Softcover | 19.05 x 2.29 x 23.5 cm | 151 pp

Hayward Gallery | 2008 | 9781853322662

Laughing in a Foreign Language explores the role of laughter and humour in contemporary art through the work of over 30 international artists working in a range of media, including video, photography and interactive installation. In an era of globalisation, this book asks whether humour can act as a catalyst for understanding the unfamiliar.

Including essays by Mami Kataoka (Hayward International Curator) and Simon Critchley (Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research, New York), Laughing in a Foreign Language investigates the whole spectrum of humour in contemporary art, from jokes, gags and slapstick to irony, wit and satire.

Featured Artists

Makoto Aida
Kutlug Ataman
Azorro
Guy Ben-Ner
John Bock
Candice Breitz
Olaf Breuning
Harry Dodce And
Cao Fei
Jake and Dinos Chapman
Marcus Coates
Stanya Kahn
Doug Fishbone
Ghazel
Gimhongsok
Matthew Criffin
Nina Jan Beier and Marie Jan Lund
Taiyo Kimura
Peter Land
Janne Lehtinen
Kalup Linzy
Yoshua Okon
Ugo Rondinone
Julian Rosefeldt
Shimabuku
David Shrigley
Nedko Solakov
Barthélémy Toguo
Roi Vaara
Martin Walde
Jun Yang

Fine Art Surveys

The New Curator

The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today

Creamier: Contemporary Art in Culture

Whitney Biennial 2017

Whitney Biennial 2010

The Healing Arts: The Arts Project at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

Magic Show

Magnetic North: Imagining Canada in Painting 1910-1940

Laughing in a Foreign Language

Modern Times: British Prints - 1913-1939

The Twenty First Century Art Book

The Mechanical Hand: Artists' Projects at Paupers Press (Rare edition)