Multimedia artist Elias Hansen, who frequently employs glass in his projects is set to publish an art book, Even Crooks Have To Pay The Rent, which documents his solo and collaborative works from the past decade. Part of a new publishing model, the publication of the book depends on hitting 500 advance purchases of the book. Published through the Minor Matters platform, Hansen’s book has attained 50-percent of its pre-sale goal of 500, with a deadline of May 31, 2014 for publication to proceed.
Even Crooks Have To Pay The Rent offers a comprehensive look at Hansen’s work throughout the past decade in 168 pages, and with over 180 images. Organized in chronological order by exhibition, the publication also includes essays written by Hansen’s friends and collaborators, among them Oscar Tuazon, Matt Browning, Rebar Niemi, Simon Jaynes, and J. Jefferson Ross. Also included are essays by Michael Darling, curator for the MCA in Chicago, and James W. Alsdorf, chief curator of the same institution. Hansen’s work, ranging from “[…]from parking-lot structures to delicate glass vials with natural elements, defy categorization and stimulate conversation.”
The project was initially begun by Hansen’s parents—both book binders by trade—who first commissioned Small Editions NYC before being approached by Michelle Dunn Marsh of Minor Matters. Dunn Marsh, having met Hansen through his brother, Oscar Tuazon at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, got to know the artist better through time spent at his exhibitions.
Hansen, a graduate of Whitman College, Walla Walla (1997-2001) and the New Orleans School of Glass and Print (2001), has exhibited around the world, including Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, the Hamptons, New York City, Miami, London, and Paris. He has also collaborated with several artists, which include Oscar Tuazon and graffiti artist The Reader, among others.
More information may be obtained, and copies of Even Crooks Have To Pay The Rent can be purchased by visiting the Minor Matters page for the book.