The Loves of the Poets

With the photomontages, Mills uses techniques to convince us that the surreal is real. Ordinary daily rituals are suddenly transfigured by our worst fears. Reality is out of control. Fears that we usually suppress may not be baseless. . . . the [images] exist on the edge of horror and beauty. — Anne Wilkes Tucker

Joseph Mills’s first monograph, Inner City, was published by Nazraeli Press in 2003 to wide critical acclaim. The Loves of the Poets, featuring the artist’s beautifully raw, disturbingly seductive collages, is a work of art unto itself. Bound in rich felt, with gold leaf stamping and gilded edges, this gorgeous artist’s book features twenty-six collages that seem to be on the verge of complete revelation but time and again leave the viewer on a suspended note. The success of these images, in the words of Tucker, “lies in the fact that they are anchored in reality just enough so that we are on the edge between surreality and reality.” Beautifully reproduced with antique paper backgrounds and a rich double varnish, The Loves of the Poets brings the marriage of artist and book to a new level. A special edition of 100 copies, featuring a signed and numbered original print, is also available.