The Sienese Shredder

The good ship Shredder embarks upon its fourth voyage into uncharted waters with another rich trove: specially designed portfolios by Martin Wilner and Arne Svenson; Lawrence Weschler on the surfeit of Christlike imagery in contemporary art; a previously unpublished sketchbook by Joan Mitchell; Kurt Schwitters works on paper including early letterhead designs and a reproduction of a rare Ursonate print; a portfolio of Valentine Hugo’s quirky surrealism; Fred Mann’s interview with English tenor John Mark Ainsley; National Book Award winner Mark Doty’s meditation on Walt Whitman’s tomb; Rochelle Gurstein’s rediscovery of the mysterious Venus de’ Medici; the kinky side of Swiss Renaissance master Urs Graf’s drawings; Luise Kruger’s folksy fabric works; a new Shredder-only story by Allan Gurganus; Wilson Bentley’s microscopic photographs of snowflakes; Frances Richard on Duchamp and Gordon Matta-Clark; a large selection of R. Crumb’s little-known portrait spools; and a CD of accordionist Guy Klucevsek’s early work.