Recognizing that illustration is one of the fastest growing graphic disciplines, The Beautiful presents the work of the 100 most trendy and promising practitioners. Edited by Anneke Krull, the book offers examples of illustration in both fashion and packaging design, as well as a focus on combinations of illustration and photography.

Now out from Gestalten, The Beautiful is a nice edition to the publishers graphic design centered publications.

Page views follow.

I am a massive fan of Patrick Dougherty, regularly visiting his “The Rambles” at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT. His first monograph, Stickwork, is out this month from Princeton Architectural Press.

Using minimal tools and a simple technique of bending, interweaving, and fastening together sticks, artist Patrick Dougherty creates works of art inseparable with nature and the landscape. With a dazzling variety of forms seamlessly intertwined with their context, his sculptures evoke fantastical images of nests, cocoons, cones, castles, and beehives. Over the last twenty-five years, Dougherty has built more than two hundred works throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia that range from stand-alone structures to a kind of modern primitive architecture—every piece mesmerizing in its ability to fly through trees, overtake buildings, and virtually defy gravity. Stickwork, Dougherty’s first monograph, features thirty-eight of his organic, dynamic works that twist the line between architecture, landscape, and art. Constructed on-site using locally sourced materials and local volunteer labor, Dougherty’s sculptures are tangles of twigs and branches that have been transformed into something unexpected and wild, elegant and artful, and often humorous. Sometimes freestanding, and other times wrapping around trees, buildings, railings, and rooms, they are constructed indoors and in nature. As organic matter, the stick sculptures eventually disintegrate and fade back into the landscape. Featuring a wealth of photographs and drawings documenting the construction process of each remarkable structure, Stickwork preserves the legend of the man who weaves the simplest of materials into a singular artistic triumph.

South African photographer Zwelethu Mthethwa is a rising star in his native country. He’s also subject of an exhibition at The Studio Museum in Harlem through October 24, 2010, and a new book from Aperture.

Zwelethu Mthethwa: Inner Views brings together three series by South African photographer Zwelethu Mthethwa (b. 1960). “Interiors” and “Empty Beds” document the domestic lives of migrant workers around Johannesburg, South Africa, while “Common Ground” focuses on the shared experience of natural disasters in urban areas, featuring houses in New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina and on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, after wildfires.

Flavorwire profiled the exhibition fully yesterday. After the jump, a small selection from Inner Views.

Published in June by Mark Batty, Poster Boy’s debut monograph, The War of Art!, celebrates his inventive reworking of commercial advertising. Poster Boy has undeniable wit, and he’s also neatly thread the fine line between cultural critic and vandal.

This weekend, Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art will launch the book in LA. The event includes book sales and a number of limited edition prints. No prizes for guessing the Carmichael’s thoughts on Poster Boy – proceeds from the sales will go to K.A.R.A.T.E., a new legal defense fund for street artists.

Images from the book, the flier for the event, and more information follow after the jump.

I couldn’t really beat this description from OHWOW, so here it goes -

OHWOW is proud to announce the release of EAT SHIT DIE. The second compilation of the ‘zine FUCK THIS LIFE by Weirdo Dave. In 2008 OHWOW published, FATAL, the classic collection of the best pages and centerfolds from the first ten issues. Two years later EAT SHIT DIE offers issues 11-14 in their entirety with color centerfolds unlike the original zines. First Come First Served. All images are found physically and true to size. Fuck a Google image search. FUCK THIS LIFE can hold its own no matter how big your ego. Legendary Low Life. Hysterical. Sensational. Authentic

The book hits for $28. Available at OHWOW.

Page views follow.

Beginning with a comprehensive historical overview (the Prefab House has origins in 1830s England), Prefab Houses follows the development of mass produced housing solutions to vehicles for ambitious design. The book covers prefabricated builds around the world, offering insight into the varied usage of these structures. Undoubtedly the key to the publication, a full range of one of high design prefab homes rounds out the survey.

Out now from Taschen.

Select page views after the jump.

My friends at Living Proof are all over this forthcoming book -

Oh, the sticker. What a great little medium. Hard to scratch off. Hard to weather. And an easy and quick way to get your art/name out there to the masses. Soon, Rizzoli will release a new, 300+ page book dedicated to the sticker simply called: Stickers: Stuck-Up Piece of Crap. Exploring and arranged by theme, Stickers features over 4,000 sticker graphics from Raymond Pettibon, Jenny Holzer, Banksy, Neck Face, Barry McGee, Swoon, Stanley Donwood, ESPO, Clayton Patterson, Carlo McCormick, and Michael Betancourt. The book also includes contributions from McCormick and Shepard Fairey, as well as eight sheets of stickers, most of which are original works, by artists such as Barry McGee, Ryan McGinness, and José Parlá.

Phaidon has released Creamier, the fifth installment in their Cream series. The idea is simple: 10 world-renowned curators select 100 of their favorite emerging contemporary artists. The curators then contribute a written piece on each of their selected artists, and 700 color images from various exhibitions throughout the world accompany their criticisms. The delivery, on the other hand, is far from ordinary: the collection of essays is printed in broadsheet format and comes in a protective sleeve (for posterity’s sake). For a book on what great curators think is of note right now, it seems pretty fitting.

Creamier follows Cream, Fresh Cream, Cream 3, and Ice Cream (all released between 1998 and 2007). Curators include (among others) Tirdad Zolghadr, Catherine Wood (Tate Modern), and Debra Singer (The Kitchen). Available here.

Words by Adrian Pelliccia.

Forthcoming from Abrams and authored by Melissa Chiu and Miwako Tezuka, Toshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool follows a major retrospective exhibition celebrating the artist. “Created in partnership with Asia Society Museum in conjunction with a major retrospective, this is the first comprehensive monograph on the work of art superstar Yoshitomo Nara. It assembles 20 years worth of paintings, sculptures, photographs, and drawings that map the evolution of one of the most influential and internationally renowned artists working today. The book and exhibition will draw connections between Nara’s work and the sensibilities of youth subcultures worldwide, focusing on themes of alienation and rebellion, particularly in relation to rock and punk music, the inspiration and subject of many of Nara’s works. Featuring artworks that have never before been exhibited and playlists selected by the artist, this is the book Nara’s legion of devoted followers have been waiting for.”

The book is available for pre-order direct from the publisher. Thanks to Arrested Motion for the reminder.

Daily Icon points to a new 5-volume cookbook Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. Though I’m a huge fan of cooking and cook books in general, I’m posting here because the photography is fantastic. The quality is similar to that of Heston Blumenthal’s tomes, which similar push cooking in new directions. And, just like the cooking is pushed, so too is the food photography. Gorgeous stuff… just don’t let it intimidate you in the kitchen.

Full information regarding the book at Daily Icon.

More images follow.