Featuring hundreds of pieces of new art, stories on the development, and a unique look at the entire full Kung Fu Panda world.DreamWorks Animation and Insight Editions presents The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2; the book that takes readers behind-the-scenes of the animated martial arts mega-sequel. As the recently anointed Dragon Warrior, Po the Panda (Jack Black) is living his dream as the champion of the Valley of Peace. But Po’s serenity is disrupted when the malevolent Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), an epically evil warlord, threatens to destroy all of China by creating an unstoppable weapon that promises to supplant kung fu. With every conquest, Shen’s ambition, cruelty, and lust for power grow, forcing Po and The Furious Five to confront their most powerful enemy ever, or else witness the destruction of their homeland and the tradition of kung fu. Included in this tome of production artwork are designs for Baby Po, Po’s parents, the sharp-taloned peacock Shen, the warlord’s fearsome wolf mercenaries, as well as Po’s new allies—Master Croc (Jean-Claude Van Dam), Master Skunkman (James Woods), and Master Thundering Rhino (Victor Garber). Also included are the epic environments Po, Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey, must venture through on their epic quest to confront the evil Lord Shen and save kung fu. With new friends, Po’s strength has never been greater. But how can he stop a weapon that can stop kung fu? Po must look deep into his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

    Giger (1940—2014) reigned as one of the leading exponents of fantastic art. After he studied interior and industrial design for eight years at the School of Commercial Art in Zurich, Switzerland, from 1962 till 1970, he was soon gaining attention as an independent artist, with endeavors ranging from surrealistic dream landscapes created with a spray gun and stencils, to album cover designs for famous pop stars, and sculptures. In addition, Giger’s multi-faceted career includes designing two bars, located in Tokyo and Chur, as well as work on various film projects—his creation of the set design and title figure for Ridley Scott’s filmAlien won him not only international fame but also an Academy Award for Best Achievement for Visual Effects (1980).About the series:Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series features:●a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance●a concise biography●approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

    "Dawn" collects the paintings, detailed line art, and preliminary sketches designed for the first four games.---From book cover:There is only one Final Fantasy.Through more than two dozen wildly diverse adventures since the first game was released in 1987, the international influence of the game is legendary both inside the video-game industry and throughout popular culture. It is a tale of bold heroes and heroines, breath-taking landscapes and terrifying creatures. Through Final Fantasy, characters such as Luneth, Refia, Rosa Farrell, Cecil Harvey, and many others have become household names to millions of players across the globe. And for many of the games, the epic landscapes have all been brought to life through the remarkable vision of one man: Yoshitaka Amano.Now, for the first time outside Japan, Amano and Square-Enix, Inc., have permitted the artwork that inspired the designs of the Final Fantasy games to be published. In Dawn, you will see the development of the first four games through Amano's paintings, detailed line art, and preliminary sketches.If you've taken this journey before, prepare to see the world you know through new eyes. If you're embarking on this quest for the first time, brace yourself. Your life will never be the same again.There's never been a game, a world, an adventure, like Final Fantasy.Cover design by Scott Cook

    Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume provides trenchant and provocative--yetalways balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given topic. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how it has developed and influenced society. Whatever the area of study, whatever the topic that fascinates the reader, the series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.

    Mixing realism and abstraction, Bacon delves deep beneath the surfaces of things, opening up the human body to reveal the chaos that lies within and struggling with all that is inexplicable. Erotic and grotesquely beautiful is the work of this legendary painter whose haunting, distorted figures have inspired entire generations of painters who seek to emulate his highly original style.

    So why does Lafitte refuse their generous offer? In the approaching War of 1812 General Andrew Jackson hasn’t any weapons, ammunition or money to fight the British with and no one to turn to for help but the notorious pirate Jean Lafitte. Jackson hates pirates, but he agrees to meet with Lafitte, and he forms an unlikely alliance with the dashing pirate. What changed Jackson’s mind about attending the meeting? Before the war begins, Lafitte buries an unusual treasure, one that is sought in the 21st century by two men and a beautiful woman. Julianna Montaigne a direct descendent of Pierre Lafitte has found his diary in her grandfathers old sea man’s trunk. The diary has a clue to the treasure. Eddie Calto a New York City firefighter has a second clue left to him by his great great grandfather, The two join forces in an attempt to find Lafitte's Treasure. But there are dangerous men who want the treasure for themselves and for 200 years they have waited patiently for anyone seeking Lafitte’s Treasure. Borrow this book for free with your prime subscription or subscribe to kindle lending library!

    In Where Is Ana Mendieta? art historian Jane Blocker provides an in-depth critical analysis of Mendieta’s diverse body of work. Although her untimely death in 1985 remains shrouded in controversy, her life and artistic legacy provide a unique vantage point from which to consider the history of performance art, installation, and earth works, as well as feminism, multiculturalism, and postmodernism. Taken from banners carried in a 1992 protest outside the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the title phrase “Where is Ana Mendieta?” evokes not only the suspicious and tragic circumstances surrounding her death but also the conspicuous absence of women artists from high-profile exhibitions. Drawing on the work of such theorists as Judith Butler, Joseph Roach, Edward Said, and Homi Bhabha, Blocker discusses the power of Mendieta’s earth-and-body art to alter, unsettle, and broaden the terms of identity itself. She shows how Mendieta used exile as a discursive position from which to disrupt dominant categories, analyzing as well Mendieta’s use of mythology and anthropology, the ephemeral nature of her media, and the debates over her ethnic, gender, and national identities. As the first major critical examination of this enigmatic artist’s work, Where Is Ana Mendieta? will interest a broad audience, particularly those involved with the production, criticism, theory, and history of contemporary art.

