Author Description

The most comprehensive overview of the politically charged work of the Iraqi-American conceptual artist behind the acclaimed cookbook A House with a Date Palm Will Never Starve Sculptor, draftsman and sometime chef, Chicago-based Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz (born 1973) takes his cue from the histories of buildings and objects to create enthralling environments, objects and interventions. Among his best-known works is his full-scale recreation of a winged bull sculpture from 700 BCE entirely clad in Iraqi date cans, installed in Trafalgar Square in London; another was his Enemy Kitchen, for which Rakowitz compiled Baghdad recipes with the help of his mother and then taught them to public audiences. This fully illustrated survey of his most important works is accompanied by an essay by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, an interview with Michael Rakowitz by Iwona Blazwick and a range of perspectives contributed by Habda Rashid, Nora Razian, Ella Shohat and Marianna Vecellio.