1
of
1
Life in Progress
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 20 ratings, 5 reviews)
Brief Description
World-renowned curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, for the first time, grants a private view of how a near-death experience in young childhood catapulted him towards art and artists. When Hans Ulrich was a young boy, he was knocked down by a speeding car. Hospitalized for weeks, he...
Read More
Format: Hardback
$5500
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
Life in Progress
$5500
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
World-renowned curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, for the first time, grants a private view of how a near-death experience in young childhood catapulted him towards art and artists.
When Hans Ulrich was a young boy, he was knocked down by a speeding car. Hospitalized for weeks, he discovered the healing powers of art. Once he was able to travel again, he began to set out alone, on night trains, to meet artists in their studios across Europe.
From these early youthful encounters with the art world to his first exhibition in his Zurich kitchen, and even penning 250 postcards while trapped by an avalanche in Val Bregaglia, Obrist takes us through the formative experiences that made him.
Part unputdownable coming-of-age story, part tour de force of the contemporary art world, and part user's manual on how to live driven by curiosity, conversation, and not least hope, Life in Progress is an enchanting ode to what engaging with art and the people around us boundlessly affords.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780241712207
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 02 October 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Allen Lane
Contributors:
- Translated by Dr David Watson
- Translated by Dr David Watson
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 17.0mm
Width: 141.0mm
Height: 223.0mm
Weight: 269g
Pages: 160
About the Author
Hans Ulrich Obrist is Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries in London. Prior to this, he was a curator at the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Since his first show World Soup (The Kitchen Show) in 1991, he has curated more than 300 shows. Obrist's recent publications include Ways of Curating (2015), The Age of Earthquakes (2015), Lives of the Artists, Lives of Architects (2015), Mondialite (2017), Somewhere Totally Else (2018) and The Athens Dialogues (2018).
Also by Hans Ulrich Obrist
View all-
140 Artists' Ideas for Planet Earth
140 Artists' Ideas for Planet Earth is an urgent and entertaining guide to tackling the climate emergency at home, within your community, and within yourself, from some of the best artistic minds of our generation. Artists are uniquely situated to present new ideas about how we are living, the materials that make up our lives, and how we can begin...Paperback$1900Elsewhere:$2100Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Ways of Curating
The world's most famous curator shows how we can use the process of curation outside the art world. Drawing on his own experiences and inspirationsβfrom staging his first exhibition in his tiny Zurich kitchen in 1986 to encounters with artists, exhibition makers, and thinkersβHans Ulrich Obrist looks to inspire all those engaged in the creation of culture. Moving from meetings...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Judy Chicago: Revelations
A new work from Judy Chicago, fifty years in the making: Judy Chicago: Revelations is the work she thought would never see the light of day. Her captivating narrative combatting the erasure of women from history unites seamlessly with illustrations first made in the 1970s and new work in a striking, contemporary design. Revelations is the work that Judy Chicago...Hardback$7299Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Esther Mahlangu
A captivating exploration of the life and work of the iconic South African artist Esther Mahlangu, one of the great innovators of Pan-African Contemporary Art. 'Esther Mahlangu is one of the most important artists of our time who continues to inspire artists all over the world. Mahlangu is a visionary who brings art into society' Hans Ulrich Obrist Esther Mahlangu...Hardback$4499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Obrist-isms
A thought-provoking collection of quotations from one of the most influential figures in the contemporary art world. Hans Ulrich Obrist is one of the most celebrated curators working today and has twice been ranked #1 on ArtReview's annual list of the most important people in the art world. As the primary or lead author of more than forty volumes of...Hardback$3499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei (b. 1957) is truly an artist for the twenty-first century. In his sculptures, he refashions artefacts and antiques into surprising, sometimes monumental constructions such as Template (2007): hundreds of wooden doors and windows taken from demolished Ming and Qing dynasty temples and arranged into a massive outdoor sculpture. As much as these materials look to the past, they...Paperback$6500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Lives of the Artists, Lives of the Architects
A unique opportunity to learn about the creative lives of the world's leading artists and architects. Hans Ulrich Obrist has been conducting ongoing conversations with the world's greatest living artists since he began in Switzerland, aged 19, with Fischli and Weiss. Here he chooses nineteen of the greatest figures and presents their conversations, offering the reader intimacy with the artists...Paperback$3500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
AdriΓ‘n Villar Rojas
AdriΓ‘n Villar Rojas works concoct imaginary realms. Usually made from clay, his colossal installations are non-permanent and non-collectable, as they disappear or decay over time. His practice confronts the public with ideas of obsolescence and extinction, but also with the possibilities of humankind and its endless imagination. This is the first book to include all of Villar Rojas' most significant...Paperback$8000Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Cahiers dβArt 2018
The 2018 Cahiers dβArt revue revisits MirΓ³βs works and the relationship between MirΓ³ and Cahiers dβArt through an anthology of the most beautiful texts published in the revue. It also introduces unpublished objects and pieces from the artistβs collection. The stencil MirΓ³ made for the No. 1-4 of the 1936 revue is silkscreened as this revueβs cover. The issue also...Paperback$18500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Christine Ljubanovic
