5 comments about Jubilee City: A Memoir at Full Speed.

1. My son is incarcerated and I sent this book to his cell mate who is an aspiring artist. He loved it. He has talent and someday, maybe, we will all be buying JP Kennedy's!
   Thank for sharing the story-you never know who'll you will be inspiring to stay straight and focused.



2. Joe Andoe must be fifteen years younger than the artists and poets I'm most familiar with who hailed from Tulsa--the WHITE DOVE REVIEW crew of Joe Brainard, Dick Gallup, Ron Padgett. His book JUBILEE CITY rivals the memoirs of Brainard (I REMEMBER) and Padgett (OKLAHOMA TOUGH, MY FATHER KING OF THE TULSA BOOTLEGGERS) as far as getting the lowdown on one of America's most exciting, durable, and dreamlike city-states. When I picked up this book, out of curiosity towards all things Tulsa, I had never heard of the painter Joe Andoe, and now that I've read it I realize he's one of the most famous artists of the world and he's shown all over the known universe. Somehow he flew under my radar but perhaps I have my head in the clouds or buried in the sand like a West Coast ostrich, what do I know? In any case Joe's childhood was like a real-life version of JT Leroy books, except for one stabliizing factor, his father was a real man's man who didn't say very much but Joe always knew that, no matter how many juvenile shenanigans young Joe got his sorry butt into, there was always going to be one man who had his back, his dad.
   
   The saddest part of the book was when Andoe Sr., a relatively young man, had a heart attack and Joe had to bundle him into the car and drive him to the hospital, simultaneously talking him alive, keeping him going. But I think Mr. Andoe didn't want to stay alive not smoking, having to watch his diet, living as "half a man," and so, it wasn't long before they were carrying him back to his Maker.
   
   Joe's interest in art went into high gear when he found out that his chichi society drawing teacher could sell a drawing or a watercolor for 900 dollars--900, as much as the car Joe was driving cost. "He looked like veal to me, all soft and white." And Joe was skeptical of the teacher's talents, thinking to himself, if his s**t flies, then mine will too. At college he learned about men like Robert Smithson, Dennis Oppenheim, other hipsters like himself, but as he says, it wasn't until he saw one of Warhol's pink Marilyns that art got its hook into him once and for all. The teacher told him he should have more humility but Joe just looks at him sideways and says, "I don't know what that word means--is it like humid?"
   
   He had to deal with rapacious and uncaring dealers who tried dicking him every which way from Sunday, and he wound up with a Smith College alumna girlfriend in NYC who, addicted to heroin, had him breaking into his own kids' piggy banks for nickels and dimes. His brushes with the law were frequent and outrageous, and if you read THE BASKETBALL DIARIES or seen the movie with Leo Di Caprio you will agree with me by admitting that Joe Andoe was the baddest boy in many moon,s but he never lost his soul and he never lost heart. His story further proves the continuing vitality of Tulsa and Tulsans, who include also Garth Brooks, Leon Russell, Gene Autry, and David BREAD Gates in music and, in other fields, Jennifer Jones, John Hope Franklin, Sammy Sosa, Larry Clark, Alfre Woodard, S. E. Hinton who wrote THE OUTSIDERS, and Wes Studi. What do these folks all have in common? They're tough and they're cool, ubercool.



3. Reading Joe Andoe's memoir is like walking through a collection of his paintings. Sublime, sensual and haunting. His words reach right into your soul as do his paintings.Unlocking ghosts of distant memories.For anyone who has lived outside the box ,or for that matter looked inside and not quite know how to fit in there is comfort in knowing you are not alone. Loved it.



4. So, world-renowned (and successful--which isn't so easy to pull off) artist Joe Andoe has written his memoir. Why do you care? Because Joe grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma - an unlikely breeding ground for an artist. Because Joe grew up misbehaving in all sorts of ways, had more close calls with the law and death than he can count, until he finally moved to New York City to make his name and to find his fame. Joe's voice, as a writer, is like an undertow -- before you know it, you're miles off shore, completely sucked into his world of all-encompassing love (for his children, his painting) and lust (for women, alcohol), as he paints and parents his way to recovery and redemption. The life presented here is one lived on Joe's terms, with sparkling moments of bigheartedness, crazy humor, and poignant regret. I was entranced by his bad boy youth in Oklahoma, full of muscle cars and dewy teenage girls, the insider details of the world of art galleries and agents, and most of all by how he sorted out all his inner demons and rebuilt connections with his family, friends, children.



