Artists Books

Courageous, breath-taking insight into the shabby workings of the white male mind. This is a truly great book. Chicago's life is an inspiration to all of us. I'm giving this book to both of my daughters.

Is there a more gifted artist in the world than Judy Chicago? While men continue to pretend that women artists do not even exist, Chicago has fought all the male paradigms and WON! Her gut-wrenchingly honest writing will inspire a lot of fear among males who are trying to keep women from showing their work, but every once in a while I feel that women have nothing to worry about as far as that goes: because artists like Judy Chicago continue to astonish all with her brilliance!

A beautiful and powerful book by a great Woman artist, an artist who has never allowed the white male patriarchal art world to dismiss her work (although they are still trying). I found her experience with her black lover and her rejection of white male attitudes touching and stirring. A fine book that questions the male attempt to dismiss women from art.

It seems that while Women continue to produce some of the most important art work of our time, there are many men in the art world and in criticism who wish to pretend that the most courageous Women's voices are not heard. I salute Judy Chicago for combatting what these men have perpetrated upon us as artists and as Women. She is so courageous, so forthright, never one to shy away from speaking the truth at all times even as she questions 'truth'. Her experiences with her Black lover are also fascinating, and it seems that now that Women and African Americans are joining to fight patriarchal assumptions/proscriptions, we are better able to appreciate the efforts of Judy Chicago to proclaim the relations of artistic struggle and the struggle of civil rights. A WONDERFUL artist.

This is an amazing, colorful book full of the beauty of the desert southwest. A very generous sized book shows the detail and the colors that you cannot find in any other area in the world. Those who are not familiar with the desert southwest and Mell will see an artist who's color pallet is similar to the French Impressionists.

This book of painter Ed Mell's desert landscapes (also flowers, cattle, and cowboys) is a very satisfying survey of his career from the 1970s to 1990s. It illustrates his evolution from minimalist to representative styles, rich with strong colors, his latter works revealing a masterful grasp of space and light. Unlike painters like Maynard Dixon, who loved to work directly in remote locations on the Colorado Plateau, Mell works in his Phoenix studio. To capture the look and feel of his desert vistas, he uses photography from the vantage point of a helicopter. The resulting paintings are imaginative composites of the land forms and clouds recorded on film, and the above-ground perspective heightens awareness of depth, space, distances and the curvature of the earth.

As of this writing, Hagerty's book is out of print (he has also written a biography of Maynard Dixon, "Desert Dreams"). If you can acquire a copy, it will reward you with 100 pages of vivid reproductions, including photographs of Mell's whimsical cowboy sculpture, "Jack Knife" and "Diggin' In." Hagerty shows how Mell works, illustrating the stages of a painting's development. There is also a chapter-length biography of the artist, with family snapshots and a few examples of his early commercial work.

Beyond The Visible Terrain: The Art Of Ed Mell will introduce the art student to one of America's best and most innovative contemporary painters of the American Southwest. This compendium of Mell's visions of the landscape, flora and fauna, and people of the Colorado Plateau evoke both an esthetic and an emotional response that make him one of the most popular artists with some of his canvases being translated into limited edition lithographs and quality posters. Enhanced with insightful commentary on Ed Mell's life and work by Donald Hagerty, Beyond The Visible Terrain is a remarkable, beautiful, enduring testament to a uniquely talented artist -- and would grace any individual, academic, or community library art history collection.

This book is a wonderful, simple monograph of the vibrant art of an artist who is inspired by the United States' most distinctive terrain. Ed Mell delights in the natural color of the Southwest, and exploits and manipulates it with high-key oil hues that span the available spectrum of color. Subtly he mixes razor-sharp, jagged regions of color in a painting with diffuse, soft blends that draw the eye in pulses throughout each painting. The color contrast in each painting is dramatic and complex, as it is required to be in any successful painting. The book is simply a succession of highly accurate color reproductions of these masterpieces in roughly chronological order of their creation. It is accompanied by a straightforward, well-written biography of the Southwest-born artist, who began his career oddly enough in New York in the early '70s. The biography is put entirely in the beginning of the book, which allows the art to possess full textless pages afterward. The biography sheds much anecdotal light on the development and expansion of Mell's style. Were it not for th is information, the change and progression of Mell's style is revealed eloquently anyway in the art's chronological presentation, from Mell's idealistic geometric reductions in the late '70s to the highly developed, jag-edged style that made his reputation in the '80s to the wider subject matter and more nuanced rendering of paint that marked his paintings of the last decade. The book is a treat for the eyes from beginning to end, even and maybe especially if you are sick to death of "Southwest Art". Open it up to any page, set it up on a bookshelf to any page at eye level, and light it well. Then keep it there for at least a week before changing the page. This is bold, honest representational work that carries America's landscape tradition into the 21st century.

