schoenstadt began with a simple idea: Bring together a group of female artists from around Los Angeles for a group portrait — a way of recognizing the presence of women in a field that remains dominated by men. For her tribute, Schoenstadt says she was interested in acknowledging the countless female painters, sculptors, photographers and conceptualists who create work — whether it is acknowledged by art world institutions or not. More than 700 artists gathered in Hauser Wirth & Schimmel’s courtyard, in the downtown L.A. Arts District, for a group photo. “Now Be Here” — which included local artists, gallerists and curators was co-organized by Hauser Wirth & Schimmel’s Head of Education, Aandrea Stang. ‘Glad to have been a participant.
Hauser Wirth & Schimmel plans to release a digital copy of the group photograph on its website and by request. Schoenstadt will eventually provide local museums with archival copies of the image. There’s also a Facebook group to gather other group photos of artists; and Schoenstadt created a web page to serve as a “research portal” with photographs and documents from the event. Press: http://goo.gl/Hzc0H9 ,http://goo.gl/m5oUHI
The two group photographs were shot by artists Isabel Avila and Carrie Yury
Four person photo: (l to r) sculptor Karolina Maszkiewicz; photographers Loretta Ayeroff and Carolyn Campbell, along with sculptor Sierra Pecheur
[justified_image_grid ng_gallery=24]
City Secrets Paris
Carolyn Campbell contributed an essay on the sculptors and architects who designed the remarkable tombs in the famed Père Lachaise Cemetery as part of City Secrets Paris by Fang Duff Kahn Publishers. This popular book brings together the recommendations of artists, writers, historians, architects, chefs, and other experts whose passionate opinions and highly informed perspectives illuminate well-known sites as well as overlooked treasures. These expert travel companions share their favorite little-known places and activities, including restaurants, cafés, art, architecture, shops, outdoor markets, strolls, day-trips, and all manner of cultural and historic landmarks. Clothbound, elegant, and pocket-sized, City Secrets Paris features a subtle, non-guidebook design and detailed maps. Available on Amazon for $19.95 https://goo.gl/XsYk4h Reviews: Pauline Adamek, Sarah Spitz, LARB.
An enthusiastic group of about 90 people traveled to Paris through the words of authors Carolyn Campbell, Lea Endres and George Stoll who read their essays describing some of their favorite places in Paris published in the Fang Duff Kahn book, “City Secrets Paris: The Essential Insider’s Guide”. A special thanks to those who helped make the evening possible: Antonia Rigaud and Adelaide Barbier, Cultural Attachees in the French Consulate Los Angeles; Nayiri Partamian and Michele Druon, Alliance Française of Pasadena and Jennifer Ramos and Jeremy Radin at Vroman’s Books in Pasadena. And last but not least Fiona and Robert Kahn.
[justified_image_grid ng_gallery=20]
Kevin MacDonald: The Tension of a Suspended Moment
Photo portrait of the late artist Kevin MacDonald by Carolyn Campbell has been published in the catalogue for the exhibition, “Kevin MacDonald The Tension of a Suspended Moment”. The retrospective exhibition was on view April 2 – May 29, 2016 at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, D.C. The catalogue is available for $12 postpaid in the U.S. https://goo.gl/4Zob6w
Artists, ART & Story: Southern California
Photo and original story by Carolyn Campbell were included in the anthology, “Artists, ART & Story: Southern California” coordinated by Karrie Ross with a Foreword by Hilarie Kelly. Original artworks and stories by Southern California artists. Number four in the series, “Our Ever Changing World: Through the Eyes of Artists.” Available now on Amazon for only $11. http://goo.gl/m43dii
