COMING SOON!
All is Vanity is not just an art book. It is a comprehensive treatise on the philosophy of still life.
Each of the book’s 18 chapters is devoted to a particular theme or symbolic element which is important to the history of Vanitas art (such as flowers, food, skulls, etc). Each chapter offers a sequence of my own artistic creations relevant to that theme, presented as beautiful full-colour, full-page layouts. Each chapter also contains an essay which unpacks the themes on display, with detailed references to scripture, philosophy, and the history of the Dutch Golden Age. The book also contains an introduction which briefly summarizes the history and visual language of still life and Vanitas art. Finally, the book concludes with deep dive into the book of Ecclesiastes, placing that divisive biblical text in conversation with both visual art and absurdist philosophy.
All is Vanity is the culmination of my artistic project. Featuring more than 250 images (many of which have not appeared online yet), it is not only a summary of my contributions to Vanitas art, it is also a love letter to the medium and a treatise on the meaning of still life.
“Neal Auch confronts us with an unsettling idea: there is beauty in horror.” —Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender is the Flesh
“A Dutch master’s sampler set in aspic, waxy horrors of skin, grey tones of organ, muscle clinging to bone, blacker than black background.” — Matthew Stokoe, author of Cows
“Auch's impressively detailed photographs present this equally beloved and disdained animal in a beautiful and unsettling way, much akin to the way in which it is perceived in our collective imagination.” — Mark Riddick, illustrator and graphic artist
“Simultaneously haunting and beautiful.” — Sam Richard, author of To Wallow in Ash & Other Sorrows
“Dark and beautiful, thoughtful and full of a sort of wonder at the fragility of mortality, the thin line between us and the other.” — Donyae Coles, author of Midnight Rooms