Another excellent edition of the DC Comics' Factoid Press "Big Book" series. This one focuses on a variety of criminals, from small-time hoods to organized crime. Not terribly morbid, but interesting all the same.

One more excellent volume from Paradox Press! In this book, you learn about criminals from history, from small-time hoods to organized crime. This is the volume that demonstrates just how crime does not pay!

In this new installment of the "Big Book of..." series the level of artistry and research stays high as it had in all other pieces so far.
I own most of the installments that have hit the market over the past few years and simoultaneously I'm an avid comic-fan. That being as it is I can safely say that this happens to be one of the very best comics publications I've ever seen.

Particularly to this book, it's a history of some of the most notorious underworld figures in the United States. Except for the masterheads of crime it also includes some characters which became famous rather for their lack of intelligence. In the 63 stories included are also figures which were well known in their time and faded into history afterwards but whose story is extremely interesting nevertheless.
Impeccably researched (as usual) and with that subtle sarcasm or cynicism that this series is well known for, this is an absolutely must-have item.

It's been often after I've read issues of the Big Book series that i went on to further reads because of what i discovered in these books. That i think, is a huge compliment in itself. If you're not acquainted with this series start over here with the "....Little Criminals" part. A pure gem.

All these Big Books are simply marvelous. The contributing artists number in the fifties so the artwork never becomes boring. Factoid books has done a remarkable job of fusing top rate artwork with extemely accurate short tales or biographies. For anyone interested in the less successful side of crime or for more obscure matters like the midget member of the Gallo gang this book is a goldmine......the whole series is fantastic popcorn for the mind....hard to put down till you are finished.....read one and rush right out and buy another....I have all fifteen and reread them often

This book is a gem. We bought it as a gift for our 8 yr. old son who is a bird enthusiast, and my husband and I, both illustrators, love it just as much. Charley Harper's illustrations are at the same time ingenious, gorgeous and often humorous. This is one of my favorite books and a great value too.

This book was a very good example of Charley Harper's artwork and how he developed his own style. He was a very unique and interesting artist. I love his work. And his comments that he put with his art is also fun to read. He was a unique artist. I had seen him on Sunday Morning and decided I liked what I saw so decided to pursue purchasing some of his art in books. The preciseness of his art is quite unusual and I am amazed how he enables you to see the birds in their natural habitat by using the utensils he used to create his art. I would love to see some of his silk screen work. He paid attention to detail and color and it is reflected in his work.

I have an original copy of this book which was given to me by my grandmother. The art and the text are whimsical and playful but have a strong undercurrent of environmental respect. Mr Harper is brilliant. This book would be worth three times as much as the list price,

I'm a big fan of Charley Harper's art, but what's makes this book so special is Charley's writing. His sense of humor and word play are equal to his paintings! Great gift for all occassions.

This book of Blake's illustrations -- both color and detail black & white -- of his interpretation of the Book of Job is such a beautiful treasure.

