No comments about Neen.

No comments about Kawamata: Project on Roosevelt Island.

2 comments about A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography: Reading a Culture through Its Art.

1. Donald A. Proulx's book begins with a brief overview of the people who produced Nasca pottery. It then describes the rules or canons used by Nasca potters to form and decorate their pottery. It summarizes the discovery of the first Nasca pottery. It describes how 800 years of Nasca art are divided into various periods and the basis for the chronology. It also describes the methodology of both Proulx and other experts in organizing Nasca art.
   
   Then, as Proulx writes on his website: "The centerpiece of the book is a detailed classification and description of the iconography along with an interpretation of their meaning in the context of the Nasca Culture. [Then] I use the iconography (along with archaeological evidence) to reconstruct the religion, political organization and everyday life of the people of this ancient civilization."
   
   For the general reader like myself, the images in the "centerpiece" are incredible, and stay in the mind well after the pages are closed. Images of realistic plants, animals, birds, and fish and numerous abstract anthropomorphic creatures persist in memory, even though even to experts, some of the forms and meanings are incomprehensible today. I was particularly struck by the comparison between the images on the pottery and the shapes of the Nasca Lines, which Proulx has also studied. I poured over the reconstructions with a sense of real excitement.
   
   I was fascinated with how Proulx created this incredible collection of images. 45 years ago as a student he was hired to catalog a collection of Peruvian artifacts. He continued his interest by photographing Nasca collections throughout Peru and the United States as well as key museum collections in Germany and Great Britain. He added all of the images he found in books as well as museum collections available on the Internet. He then digitized the entire archive and now has approximately 24,000 images in an electronic archive representing pieces from over 150 museums and private collections. There is no doubt that this book, and the conclusions Proulx reaches, are based on the largest collection of Nasca images ever assembled.
   
   As a consumer, I asked myself, so why, oh why doesn't this book include an CD containing all of these images? It would be so much fun to search and compare images from several different pages, and perhaps even find a connection that Proulx had missed.
   
   His answer, also perfectly comprehensible appears on his excellent website [Google "Donald A. Proulx"]: "It has always been my desire to share my archive with other scholars until I realized the legal prohibitions of distributing the disks. I would have to obtain permission from over 200 sources to be able to do this. I also discovered that the file names that I generated on my Macintosh computer are not all compatible with PCs, and many of these names would have to be modified to be used on these other operating systems."
   
   I am very disappointed that I can't play with these images on my own computer. Nevertheless, the book is a treasure. As a lover of art and a student of how art is integrated into culture, I was enchanted. I'll return to these images over and over again.
   
   Robert C. Ross 2008



2. For those captivated by ancient Andean imagery Don Proulx's A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography provides an indispensable guide to the colourful world of the Nasca. Located on Peru's south coast in the first centuries A.D., Nasca potters left a visual account of their world view in an astounding array of depictive designs. Drawing on forty years of study, Proulx offers the first comprehensive catalogue of Nasca motifs, along with his own identifications and interpretations. In addition to the motif catalogue, Proulx provides the most extensive description of the nine-phase Nasca pottery sequence ever published in one place. This contribution alone makes this book a "must have" reference. The Sourcebook also contains Proulx's own overview of Nasca culture, covering special topics such as religion, subsistence, daily life, material culture, and dwellings. A Sourcebook of Nasca Ceramic Iconography is destined to be a standard reference for generations to come. It represents the crowning achievement of Proulx's long and distinguished career, though not, we hope, the last we hear from Don Proulx.

4 comments about American Art Pottery: A Collection of Pottery, Tiles, and Memorabilia, 1880-1950 : Identification & Values.

1. This is a highly personal volume, based largely on the author's own collection and interests. But this takes it well beyond the typical collector's book. Sigafoose manages to revive the vanished America of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, putting American art pottery in its social and cultural context. Especially fascinating are the many postcards, factory views, advertisements, and catalogue pages that show how the makers of art pottery presented themselves to the world. "Large gaudy vases and highly colored pictures look cheap and commonplace," advises one such ad. "One small [art pottery] vase, costing perhaps a dollar, will do more to give that touch of elegance and refinement to the the home than any other one thing."



2. This is a highly personal volume, based largely on the author's own collection and interests. But this takes it well beyond the typical collector's book. Sigafoose manages to revive the vanished America of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, putting American art pottery in its social and cultural context. Especially fascinating are the many postcards, factory views, advertisements, and catalogue pages that show how the makers of art pottery presented themselves to the world. "Large gaudy vases and highly colored pictures look cheap and commonplace," advises one such ad. "One small [art pottery] vase, costing perhaps a dollar, will do more to give that touch of elegance and refinement to the the home than any other one thing."



3. I know Dick Sigafoose personally, and he knows his Art Pottery. This book is well written and beautifully illustrated, and covers all of the major art pottery studios - from vases to tiles. Every page is filled with good, clear color photos, plus detailed information on the studios that produced these works of art. I highly recommend this book to art pottery collectors - both advanced and beginners.



