Published by Bouncy Castle and Semiotext(e) 2022, with generous support from Barbara Blake, Chartwell Trust, Mary Flaws and Jonathan Flaws, Michael Lett and Andrew Thomas, and Pollen Contemporary Art Foundation.

Everything you read about Los Angeles is true. The city adapts to its own mythology. It's such a ludicrously discussed place that I always feel slightly idiotic in my attempts to produce a serious discourse about it. Raves in the desert, however, are superb. And ecstasy is a great drug. Also, if you hadn't heard, music sounds better when you're high. And the desert surrounding LA is wondrous.
—Giovanni Intra, ‘LA Politics’ 

Giovanni Intra's inventive approach to art writing provides a guide to the New Zealand and Los Angeles art scenes of his era.

Before his early death in 2002, Intra enjoyed a rollercoaster ride through the art world. He was an artist and gallerist—cofounding two legendary galleries, the artist-run space Teststrip in Auckland and China Art Objects Galleries in Los Angeles—as well as a writer. Clinic of Phantasms provides a guide to the New Zealand and Los Angeles art scenes of the day, including texts on key artists from New Zealand (John Hurrell, Fiona Pardington, Denise Kum, Ava Seymour, Ann Shelton, Gavin Hipkins, Daniel Malone, and Slave Pianos) and Los Angeles (Charles Ray, Mike Kelley, Paul McCarthy, Dave Muller, Evan Holloway, John McCracken, and Julia Scher).

What makes Intra's work of enduring significance is his inventive approach to art writing, which was informed by his interest in punk, surrealism, and Daniel Paul Schreber, the famous case study in paranoia and hallucination.

This volume also features writing on Intra from Chris Kraus and Mark von Schlegell, Andrew Berardini, Roberta Smith, Tessa Laird, Will Bradley, Joel Mesler, and Robert Leonard.

Giovanni Intra (1968–2002) was born in Auckland, New Zealand, growing up in the small town of Tūrangi. He attended Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland, where he received a BFA in 1990 and an MFA in 1993. In 1992, he co-founded Teststrip gallery. In 1996, he moved to Los Angeles on a Fulbright scholarship to attend ArtCenter College of Design’s Critical Theory programme. He graduated with a master’s in 1999. That year, with Steve Hanson and others, he founded China Art Objects, which quickly became an influential dealer gallery. Intra wrote for a range of publications and became a regular contributor to Art and Text. His art works are held in New Zealand public collections, including New Plymouth’s Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Wellington’s Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and Auckland Art Gallery. His archives are held by Auckland Art Gallery’s E.H. McCormick Research Library.

What the reviewers say …

Clinic of Phantasms is an invaluable compendium of writings, and having an opportunity to read them is a gift. The mad intelligence of Intra, and the love he generated in others, shine through. The volume is a gesture of respect by a group of people joining forces to gather the texts, contribute the introductions and bring the project to life in a beautiful way.
—Jennifer Bornstein in Contemporary HUM

There are many Intras to choose from, and the multiplicities (and duplicities) of his character charge his legend. Intra the mischievous and charming artist; Intra the writer and critical soothsayer; Intra the influential gallerist and society riler. His short life and long legacy have not been easily assimilated into New Zealand’s love of overseas achievers, and for good reason, as Intra evaded classification and played at a prescient and critically engaged interface of art.
—Emil Scheffmann in Metro.