`Blake's Illustrations for the Book of Job' by the great 18th century illustrator and poet, William Blake, is a superior source of inexpensive copies of these works, which the publisher characterizes as `among the artist's greatest achievements'.
The best feature of the volume, aside from its reasonable price, is the size of the illustrations. As long as one is willing to stress the spine of the book a bit, it is very easy to make excellent scans of the illustrations. And, if one needs especially high quality scans of the large color reproductions, you can cut out the page(s) to insure that they lay flat on the scanning bed with no shadow creeping in along the edges. Since the list price of the book is less than $10, it is virtually no hardship to buy two copies of the book to have one intact on your shelves while the second copy gives up its pages for your presentations.
For those unfamiliar with Blake's work, it's important to know that he did not one, but at least two full series of illustrations, both of which are in this volume. The first is a series of 21 black and white engravings, with borders including English and Hebrew writings relevant to the scene depicted. The second is a series of 21 larger color engravings, the Linnell set, made by manually applying watercolor to the black line image made by an engraving reproduction. Supplementing the color engravings are two additional sets (not of the full set of 21) called the Butts Set and the New Zealand set. There are some small variations in coloring and in line detail between the parallel images in the New Zealand set compared to the Linnell set reproductions. One advantage of the New Zealand set is that they are smaller, so they may be less difficult to scan and embed in a document.
Blake's Job illustrations are a terrific find for those who wish to do a Bible study of the Book of Job, as it reinforces the sense that this is one of the most powerfully written pieces of literature in the whole of Judeo-Christian scriptures.

Blake's Illustrations for the Book of Job makes me want to take a Bible study course, just to learn as much as I can about the compelling sketches so beautifully printed on the pages of this eye-catching book. Each lovely oversized page of this book depicts a Scripture episode found the Biblical Book of Job, all of them worth meditating on. I am particularly impressed by the images Blake paints of God, who appears consistently benevolent even in the face of Satan. This book creates fascinating imagery, painted by a man whose life was, apparently, somewhat fixated on this particular subject. Blake painted these images sometime in the early 19th century, but they are still contemporary and memorable. I really love this book for its artistic interest and as a subject for an art history course.

I was shown a copy of this book 25 years ago. Blake's art transformed my world. I have been a student of Blake ever since. I still go back to this book often. This book, in a few pages, gave me an entry into Blake's system.

The book is written in the style of a poem. The poem tells a lot about Monet, where he painted and what he painted. The author also painted the illustrations, which are beautiful. She includes Monet in the illustrations. I read this book to a class of first graders and they loved it. We then attempted to make our own Monet paintings by using our finger tips. (They used their finger tips to cover an entire page with color) The children were inspired by the book and the illustrations. I felt that the book provided a lot of basic information about Monet and is great learning tool for young children.

When fall comes, so do the books. It is approximated that almost 2,000 children's books will be printed this fall. Of this mass number, perhaps a handful--a very small handful-- are actually worth reading to a young child night after night. Bijou Le Tord's A Blue Butterfly: A Story about Claude Monet, is part of this handful.

The book came out in 1995, yet it still holds my attention and respect. What sets this book apart from other biographies about the artist and other children's books is its celebratory nature. Its luminescent art work invites parents and children to revisit the art and life of Claude Monet. It captures the essence of art in its warm colors, creating a soft aura of beauty that encloses the reader even after the book is finished.

Anybody interested in sharing art with a young child or sharing the life of an artist should purchase this book. Not only do readers learn about an early twentieth century artist, but they also get to share in the joy of a contemporary artist, Bijou Le Tord.

My 5 yr old daughter and I picked this up at the library and what a find! This is a book of delightful watercolor illustrations of Monet out in the field, in a garden, by the sea. The pictures are so pleasant and very reminiscent of Monet's work, and the few lines that accompany the drawings are perfect for young children. I heartily recommend this book.

I have always been bedazzled by Monet's painting and his home, Giverny. This book is another wonderful way to share Monet's gifts with young children. As a first-grade teacher, I appreciate the ideas suggested by the teacher below who shared her method for offering Monet to young children. An exceptional treasure to enjoy over and over again!

I can't believe my eyes, this book is full of beautiful pictures, magic moments in the Blue Note studio with the jazz masters, all of them.
Not to talk about the price, what's 20 bucks for a book like this? it's worth so much more. A huge book in every aspect. I've got just one word: INCREDIBLE. Buy it.
zl1

Yes, there IS a calendar version of this book but the calendar just scratches the surface of this collection.

I intitially borrowed this book while looking for reference images for a video project. It became obvious to me in a very short time that I would HAVE to purchase this book. Even though I am a professional photographer and filmmaker, there are very few photography books I am willing to spend my money on. There are many I like but few I wish to own. This book, like all of the photo books I've purchased, moved me in a powerful way. These are beautifully executed, intimate black and white portraits. Most of the photographs are spontaneous and shot during recording rehearsals. Several of the images graced the covers and sleeves of the records produced by the jazz record label, Blue Note.