4. This is a lovely book. Beautiful pictures.The collection concentrates on Art Tiles rather than Art Pottery. Great articles on the companies histories. If you collect Art Pottery Tiles this book is for you!

No comments about Decorative Tiling for the Home (Homecraft).

3 comments about Flirt! Volume One: The Art of Naughty (Knockabout Comics).

1. First of all, read Mr. Janson's review, since everything he said is right on the mark!! I can honestly say that this is the coolest pin-up book I own. Cartegena is a classic Vargas sorta airbrush artist who creates very clean, colorful and bouncy vixens, and Sean does small scale color pencil and charcoal drawings of body builder types. I liked Cartegena's best, since his are more sensual while Sean's are alot rougher and more explicit renderings of women (the women actually have goosebumbs on their nipples!!). definetely a good buy if you like pin-ups.



2. "Flirt" the art of Naughty Volume 1 is a double-sided, oversized book collecting the works of Carlos Cartegena one side and Sean Gallimore on the other. The Guatemalan born Cartegena came to the U.S. in 1981 and his work has been featured in magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse, and Femme Fatale. Cartagena is rightly considered as one of the top glamour/pin-up artists working today and in the same class as Olivia and Soroyama. His work is in the finest tradition of glamour pioneers Gil Elvgren, Rolf Armstrong and Mel Ramos.
   
   Page 7 features one of my favorite Cartegena paintings "Alley in Silk" as the beautiful model lies in a bed of silk, pink sheets doing her best 1950's Marilyn Monroe pose. "School Girl" is a charming, sassy painting of a pig-tailed Catholic school girl bending over to get a drink of water in her little mini-skirt. "Red Silk is another favorite that shows a brunette in red bra, garter, and fishnet stockings looking like she was just caught by surprise.
   
   The last several pieces in the book are certainly Ramos/Elvgren inspired 50's pin-up style pieces with women in polka-dot bikinis. This book shows why Cartagena is considered one of the top pin-up artists.
   
   Now flip the book over and check out Sean Gallimore. Gallimore actually got his start working at animation studios such as Hanna Barbera and the Bluth Studios but then decided to dedicate himself completely to his art. That decision was great news for fans of pin-up art. Gallimore has a glamorous yet textured style giving his work a truly unique look.
   
   On page 4 we get Gallimore's take on super heroes as he shows a topless Supergirl getting into her costume in one of his most famous pieces. The piece entitled "Busty Oily" is well named as it shows a buxom brunette, cupping her well-oiled breasts. Gallimore shows off the female anatomy and muscle structure as well as any artists I have ever seen, demonstrated on Pages 22 - 25 showing off a variety of Gallimore's well muscled, nude warrior women.
   
   Flirt: The Art of Naughty is collecting the works of these two men for the first time and pin-up fans will love the two distinctive styles of art.
   
   Reviewed by Tim Janson



3. the art of naughty is a fine collection beautiful babes that men will enjoy looking at.

No comments about Into the Light: The Projected Image in American Art, 1964-1977 (Whitney Museum of American Art Books).

No comments about The World of Wade Ireland.

5 comments about The Art of Mosaics: A Guide to the History, Materials, Equipment and Techniques.

1. Being a tile professional and something of a "tile geek", I found "The Art of Mosaics" to be an excellent resource with complex processes explained and demonstrated in a very complete manner. Mr. Chavarria does an excellent job also in providing detailed information on tools, techniques, materials and structural design for serious mosaic work. This is NOT a book of backyard birdbaths and picture frames. While the criticisms of the work depicted are accurate (they aren't attractive at all), I believe his intention was not to impress but to illustrate technique. In that regard, he excells. An inspirational resource that I never tire of recommending to my friends and associates with serious interests in tile mosaics and it's many forms.



2. It's not for an amateur craftsman (artist).
   If you want to get into this highly profitable and highly competitive
   ancient art of mosaics this book is for you.
   But this art resemble very much masonary.



3. This is a very comprehensive book full of usefull information, however it is a book for those serious in learning the craft of the mosaic. If you are looking to see prety mosaic works and want to do home products this is not for you. This book does offer a great history of the art of mosaics. I found it to have the most comprehensive tool and technique section of most other books.



4. For those who want to get into "building" mosaics-concrete slabs and 3-D objects d'art-this book tells all. It's for serious commercial mosaicists rather than weekend crafters, hobbyists, or even full-time crafters. The materials are expensive; the equipment, cumbersome. You need a large workshop for many of these projects. In addition, the work is kind of-well, ugly! It's filled with complicated but dull geometrics in discordant colors. Chavarria's book has been in a box to be returned since it was given to me months ago on my birthday. I have decided to keep it on the off chance I get some commercial commissions. Then it might be a handy reference.



5. The reason I don't give this book a one-star rating is because it does have comprehensive information on various kinds of stone (you don't see that very much), tools and a bit of interesting laying technique. And I give him credit for attempting mosaics on three-dimensional sculpted objects, though to my taste they are dreadful, and he does give a fairly good overview on bases and adhesives. But the projects? Is horrendous too strong of a word?

No comments about Matthew Barney: Drawing Restraint Vol.2.