    Harrowing and heroic, the events of D-Day were recorded in the personal writings of those who were there. Here, Francis Crosby has compiled a comprehensive collection of previously unpublished letters, diaries, photographs, and reminiscences that tell the story of D-Day as it has never been told before.With the use of new international archives, Crosby has culled vivid and detailed eye-witness accounts from each beach, as well as perspectives from land, sea, and air. This fascinating collection includes entries from American, British, and Canadian troops, the Merchant Navy and the Royal Air Force, and newly available German materials. Also included are contemporary and retrospective reactions of women "in the know" and those whom knew from "unofficial sources" of the immediate imminence of the assault.

    Explaining the subject in simple terms and with an extensive series of dynamic illustrations, the author identifies parts of the body and demonstrates a wide array of physical activities through his sketches.Following notes on proportion and drawing, chapters cover the human skeleton, head and neck, torso, arm, hand, leg, foot, and musculature. Numerous illustrations depict various views of these structures, movements of the human figure, as well as changes in the relative proportions of features at different ages.One of the best books in its field, Anatomy and Drawing helps demystify a complex subject by enabling students to visualize the muscles and bones under the skin, and covers just about everything a beginner needs to know about drawing the human anatomy.

    With subjects that both reflect the zeitgeist and contribute to its creation, each exhibi­tion—from 2005’s Chanel, to 2011’s Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty and 2013’s Punk—creates a provocative and engaging narrative attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors. The show’s opening-night gala, produced in collaboration with Vogue magazine and attended by the likes of Beyoncé, George Clooney, and Hillary Clinton, is regularly referred to as the Party of the Year.Covering the Costume Institute’s history and highlighting exhibitions of the 21st century curated by Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton, this book offers insider access of the first order. Anchored by photo­graphs from the exhibitions themselves in tandem with the Vogue fashion shoots they inspired, it also includes images of exhibited objects and party photos from the galas. Drawn from the extensive Vogue archives, the featured stories showcase the photographs of icons such as Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, Steven Meisel, and Craig McDean; the vision of legendary Vogue editors like Grace Coddington and Tonne Goodman; and the knowledge and wit of writers such as Hamish Bowles and Jonathan Van Meter.

    Escher / J.L. Locher --Escher : science and fiction / C.H.A. Broos --Approaches to infinity / M.C. Escher --Structural sensation / G.W. Locher --The mathematical implications of Escher's prints / H.S.M. Coxeter.

    She claimed the police had inserted a stick inside her… Swaranpreet realised that she had been cruelly violated; He spoke a single sentence but repeated it twice in chaste Punjabi: ‘Please give me a turban? I want nothing else…’ These are voices begging for deliverance in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination in October-November 1984 in which 2,733 Sikhs were killed, burnt and exterminated by lumpens in the country. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay walks us through one of the most shameful episodes of sectarian violence in post Independent India and highlights the apathy of subsequent governments towards Sikhs who paid a price for what was clearly a state-sponsored riot. Poignant, raw and most importantly, macabre, the personal histories in the book reveal how even after three decades, a community continues to battle for its identity in its own country.

    Williams ** An armed assault force raids the marble halls of the British Museum. The target – the most heinous relic of all time – the last surviving coin of the blood money paid to Judas Iscariot for his betrayal of Christ.For over a thousand years the cursed pieces of silver cut a swath of famine, pestilence and ruinous destruction wherever they were carried. To save humanity from the malevolent power of the coins, the Knights Templar were given a Papal Blessing and sent on a pilgrimage to the holy lands to find and hide the thirty pieces of silver.A sinister organization has unlocked a chilling secret—the ability to control the power of the coin and use it as a terrifying weapon, posing the greatest threat to mankind in history.Sanford Carter, antiquities thief and ladies’ man, has been ensnared by the secret service and forced to execute a daring burglary on their behalf. His mission is simple – steal the coin first.Sarah Hudson, the studious and law-abiding archaeologist who doesn’t believe in curses, only science, is in the wrong place at the wrong time and refuses to hand over the coin or allow Carter to get away with his bold crime.With ruthless dark forces closing in, the brazen thief and the scholarly archaeologist must unlock the hidden history of the coin if they are to safeguard humanity from its evil curse.From the cobbled streets of London to the spectacular volcanic landscapes of Iceland, The Judas Conspiracy sets a cracking pace from the start and never lets up. For fans of James Rollins, Matthew Reilly, Michael C. Grumley, A.G. Riddle, Rob Jones, Matt Rogers, James D. Prescott, Brad Thor, Douglas E. Richards, Clive Cussler and David Baldacci

    In 1980, anger brewed over a show at New York's Artists Space entitled Nigger Drawings. In 1968, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition Harlem on My Mind did not include a single work by a black artist. In all three cases, black artists and writers and their allies organized vigorous responses using the only forum available to them: public protest.Whitewalling: Art, Race, & Protest in 3 Acts reflects on these three incidents in the long and troubled history of art and race in America. It lays bare how the art world--no less than the country at large--has persistently struggled with the politics of race, and the ways this struggle has influenced how museums, curators and artists wrestle with notions of free speech and the specter of censorship. Whitewalling takes a critical and intimate look at these three "acts" in the history of the American art scene and asks: when we speak of artistic freedom and the freedom of speech, who, exactly, is free to speak?Aruna D'Souza writes about modern and contemporary art, food and culture; intersectional feminisms and other forms of politics; how museums shape our views of each other and the world; and books. Her work appears regularly in 4Columns.org, where she is a member of the editorial advisory board, as well as in publications including the Wall Street Journal, ARTnews, Garage, Bookforum, Momus and Art Practical. D'Souza is the editor of the forthcoming Making it Modern: A Linda Nochlin Reader.

    400+ illustrations, many in full color.