Love Is... signed by Scottish artist & poet Robert Montgomery

The multi-faceted nature of love in words, art and photography

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition, limited to 1000 copies. Hardback, gilt titling to both boards and spine. 24.5 × 17.5cm, unpaginated (c600 pages). Text in German and English.

Full title: LOVE IS Das Buch der Liebe / The Book of Love

This copy carries a warm personal inscription from Scottish artist and one of the contributors, Robert Montgomery, to his wife, the poet and actress Greta Bellamacina. It reads "For my Greta, Love is you & me Baby! Happy Anniversary, July 2020 xxx Lillie Road". Robert Montgomery and Greta Bellamacina lived in Lillie Road in SW London before moving to the Kent. Robert Montgomery (b.1972) is a contemporary artist and poet known for bringing verse directly into public space. Grounded in the post-Situationist tradition and conceptual text art, his work uses melancholy, lyrical, and political prose to address themes of ecology, consumer culture, love, and human connection. He gained prominent international recognition through his subversive, guerrilla-style billboard hijackings. Beginning primarily with his Words in the City at Night series in London, he routinely pasted white-on-black typographic poems illegally over commercial advertisements—often working covertly in the middle of the night.

LOVE IS explores the multi-faceted nature of love by completing the central premise "Love is..." through hundreds of short aphorisms, essays, and guest contributions, the volume pairs curated philosophical and emotional reflections with commentary from relationship specialists, therapists, and authors—all presented within a striking, graphic-heavy typographic design intended for contemplative reading. Robert Montgomery contributes "Love is the Revolutionary Energy", a free-standing wooden scaffolding structure with cut-out words, designed to be set alight as a temporary installation.

The other contributors are indexed at the end of the book and include Woody Allen, Stephan Balkenhol, Banksy, Barbie and Ken, William Blake, Salvador Dali, Eliedon, Damien Hirst, Frida Kahlo, Mikel Mato, Eckhart Tolle, and many, many more.

Condition

Very good condition, with some bumping to the lower corners, a hint of fading to the spine, and some light wear to the gilt titling. The contents are in very good condition indeed.