1 comments about Pin-up Grrrls: Feminism, Sexuality, Popular Culture.

1. For anyone who doubts what a study of pin-ups might have to offer, prepare to be convinced otherwise! Buszek has composed a rich analysis of her subject, which while full of original ideas on the topic never loses sight of the fact that it's a book about pin-ups, images created to titilate and delight. The author's subtlety in interpreting the history of the pin-up, which turns out to be much longer than we might have thought, enables her to extract a number of fascinating threads which connect the genre to contemporary feminist art. It is a compelling and novel approach on a fascinating, under-researched topic. Buszek leaves her reader with a deeper understanding of the pin-up as a genre and of the feminist movement overall. A must-read for anyone interested in either topic, not to mention pop culture in general.

No comments about The Ultimate Guide to Painting From Photographs.

No comments about The Layout Look Book.

5 comments about The Rape of the Masters: How Political Correctness Sabotages Art.

1. In THE RAPE OF THE MASTERS, Roger Kimball, a conservative critic of art and literature, takes to task the entire spectrum of political correctness that he sees as ultimately destructive to a western and humanitarian based culture of art. In his many other books on the corrosive effects of PC and postmodern ethos, Kimball decries how traditionally based theories of the lack of a universal goodness of humanity and the concept that there are no absolute truths that transcend politics have slimed their way from literature to art. Kimball considers several examples of postmodern criticism of art. What he notices about these critiques is the same that he has noted vis a vis literature:
   1) There is no such thing as a universal goodness of humanity. All literature and art must reflect their inner subversiveness.
   2) All art must be viewed under the ideological prism of politics and that politics must be in lock step with Derrida, Foucault, Culler.
   3) All art must have a hidden sexual subtext, the kinkier the better.
   4) The prose style of all discussion must be couched in the very nearly impenetrable jargon of the pomos that demand the overuse of such trite terms as "subversive" "unmasking" "signifier" and "reductive"
   
   What becomes clear after reading Kimball's text is that the unhappy fate to which literature has endured must now be similarly endured by art. Thus the "rape" of the masters.



2. Aside from many trips to the dictionary due to the fact Mr. Kimball has an enormous and delicious vocabulary, I found this book to be informative but mostly full of opportunites to chuckle. It's no surprise that given the trends in academia, the role of art critic has evolved into the practical, obedient soldier that serves a greater "social" purpose aligned with postmodernist philosophies that tend to politicize everything. However at some point, should we readily believe or not question these scholars, we could become unmoored from our sensory selves, our spirits, our inner mysteries that draw us to themes in an unplanned way. Then, we will listen to anything, we will like anything, or if we are told, we can be taught to like something. This undermines the aesthetic value of art. Moreover, if today's art critic is evaluating works via a constricted predictable prism, then my fear is that "artists" will produce to please the critics.
   
   I have to say, as a female, I found the constant feminist and gender interpretations silly, especially with Sargent's "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit" and with Gauguin's "Spirit of the Dead Watching". Aside from the tremendous fatigue of reading the examples of group-speak, I felt that these critics were trying to kill the first-impression appeal of the works. It made me feel as if I were at a crime scene.
   
   In essence, Mr. Kimball demonstrates that the superimposition of current petit theories on great works has permeated art departments in higher education, just as this narrow tendency to evaluate phenomena has permeated other departments. He closes with an apropos quote from Oscar Wilde, reminding us that overcomplication may serve the interests of the viewer and not the object: "Only a shallow person does not judge by appearances."



3. The "theory" people (deconstructionism, postmodernism, poststructuralism, ad infinitum, ad nauseum) have had their way with our intellectual life. Kimball exposes their work for the scam that it is. We've polluted the minds of our children, lost our own intellectual history, destroyed truth, and removed beauty because so few voices have been willing to rise in opposition to the self-referential and self-important Academy. Bravo Roger Kimball. What art "means" is perhaps not always easy, but it's certainly not what some intellectual cretin decides to invent to support their puerile theories. An A+ book that every thinking person ought to read - especially before they send their children to the Academy for political re-education ...



4. Most people by now are familiar with the term "artspeak", which refers to the dissembling, pompous form of obfuscation which is used, purposefully, to hoodwink people who would like to be free to form their own opinions and judgments about art.
   
   The primary perpetrators of artspeak are art critics and art historians--and also, notably, contemporary artists. In this book, Roger Kimball (himself a critic and historian) takes the first two examples on. He convincingly shows, by using a common sense approach and level-headed prose, that many art critics are more devoted to gamesmanship and specious reasoning than to scholarship. In the last chapter, Kimball reveals that the purpose of his book is to provide a "b.s. detector" for the common man.
   
   Well and good. This is an entertaining book with a wealth of information about the examples it covers. But it's also a bit recherche in that its scope is very limited. To engage in an esoteric battle over 7 examples of iconic art is merely to address the nose of the camel. The problem is that most people really couldn't give a fig about art historians and their quarrels.
   