Francis Wolff was not just Blue Note's primary photographer (and quite talented), he was also the label's co-founder. His already skillful eye was that much more in tune (no pun intended) with his subjects and sensitive to the working environment. He was able to capture subtle moments few likely could. Most images are illuminated by a single light source, spotlighting the artists and capturing them in moments of thought, exhilaration, playfulness and intensity.

Seeing greats like Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, a young Herbie Hancock and Hank Mobley in these intimate moments early in their careers is powerful. The design is outstanding and the printing if these photographs is impressive. This is a must have book for the music lover, photographer, or photography lover. If you don't fit into one of the above catagories, don't sweat it. You will love this book simply because it is beautiful.

I must admit I am a little confused as to why the other reviews list this as a book.....

Good, insightfull text, great photographs, oustanding print quality: a must have for all lovers of jazz, jazz musicians and photography. The photographer's empathy for his subject(s) just oozes from the pages of this wonderful book. There's a picture there of a dreamy John Coltrane, that just totally catches the sensitivity, the intelligence, the emotionality of a great musician and a great human being! A must buy !

I got this one in hardback from the public library before I bought this paperback version. I liked the hardback version, but I was disappointed with the paperback version and here's why:

It appears as if the pictures are copies of copies of copies taken out of the the original hardback and copied right on some copier rather than done correctly all over again, and there is at least one VERY GOOD picture M I S S I N G!!!!--one of my favorites--where Bob is reading a magazine or paper up close and he has his hat on. NOT DONE RIGHT IS ALSO A TOP FAVORITE: the one where Bob Dylan is playing chess at a French cafe--REALLY REALLY GOOD ONE, I love that one very much--but it still seems COPY OF COPY OF COPY quality--IT IS DARK AND GRITTY. The quality of the pictures in the original hardback book are FAR superior. and I SEE it. I did a copy of the one at the cafe on a copier before I returned the book to the library and believe me it is BETTER quality than the one in this paperback version!!! AAAAHHHHH!!! Maybe people won't notice, but I do notice it. Unfortunately I had to return the hardback book to the library.

P L E A S E TELL THE PUBLISHER TO R E D O THIS BOOK PROPERLY AND RESPECT Bob Dylan's fans because we want quality pictures. This book deserves to be done again properly. Paperback is okay to save the forests, but the quality of the pictures has something to do with the process and technology that they use. They just dished out a paperback version and copied the pictures from some other copies (as I see it) just to make money with no concern about the QUALITY OF THE PICTURES.

May I also suggest Dylan: Visions, Portraits & Back Pages as a book with FAR FAR FAR FAR SUPERIOR quality pictures and it even costs less!

Please do this PICTURE BOOK all over again, PUBLISHERS!!! These pictures deserve FIRST QUALITY production.

These photos will absolutely break your heart.
They will break your heart absolutely. If you love Dylan and the mythology he created around himself, this book will give you a glimpse behind the curtain. The images of Joan Baez and Dylan are so gorgeous you'll want to duck out of your busy life and cry for five crucial minutes. The image of a back-lit Bob and a shadowy Joan in profile is a just, simple ode to these monoliths. These photos give us what we've intimated about Bob all along.

many of these photos became icons over the years. not only absorbing photos of dylan, but classics of the photographic art. dylan was lucky during this period to be photographed by so many excellent photographers: kramer's work is the best

This seems to be a reprint of a book that first came out in the 60's. I still have my copy but it's a smaller format than this reprint. It is chock full of great photos of Dylan being whimsical and eccentric, posing in a studio setting. Very professional. All seem to be from the "Highway 61 Revisited" period (1965)when Dylan affected a "mod" style of clothes, including polka-dot shirts and Beatle boots. This is a treasure for any Dylan addict. Except for one essay, the book is all photos without text.

A collage of hip-hop, graffiti girl magic layered on top of style and substance. This book is a vivid reminder of everything you ever loved about NY, LA and hip-hop but from a fresh b-girl perspective. I never figured I would embrace it as much as I have. Love it, love it, love it!!!

as a huge fan of her work i was so happy with this book. it is so well done, the photos and stories are amazing. really hot! must have for the graffiti heads

this girl is hot, graffiti is slamming, and everything sexy.....a must for any downtown lover!

