A critically acclaimed practitioner of conceptual and installation art, David Ireland has taken the concept of art itself as one of his subjects. This book accompanies a full-scale retrospective of his work and offers an overview of more than 30 years ofhis accomplishments.

"Sculptor, architect, installation artist, urban archeologist... David Ireland, born in 1930, is impossible to label. Mid-life, he decided to pursue his passion for art, and produced a body of work so idiosyncratic that it defies definition. Like his life, his working methodology is paradoxical, absurd, ironic, and uniquely enriched by humor and humanity. The result of some eighty interviews with this American artist and his friends, family, collaborators, and art world colleagues, Touching Time and Space offers a portrait of a deeply private but unfailingly generous iconoclast. His art practice, teaching and wry philosophy have profoundly affected many. Beginning with a description of the radical transformation of his home - the legendary 500 Capp Street in San Francisco - author Betty Klausner provides a narrative that illuminates Ireland's process, work, and life."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Widely recognized as one of the West Coast's most important and critically acclaimed practitioners of conceptual and installation art, David Ireland (born 1930) has taken the concept of art itself as one of his subjects. A self-described "post-discipline" artist, guided by Zen thought and postmodern aesthetics, Ireland moves fluidly from making small drawings to creating sculptures as large as houses. Freely incorporating anything within his conceptual or physical reach—dirt, concrete, wire, and other everyday materials—his work is subtle, puzzling, and witty, and consistently challenges traditional definitions of art. In this book accompanying the first full-scale retrospective of Ireland's work, curator and author Karen Tsujimoto provides an insightful overview of more than thirty years of the artist's accomplishments, from his drawings, sculptures, and site-specific installations to his remarkable series of architectural transformations, including his well-known house at 500 Capp Street in San Francisco. Chronicling Ireland's circuitous route to his calling, Tsujimoto explores how key life experiences have influenced his artistic perspective—from his early art-student days, through his years as an African importer and safari guide, to his long-standing interest in Eastern, and particularly Zen, philosophy and his deep connections with the San Francisco Bay Area conceptual art community. An illuminating essay by art historian and curator Jennifer R. Gross also considers Ireland's art in terms of historical materialism—assessing his use of neglected materials and artifacts as a process of cultural preservation.

Essay by Lucinda Barnes. Text by Jacquelynn Baas. Karen L. Bennett, Bill Berkson, Linda Dalrymple Henderson, Maria Porges, Lawrence R. Rinder.