   The book would have been more effective, and more relevant, if it had addressed the full establishment of the art world as it is today. Kimball could have further addressed and provided examples of contemporary art which, in his words, "have been elevated from the mediocre through false aggrandizement." He could have examined the effects of political correctness in the college art departments, the galleries and the museums--where people encounter some of the truly awful results of the failure to instill craft and honesty in students of art today.
   
   "Rape of the Masters" is a pleasant and erudite book that addresses some foolishness regarding modern interpretations of classic art---interesting, but only a sideshow to some of the real and heavy damage that's going on. The book is simply in need of less formal manners, and a lot more teeth.



5. Amazing. Similar to the "Killing of History," showing how similar tactics are applied in the art world. Illustrates how modern art historians and interpreters are engaged in replacing actual experiencing of art with theories of art, political relevance, the commentator's free associations - in short, with text, rather than visual response and contemplation of the actual presentation.
   
   A related goal of the intelligentsia of this ilk is to present emotions as superior to the intellect, specifically as guides and motivators to producing, understanding, and appreciating art (and, by extension, life in general - including politics).
   
   The irrational lengths these critics go to is bewildering; and that they are accepted in so many circles is frightening. Shows a widespread lack of intellectual discrimination.
   
   The author provides an entertaining illustration of how postmodernism is the deadend of irrationalism. Denying the usefulness of reason even for its own ideas. All it leaves is emotionalism. Western culture appears to be on a slippery slope of intellectual incompetence, plunging into a dark age (bloody and mystical), or, hopefully, a rebirth of the Enlightenment spirit of reason will emerge thanks to books such as this.

No comments about How to See a Work of Art in Total Darkness.

5 comments about Gardner's Art Through the Ages (Non-InfoTrac Version) (Gardner's Art Through the Ages).

1. Simply the best art book there is around. It is detailed without being wordy and gives you exactly what you need to know.



2. As a high school sophomore using this book as a reference source for art history AP class has been quite an experience. While encompassing many of the major aspects of art history, there are some points it fails to acknowledge and which can only be addressed by a teacher who actually knows his stuff. The only other complaint that at 13 1/2 lbs., it's very hard to trudge up four flights of stairs.



3. Short review: ... buy it. If it requires selling vital organs or loved ones to pay for it, it's worth it.

   Long review: I enrolled in an Art History course with no idea what I was going to get as a textbook. This book is well-written, intelligent, informative without being overly esoteric, and above all beautiful. The prints are generally in color and always well-reproduced. Historical context is always provided, which gives a solid background for anybody looking to learn about the time any artwork was created. The text also offers insightful commentary about each piece selected for display. This book is so good, in fact, that it's become known as the semi-official Art History 101 textbook. Even if the history's not your thing (and for crying out loud, why not?), the book provides untold hours of beauty.

   One word: perfection.




4. This is lushly detailed book with fine reproductions. However, I found the book to be full of editorial errors and blunders. Why should consumers be asked to pay one-hundred dollars for a book that is this poorly edited? Profits should go towards finding new editorial help. Let's hope the new edition finds someone in charge that is more organized and observant.



5. A superb reference book, excellent color reproduction, but too complicated and wordy for a textbook for beginning Art History
   students.

2 comments about Figuring the Word: Essays on Books, Writing and Visual Poetics.

1. Drucker is undeniably THE authority on how the visual word gets displayed and used within the book form today. Thus this collection of interviews, essays, poetic reflections, etc is broad-reaching in its reflections both on others work and her own origins as a poet and printbook-maker. It is a book which makes her reflections palpable, personable and inspires and invites the reader to participate in the process of asking "where now?" concerning our next step in Figuring the Word withing the book's frame. A great pair to her much headier, scholarly book The Visible Word.



2. I really enjoyed these essays, which range from theory to personal reflection. When discussing specific projects that she has been involved with, it's fascinating they way you are drawn in to feel like you're seeing the behind-the-scenes of the creation process. The treatments of issues of theory were cogent, and well presented. I confess that I dog-eared many a page. The moments of personal reflection were at times almost too personal to bear...not what you might expect from a collection of essays, but welcome to this reader, nonetheless.

1 comments about The Visual Experience.

1. An excellent resource book for beginning Art Teachers. The book starts with the basics and moves to all aspects of arts learning in an organized well defined fashion. Many wonderful visuals and learning aids included.

No comments about Understanding the Arts and Creative Sector in the United States (The Public Life of the Arts).

2 comments about Hooked on Drawing!: Illustrated Lessons & Exercises for Grades 4 and Up.

1. I found the exercises helpful to get me seeing and drawing
   again after a very long layoff.



2. I am always leary of drawing instruction books for elementary age children, because many of them are too 'project' oriented and don't focus on concepts and skills related to drawing. This book is different. The author really understands the artistic process in general, and the drawing process in specific. She also clearly understands the developmental stages children go through. She encourages drawing from life, and covers the basic drawing elements and skills in many easily taught lessons that can be adapted to any teacher's circumstances. I use several basic references already, notably Rottger/Klante's "Creative Drawing" and Thiel's "Freehand Drawing". This author's work dovetails nicely with those books, while still giving new ideas on how to teach drawing to children. Students like and are successful at the projects I have taught from her book. A must buy for elementary and middle school/junior high art teachers.