The most awesome and extremely personal graffiti book I have ever seen! A must have for all 90's new yorkers!

I discovered Brion Gysin in the late 1980s through my interest in the band Psychic TV. In the summer of 1987, after my freshman year of college, my roommate and I flew from Detroit out to Portland Oregon to transport a car from there back to the East Coast. While in Portland I purchased a copy of this book from a little music shop called the Ooze. My friend and I then took turns reading it aloud to each other as we drove.

While I have little recollection of the specific content of the book itself, I know that my copy of it is one of the only books still on my shelves that was made to be ragged and worn from reading and re-reading it back in those days. For years I had a dream machine set up in my room, and I feel I owe much of my brain's wiring to the influence of Brion Gysin.

If you are interested in the so-called "beat generation" but want to go to a different place than all the drugs and drifter stuff will take you, then I strongly recommend that you pick up a copy of this book and get to work.

I came across this book (and to Gysin himself) through my interest in William Burroughs. Many who read this book will do so for this reason, as Burroughs cites Gysin as one of the primary influences on his life. This is basically a book of interviews with book excerpts thrown in. It doesn't seem to be organised with any great system, and nor does Gysin's thought seem to be easily pigeonholed. (As he says himself in this book) Some of the conversations and ideas in here are extremely interesting, however. Gysin has a fairly unique take on humanity. He calls himself a monumental misanthrope, claiming that man is a 'bad animal.' At the same time, he seems to be a severe misogynist, having no time for women. Despite this, there is something appealing about this book. Gysin is an extreme critic of Western civilisation, preferring indigenous cultures.

This is worth reading for two reasons.

1. To learn more about Burroughs' muse and greatest influence.
2. To learn about the worldview of Gysin himself, who is nothing if not interesting.

This book serves as in introduction to the thought of Gysin, which I imagine would be better explicated in other, more recent books on him. There is a recent biography I am interested in reading, as well as a collection of Gysin's paintings (which are interesting in themselves). 'Here to Go' is also an attractive, well presented volume. I can recommend it wholeheartedly.

A title that was lost to Savoy during the Savoy Books Ltd raids and eventual collapse of 1981. The book was conceived, commissioned, and co-edited by Michael Butterworth, who was left uncredited by Terry Wilson. WSB wrote the introduction. Butterworth commissioned a first interview for his small press magazine Wordworks, but other interviews followed after Butterworth conceived the idea of publishing a book based on Gysin's life and ideas similar to the Third Mind, a book Gysin co-wrote with Burroughs compiling their cut-ups and collaborations. Genesis P Orridge who published it in RE/Search finally found the book. The book covers such topics as the cut-up discovery, mirror-staring (a step leading to personality switching), drugs, sex, days in Northern Africa, Hassan I Sabbah, transcendentalism, viruses, and space travel. Claimed to be far superior to Bockris's book, Here to Go presents both artists with more insight and less heavy-handed pedantry. Wilson writes with many positive qualities that stand out, leaving the readers curious for more. A good introduction into the minds of two fascinating artists.

A great piece to have, I recommend it to anyone interested in Brion Gysin, as well as for any serious reader of W.S. Burroughs. The conversations are comprehensive, Terry Wilson is obviously not just some rube who happened to speak with Gysin. It covers philosophy, art, life, music, permutations, cut-ups, religion, nearly everything across the board, with some excellent stories by Mr. Gysin appearing throughout. It's a shame that so little information about this man is readily available. Undoubtedly one of the most important artists/people of the 20th century. Now all we need is for The Third Mind to be reissued, along with everything else. (Anyone heard of a guy named "Flash Allen"? Supposedly there is a film called "Brion Gysin" made by him, but there seems to be no information about this anywhere.)

a.n.

(the book also has hard to find excerpts by Mr. Gysin and Mr. Burroughs from no longer extant writings as well as photographs)
(I gave it 4 stars because some of the calligraphy is noticeably pixelated, which gave it an amateurish kind of look, though the photographs do not have the same problem)