Our hands keep us in touch – quite literally – with the world. They enable so much of that which makes us human: communication, creativity, comfort and self-care. Think of how we ‘handle’ others, issues, dilemmas and ourselves. Yet our hands in many ways are anonymous. They can be decorated or neglected, but as adjuncts to the rest of the body, mere accessories to the face.  

In this remarkable and original book, artist Cally Trench seeks to redress the balance.  

105 Artists’ Hands is a series of portraits of the hands of artists, not only demonstrating the palms, backs and fingers for what they are intrinsically, but also for what they represent.

The 105 sets of hands photographed in the book range from those at work to those on display, hands that are at rest to hands engaged in action. Some of the portraits are of hands which are holding objects that might relate to the artist’s purpose or personality – echoing perhaps the use of coded imagery often found in Renaissance painting. Other hands seem as though they are found objects in themselves, without connection to any specific body. They are full of personality but at times almost devoid of movement.
With each photograph comes a text written by its subject, exploring ideas around their hands: what use they are, how well they behave.

Spread throughout the book are poems and short stories, snatches of prose and additional art by the artists whose hands are represented. These, too, explore the power of hands – their reach and identity.
Cally Trench spent two years taking the photographs - visiting artists at their homes and studios, using the opportunity to engage with artists whose work covers a wide range of practice and subject matter. The book itself was brought together in lockdown, and the final set of hands are those of the book’s designer Jane Glennie, a fitting coda.

105 Artists’ Hands is a vivid, thought-provoking work, which challenges us to look at the world anew and to reassess how much our hands are part of us (or we just the extension of them). A book to hold on to.
 
Victoria Lambert, Education and Careers Editor for the Daily Telegraph and award-winning journalist

105 Artists’ Hands is due for publication in July. Pre-order now.

Thank you so much to all our supporters ... Cally Trench and I are so grateful to everyone who has thrown their hat into the ring and committed to ordering a copy of her forthcoming book.
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We succeeded in our target for advance orders, and we are pleased to report that the book is currently in production.

Excited to announce that PP are working with artist Cally Trench to produce a book of her photography project '104 Artists' Hands: An Exploration of Hands'. 

The book will include Cally's images with texts by each artist photographed, as well as texts and images as an exploration of hands. We're working on a schedule that is a little Covid dependent, but publication will be this summer or early autumn.

A new evolution of Robert Good's Breaking project is now an online installation at www.cable-depot.com until 7th February 2021. The site is hosting the collaboration between Robert and Richard Ducker, and includes the presentation, the full wall text, as well as an interview and Q&A that you can watch. 

Peter says: "Thank you to everyone who came to the stealth launch of my book this afternoon with Peculiarity Press. It was very generous of Picnic Foods to host it and of Suzanne Floss Stallard and the Jelly team for fitting me into the OpenForArt programme. It was a delight to share the venue with  Lisa- Marie Gibbs and Emma Bradbury's Emotional State installation and Plant Emporium.
I really appreciate the support and friendship that have made this project possible."

Thank you so much to everyone who made advance orders and trusted that we would get there. Hope you enjoy the results. Books available here if you've not got yours yet.

Hosted by the Stash Collective Micro Gallery as part of the Reading Open for Art festival programme and inspired by Robert Good's 'A New Dictionary of Art', I spent a couple of hours chatting and debating with shoppers in Broad Street about what art does or doesn't mean to them. I think we sparked a good few thoughts throughout the morning.

With thanks for inspiration from Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Marcel Duchamp and Carl Andre and the many people that define art for themselves by deciding what it is not.

A corner of Glastonbury included a billboard based on the Breaking book by Robert Good.

​Described by the NME as: 
"Shangri-La, the outspoken and much-loved corner of Worthy Farm is celebrating its tenth incarnation this year, serving up its usual dizzying dose of the theatrical, the radical and the bizarrely brilliant through its latest set of visual arts, curious installations and live performance."

Delighted to say that Peter Driver's 'A Walk for Stanley' has been put to bed and is now at the printers. The first copies are expected by early July. So pleased to have been able to work on this beautiful book - a real pleasure.