Dancer and choreographer Michael Clark has always reminded me of a dissident celestial being, flying around with reckless abandon, wondrously combining the provocative visual pleasures of both heaven and hell with hedonistic grace. His emotively seditious way of injecting a punk aesthetic into classical and modern dance has galvanized my senses for years. Clark has always danced to his own beat, so it’s fitting that the graphics and typography of his long-awaited monograph (recently published by Violette Editions) reflect the irreverent, yet harmoniously refined sensibility of this highly influential and iconoclastic artist. Designed by London-based graphic designer Frith Kerr (founder of Studio Frith), this extraordinary 348-page retrospective contains over 580 illustrations, many of which are previously unseen. Featuring texts by Charles Atlas (longtime collaborator and set designer for the Michael Clark Company), Mikhail Baryshnikov, Suzanne Cotter, Peter Doig, Grayson Perry, Cerith Wyn Evans, plus many others, and photography by Richard Haughton, Nick Knight, David LaChapelle and Wolfgang Tillmans, the book is rife with visual and archival material celebrating Clark’s career from the late 70’s to the present.

At the age of 13, Michael Clark left his home in rural Scotland to join the Royal Ballet to study classical dance. Apparently, they were devastated when, at 18, he told them that he was grateful for the training, but that he wouldn't be sticking with their trite old company, because he was a punk and would rather choose sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. He has since gone on to collaborate with a long list of star-studded characters that reads like a who’s who of London’s gay nightlife and post-punk scenes: Leigh Bowery, Trojan, Mark E. Smith and The Fall, Wire, Laibach, Hussein Chalayan, Sarah Lucas and one of his biggest admirers, Mikhail Baryshnikov (for whom he choreographed two works in 2003 and 2004). Included are interviews with many of Clark's such conspirators from the worlds of dance, visual art, fashion and music. Quintessentially capturing Clark’s vision of creating something radically new and innovative, this monograph is a must read for anyone interested in the world of dance and choreography beyond established procedure and principles.