Book Release: ‘Jason Rhoades: Illastrations’

A facsimile of an undated sketchbook of drawings by Jason Rhoades, offering a glimpse inside the mind of the visionary Californian artist ​

Now available via Hauser & Wirth Publishers / To be officially released 9 January 2025

As much a tool as a book of drawings, ‘Illastrations’ is a facsimile sketchbook that serves as a guide to the visionary work of the artist Jason Rhoades (1965 – 2006). Originally created in the late 1990s, the book’s release is occasioned by two concurrent exhibitions of Rhoades’ work at Hauser & Wirth in Los Angeles and New York, ‘DRIVE’ and ‘DRIVE II’. A leading figure in the international art world, Rhoades worked on an architectural scale to create immersive sculptures that were designed as dynamic systems to explore and communicate life’s questions. Networked through his epic installations were packets of information—subjects, concepts, works of art by Rhoades and others, personal references—that this book illustrates.

Organized by keyword in a rough alphabetical and numerical order, 205 didactic cartoons depict everything from ‘abstraction,’ ‘curator’ and ‘Marcel Duchamp’ to ‘donut,’ ‘asshole’ and ‘unfair,’ revealing the imaginative ways in which Rhoades processed the world. Several illustrations are devoted to the car—a key object in Rhoades’ work, representing a vehicle of artistic pursuit, both readymade sculpture and American idol, that is currently explored in the exhibitions in Los Angeles and New York. Approximate spellings—‘arcatecture,’ ‘christals’—reflect the artist’s dyslexia, a condition which contributed to the looseness with which he approached language, sparking new meanings as one word merges with another.

Seeking to bring readers into the universe of artists, Hauser & Wirth Publishers produces lasting records of artists’ work and ideas while pursing the highest standards of bookmarking, with this carefully constructed replica presented in a slipcase and bound in what feels like an art supply sketchbook. With the original sketchbook given as a gift by Rhoades and his wife, the artist Rachel Khedoori, to their friend and patron Iwan Wirth, this facsimile is an object to treasure, encapsulating the playfulness of a California cowboy who never relinquished his sense of punk practicality.

As part of ‘The Jason Rhoades Variety Show’ at Hauser & Wirth New York, 18th Street on Saturday 19 October, Ingrid Schaffer —curator of the exhibitions ‘DRIVE’ and ‘DRIVE II’—will introduce ‘Illastrations,’ alongside presentations by performer Morgan Bassichis, artist Alex Da Corte, curator Dr. Adrienne Edwards and art historian David Lewis.

‘DRIVE’ is on view at Hauser & Wirth Downtown Los Angeles through 5 January 2025 and ‘DRIVE II’ is on view at Hauser & Wirth New York, 22nd Street through 19 October 2024.

About the Artist

Jason Rhoades (1965 – 2006) was a visionary artist and world builder for whom sculpture and myth were intertwined forms of construction. His epic assemblage installations established him as a force of the international art world in the 1990s, while based in Los Angeles. America was his art’s imaginative subject, which he represented with a provocative sense of irony and materialism, along with disarming humor and authentic identification.

Jason Rhoades: Illastrations ​
​Release date: 30 September 2024 (Hauser & Wirth Publishers) / 9 January 2025 (official publication date) ​
​By Jason Rhoades ​
​English ​
​Slipcased paperback ​
​27.9 x 21.1 cm, 240 pages ​
​ISBN: 978-3-907493-01-4 ​
​£55 / $62 / €52

About Hauser & Wirth Publishers

In keeping with Hauser & Wirth’s artist-centric vision, Hauser & Wirth Publishers works to bring readers into the universe of artists and behind the scenes of their practices. From publishing artists’ writings and exceptional exhibition-related books to commissioning new scholarship and pursuing the highest levels of craft in design and bookmaking, Hauser & Wirth Publishers creates vital, lasting records of artists’ work and ideas, forging critical gateways to the cultural discourse they inspire.

Through its Oral History Initiative, Hauser & Wirth Publishers is building an enduring record of artists’ voices for future generations. Additionally, the imprint publishes Ursula magazine, a bi-annual print and digital periodical that features essays, profiles, interviews, original portfolios, films and photography by thought-provoking writers and artists from around the world.

Across its dedicated bookstores in the U.S. and Europe, Hauser & Wirth Publishers complements and amplifies the artist’s voice by hosting a robust slate of special programs, including talks, panels, readings and learning initiatives that engage a variety of audiences and communities. Publishing has been a cornerstone of Hauser & Wirth’s activity since the gallery’s founding in 1992. Its publishing activities steadily flourished through partnerships with imprints such as Hatje Cantz, JRP|Ringier, Snoeck, Steidl, Thames & Hudson and Yale University Press before the establishment of Hauser & Wirth Publishers, with headquarters in New York and Zurich.

Hauser & Wirth Publishers’ titles are distributed worldwide via Distributed Art Publishers, Thames & Hudson, Interart and Buchhandlung Walther König.

For additional information, please contact:

Francesca Cosslett ​
​Hauser & Wirth London
​francescacosslett@hauserwirth.com
​M: +44 (0) 7789 825 117

www.hauserwirth.com/publishers ​
​@hauserwirth

_{Caption and courtesy information:}

^{Slipcase, ‘Jason Rhoades: Illastrations’ (2024). Courtesy Hauser & Wirth Publishers}

^{Cover, ‘Jason Rhoades: Illastrations’ (2024). Courtesy Hauser & Wirth Publishers}

^{‘Jason Rhoades: Illastrations’ (2024). Courtesy Hauser & Wirth Publishers}

^{Artwork from ‘Jason Rhoades: Illastrations’ (2024) © Estate of Jason Rhoades}