Christine Ljubanovic's portrait photographs of famous artists, curators, critics and writers lie between classic portraits and experience reports. Developed as a complete contact sheet, they are living reports of the artists' encounters and also include the environment of the subject of the portrait. The publication shows for the first time an overview of conversation portraits by Christine Ljubanovic which have...Paperback$6099Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Hans Ulrich Obrist, Infinite Conversations
A collection of 31 conversations Hans Ulrich Obrist has held with thinkers and scientists on art, science and philosophy In 2014, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Fondation Cartier, Hans Ulrich Obrist imagined The Infinite Conversation β a title borrowed from Maurice Blanchot β a series of conversations with artists, scientists and thinkers close to the Fondation...Paperback$5399Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Annie Leibovitz
When Benedikt Taschen asked the most important portrait photographer working today, Annie Leibovitz, to collect her pictures in a SUMO-sized book, she was intrigued by the challenge. The project took several years to develop and when it was finally published in 2014, it weighed in at 26 kg (57 pounds). This incredible collection is now available in an accessible XXL...Hardback$35000Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
More from Biography & Memoir
View all-
This Angry Pen of Mine
This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...Hardback$7299Elsewhere:$8999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseFamesick
Chronicling the tumultuous decade between the premiere of Girls to her 2021 shotgunΒ wedding (minus the baby, because she has no uterus), Lena Dunham takes us through herΒ journey with her trademark mix of humor, unsparing honesty, and keen eye for detail. We peek behind the scenes - of her work, her family, her relationships, and her battle to reclaim her body...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseDogs, Boys and Other Things I've Cried About
From the social media superstar behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee--known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue--comes an utterly winning memoir about a twentysomething woman's search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it. A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Stakes
Read our interview with author Noelle McCarthy! A darkly funny, sparkling follow-up to the authorβs bestselling memoirΒ Grand. You have to invite him in. You have to want the vampireβs badness in the house with you. Growing up in Catholic Ireland, Noelle McCarthy is captivated by Bram StokerβsΒ Dracula. The vampire is a risk-free fantasy, a suave alternative to the fraught realities...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseBuilt for This
Raised among strong women, butcher's benches, and hard ideas about what men are meant to be, Brad Poulter grows up knowing he's different long before he has the words for it. But in late '90s small-town New Zealand, 'different' isn't discussed, it's managed. Joining the Royal New Zealand Navy offers escape, certainty, and belonging. The rules are clear, the uniform...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Even the Good Girls Will Cry
Thanks to a thrown beer bottle and a fan letter to a P.O. box, Melissa Auf der Maur's first band scored an opening slot for the Smashing Pumpkins in her bohemian home town, Montreal. Sensing Melissa's talent, Billy Corgan recommended her to Courtney Love. Whisked from her local scene, Melissa joined Hole just after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseAn Ocean and a Day
An utterly riveting, moving and poignant memoir of grief and loss that will speak to anyone who's ever lost someone they love. An Ocean and a Day is Hannah Richell's personal account of losing her husband, Matt, in a surfing accident on Tamarama beach in 2014. It is the story of the grief journey she travelled over the first two...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseA Place to Stand
A Place to Stand by Clare Ward is a profound memoir that delves into the life of a country doctor living and working in the Hokianga Harbour area in the far north of Aotearoa New Zealand. This region is sparsely populated and poses numerous health challenges. This thoughtful account details Clareβs thirty-year career, highlighting the people she works with and...Hardback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseRule of Lies
Written with all the pace and energy of a John Grisham novel β¦ An incredible true story and a great read! BILL BROWDER, author of Red Notice and Freezing Order An American lawyerβs brilliant, propulsive story of witnessing and playing a part in the transformation of Russia under Yeltsin and Putin. A true tale of fascinating personalities, criminal intrigue, harrowing...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseRory
TheΒ New York TimesΒ bestseller The #1Β Irish TimesΒ bestseller The definitive biography of Rory McIlroy, the most important, popular and confounding player of the post-Tiger era. Rory McIlroy contains multitudes. The child of a working-class family from a small town in a war-torn homeland now commutes to work in his own private jet and counts billionaires as confidants. He can overwhelm a golf...Paperback$3699Elsewhere:$4199Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseTe Kaikaukau | The Swimmer
Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera β author of Pounamu, Pounamu and The Whale Rider β decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full-time at Te WΔnanga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo MΔori. This book tells the story of this kaikaukau, this swimmer, and his year...Paperback$3500Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseThis Is Me: A Reckoning
This is a searingly honest and moving memoir from double Golden Globe-nominatedactress Hayden Panettiere. Hayden Panettiere has been in front of the camera since before she could talk. She roseto stardom typecasted as Hollywood's blonde girl next door. As a young celebrity,naysayers were certain she would crash and burn. Not one to disappoint, she did.Hayden Panettiere's irreverent memoir satisfies our...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