5. JUBILEE CITY is one of the most moving and unusual memoirs I've ever read. It's snapshots from an artist's life that are often funny and heartbreaking all at once. They are always moving, and often universal experiences. Andoe has a fresh and unique way of expressing himself. I loved this book and found myself reading stories from it over and over again.

No comments about Paul Calle: An Artist's Journey.

1 comments about The Art of Monhegan Island.

1. This book is basically a collection of images of Monhegan paintings from the late 19th century through the present. I found the majority of the works technically and artistically limited. The two Hoppers from the Whitney (on pages 96 and 97)are beauties! These are among the very few exceptional paintings in the book. The Henris, Bellows, Kents and Stoddards selected are not the strongest that I've seen. Most of the contemporary work is hopelessly stiff, thin, weak or empty. The Schwartz family collection accounts for a good little chunk of the book, which makes me wonder if Mr. Little really picked what he thought was the best Monhegan art, or simply chose works that were easy to get permission to include. Considering the great Monhegan art that has been produced over the last 120 years, the works presented in this book are disappointing.

No comments about Rembrandt: 2His Life, His Paintings.

No comments about La Cappella Degli Scrovegni.

No comments about The art of post-impressionist painting (The Grumbacher library).

No comments about El Greco to Murillo: Spanish Painting in the Golden Age, 1556-1700 (Icon Editions).

No comments about Capturing Motion in Watercolor.

3 comments about Giotto: The Scrovegni Chapel, Padua (Great Fresco Cycles of the Renaissance).

1. Please fix the author's name!!! It's BRUCE Cole, not BROCK Cole. You may note a difference in their subject matter if you review Brock Cole's titles.



2. Be aware that the completion in early 2002 of the very extensive restorations of the frescoes makes this book at least partially obsolete. If you want to see what the frecoes look like now, you'll want a book published after April, 2002.



3. I first stumbled upon this book shortly after having lived in Italy for five years and drinking richly of art, history and culture. I was so pleased to have discovered this rich treasury which beautifully repoduces each and every fresco of the magnificent little Scrovegni chapel in Padua -- a renaissance Italian city near Venice and made famous by Saint Anthony.

   This little book of only 118 pages is in fact powerful enough to be a coffeetable treasure due to its stunning and colorful reproductions of the frescos and then coupled with its brilliant and succint text.

   In many ways, I found this book more satisfying than the actual visit I made to the chapel a few years earlier. Why? The chapel is small and every wall and ceiling is covered with the work of that paramount, Renaissance master, Giotto. Even still, however, it can be difficult to enjoy the detail and nuisance of many of the frescoes that are located up high or in the shadow of dim lighting. This book removes the obstacles and allows you to enter into the artistic and theological mystery of each and every fresco.

   Both novice, art historian and theological guru alike would enjoy adding this little gem to one's own library. The text provides insightful commentary into all perspectives of this chapel -- religious, artistic, and historical. A select bibliography adds even more opportunity to carry on the research.

   I was saddened to see that the price had actually gone up from the time I first purchased a copy in 1993, when the book was first published. However, I'm not surprised. Whereas one would expect most books to decrease in value until they become those "bargain books," I believe that this one will be around for a long time -- a real classic for the library.

   I highly recommend it for your collection.

1 comments about Modern Oil Impressionists.

1. A truely wonderful book, that has more than tripled in price from the date of release. 128 pages full of life and color, artist that are well knowen world wide are inside: Trevor Chamberlin,ken howard,Gerald Merfeld, Maxwell Wilks and many more. this book is just not about the paintings we have all seen and loved. It gives insight to the work and the masters themselfs. Well worth the lowest amazon listed price of $100