In this beautifully conceived artist's book, the paintings and drawings of Glenn Brown referencing the meteoric career of Ian Curtis and Joy Division are brought together with specially written texts by the novelist Michael Bracewell and the poet Lavinia Greenlaw - both writers perfectly attuned not only to the haunting music of Joy Division but also to the art of Glenn Brown.
Taking its title 'Licht und Blindheit' from the last Joy Division record to be released during Ian Curtis's lifetime, Michael Bracewell's essay describes the musical intensity and profound romanticism that have made Joy Division as iconic and musically influential as Fraftwerk or The Doors.
Lavinia Greenlaw's poetic sequence reflects on the ways in which Joy Division's music made sense of a 1970s adolescence and the impact of Ian Curtis's death. Her poems are interspersed with reproductions of paintings by Glenn Brown which are either tributes to Curtis or inspired by Joy Division's lyrics and music.
Glenn Brown also contributes a spectacular sequence of new flower drawings, made specifically as a visual introduction to this book and as a meditation on the band's legacy, and for the de luxe edition of 30 copies he has made a signed and numbered screenprint entitled There is no place for us.
Joy Division has been designed by Peter Willberg and printed and bound in Germany by Plitt GmbH. It is set in Monotype Perpetua and Berthold Corporate and printed on 200gsm Gardamatt Art, 175gsm Colorplan Real Grey and 215gsm Gardacover Hifi.
The de luxe edition consists of thirty signed copies numbered 1/30 to 30/30 and ten signed hors commerce copies numbered HC 1/X to X/ X. With each copy is a signed original screenprint by Glenn Brown, in two colours, measuring 410 x 297mm and printed on polyester film 89 micron over black card, numbered as above. The solander boxes and screenprint wallets for the de luxe edition have been hand-made at The Fine Book Bindery, Northamptonshire. (This de luxe edition SOLD OUT, ref 28 February 2017)
The regular edition consists of 400 signed and numbered copies.