Gift Mari Katayama

*Available only in Europe

*This book is secondhand.

The first collection by the artist and photographer Mari Katayama, published by United Vagabonds in 2019 (133 pages, English text). Having had both legs amputated at the age of nine, Katayama has since made self-portraits and installations that take her own body as their subject, using hand-sewn objects and prosthetic legs she decorates herself. The book assembles these signature works, in which the artist's body, surrounded by shells, artificial flowers and countless hand-sewn forms, rises up bearing pain, sensuality and a festive quality all at once. The title 'Gift' means a present in English while in German it means 'poison,' sharply naming the ambivalence surrounding a body one has been given. The text is contributed by Simon Baker, director of the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie. It is the volume that secured international recognition for Katayama, who also represented Japan at the 2019 Venice Biennale.