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Mundos Alternos looks at science fiction in the Americas through a transcultural perspective, grounded in an understanding of "Latinidad" expressed through shared hemispheric experiences in language, culture and visual expression. If a Latin American science fiction is said to exist, the texts in this volume interrogate where that Latin America, and its science-fiction imagination, might be located. In addition to focusing on specific regions in North, Central and South America, the book's essays cross time and space, illuminating Soviet influence in Cuba, the impact of American pop culture in Mexico and the cross-pollination of European avant-garde aesthetics in Brazil. Mundos Alternos will be an indispensable resource for contemporary art curators working on Latin America, science-fiction scholars interested in visual interpretations of the genre and readers interested in science fiction, art, Latin America and the diaspora.

Botany of Transcendence: Mythic Plants through the Lens of Naida Osline delves into the intersection of nature, mythology, and human experience through five evocative photographic series-Florescence, Visionary Plants, Tattooed Tobacco, Poppyhead, and Chasing Clouds. From the sensual allure of flowers to the transformative power of psychoactive species, Osline reimagines familiar flora as mythic figures, weaving ancient traditions with contemporary narratives. Drawing inspiration from early botanical illustration and enriched by themes of spirituality, cultural history, and consciousness, the 51 vibrant images in this collection portray plants as dynamic agents that challenge perceptions, inspire awe, and evoke a sense of unease. Accompanied by essays from Tyler Stallings, Douglas McCulloh, and Shana Nys Dambrot, this richly illustrated volume highlights Osline's artistic evolution from 2007 to 2024. Featuring plants such as tobacco, opium poppies, kratom, coffee, coca, belladonna, cannabis, and magic mushrooms, Osline explores their cultural and spiritual significance, as well as their roles in shaping economies, relieving pain, fueling addiction, raising consciousness, and inspiring legislation. By photographing plants at various stages and recombining the images into fantastical compositions, Osline pays homage to the artistry of early botanical drawings while honoring flora's enduring impact on human imagination and society. This collection offers a profound meditation on the interplay between nature, art, and transcendence.

WITH AN INTERVIEW WITH MARGARET KEANE The full screenplay by award-winning Ed Wood writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski for acclaimed director Tim Burton's film Big Eyes, starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz. A rare close-up look into a corner of the 1950s and '60s art world and a perfectly observed account of a dysfunctional marriage, Big Eyes tells the true story of Margaret Keane, an artist who lived and worked in virtual slavery while her husband, Walter, gained fame and fortune passing himself off as the creator of his wife's wildly popular paintings. The story of their toxic relationship would culminate in a Hawaiian courtroom, as Margaret ultimately fights to save her name and reclaim her art, during a heated public court battle. This edition, illustrated with photos throughout, contains the complete screenplay, an afterword by the screenwriters, and an interview with Margaret Keane, the real-life subject of Big Eyes, by Tyler Stallings.

The Signs Pile Up: Paintings by Pedro Álvarez is the first comprehensive book to survey the paintings of Pedro Alvarez. In the U.S., the norm for both books and exhibitions that deal with artists from other regions is to present surveys, which has been the case for Cuban artists who established themselves in the 1990s, during what is called the Special Period, or Periodo Especial. In this light, it is a delight that the University of California, Riverside's Sweeney Art Gallery has the opportunity to co-publish with Smart Art Press on of the few monographs on one of the rising stars in Cuba from the 1990s."

" ... explores how a new generation of artists in California are using photographic prints as the basic medium in the creation of sculptural works, in an effort to expand the use of the media and to examine the nature of the photographic image"--P. [4] of cover.

Aridtopia: Essays on Art & Culture from Deserts in the Southwest United States is a literary mirage that fuses present day reality and a future imaginary which repositions our view of the world from that of the desert. Aridtopia explores utopian communities, water rights, the L.A. Aqueduct, and even the desert as a stand-in for the terrain of would-be astronauts to Mars.