Art Resources > Previous new art & graphics books

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October 2009

New Art Books:

Hell bound : new gothic art: Francesca Gavin. 2009; The first book to focus on new gothic art Hell Bound highlights a new generation of contemporary artists who are increasingly obsessed with the darker things in life. Illustrators, street artists, sculptors, photographers, filmmakers, installation artists, and painters are all reflecting this renewed interest in gothic imagery. Horror has become a more accepted part of everyday life - and art as always is a reflection of life. Here death metal, the war on terror, and throwaway pop culture meet feeding the popular fascination for all things gothic. Among the art featured is the iconoclastic work of Ken Kagami, Terence Koh, Ricky Swallow, the photographic collages of Marnie Weber, the drawings of Chloe Piene and Wes Lang, the paintings of Matt Greene and Iris Van Dongen, the outsider punk art of Pure Evil ,and the illustrations of French. (Amazon)

Japanese art and design: editor, Joe Earle ; texts, Joe Earle and others. Updated edition, 2009; An overview of Japanese art from the last four centuries, this newly updated edition is an indispensable survey of the V&A's greatest treasures from the Toshiba Gallery of Japanese Art. The Museum's superb Japanese holdings, acquired over a period of 150 years, begin with the international exhibitions of the second half of the 19th century and continue to the present day. Among its treasures are exciting contemporary works by leading artists as well as historical masterpieces. Brilliantly illustrated, this book is an unrivalled panorama of Japan's achievements in art and design from the earliest times, showcasing netsuke, ceramics, lacquerware, textiles and dress, woodblock prints, armor, and metalwork. (Amazon )

Paul Thek : artist's artist: edited by Harald Falckenberg, Peter Weibel. 2008; Paul Thek occupied a place between high art and low art, between the epic and the everyday. During his brief life (1933-1988), he went against the grain of art world trends, humanizing the institutional spaces of art with the force of his humor, spirituality, and character. Twenty years after Thek's death from AIDS, we can now recognize his influence on contemporary artists ranging from Vito Acconci and Bruce Nauman to Matthew Barney, Mike Kelley, and Paul McCarthy, as well as Kai Althoff, Jonathan Meese, and Thomas Hirschhorn. This book brings together more than 300 of Thek's works - many of which are published here for the first time - to offer the most comprehensive display of his work yet seen. The book, which accompanies an exhibition at ZKM/Museum of Contemporary Art presenting Thek's work in dialogue with contemporary art by young artists, includes painting, sculpture, drawing, and installation work, as well as photographs documenting the room-size environments into which Thek incorporated elements from art, literature, theater, and religion. (Amazon)

Posters for the people : art of the WPA: by Ennis Carter. 2008; This lavish coffee-table book highlights 500 of the best posters produced by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during America's 1930s and 1940s. The WPA employed hundreds of out-of-work artists to raise awareness about public issues and civic life in the United States. These posters provide a snapshot of life (and graphic design) during the Great Depression and offer timeless messages about the merits of hard work, good parenting, a clean house, and healthy personal hygiene. "Posters for the People" includes many 'new' images never before published in book form. Full of beautifully reproduced images and fascinating text about a decisive moment in American history, "Posters for the People" is essential reading for artists, designers, collectors of Americana, and anyone interested in U.S. history. (Amazon )

Younger than Jesus artist directory : the essential handbook to a new generation of artists.: 2009; "Younger than Jesus: The Artists Directory" is the product of some of the most wide-ranging research in the field of contemporary art in years: the first 'Younger than Jesus' triennial at the New Museum. Working with a team of 200 'insiders' (curators, writers, teachers, critics, bloggers and artists) scattered across the globe, curators Massimiliano Gioni , Lauren Cornell and Laura Hoptman have selected the 500 best international artists under the age of 33, from which they will curate the exhibition component of the triennial in spring 2009. While most generational exhibitions are retrospective, this one will be predictive, anticipating the future and revealing upcoming trends. "Younger than Jesus: The Artists Directory" will therefore be an unparalleled resource for curators, collectors, dealers and critics. By serving as a handbook to currrent artistic innovation, it will also appeal to artists, designers and anyone curious about the latest developments in visual culture. (Amazon)

Vermeer and his world, 1632-1675

Serena Cant. 2009

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is recognized as one of the foremost painters of the Dutch Golden Age. This period witnessed an explosion of artistic activity in which an unprecedented number of painters depicted an increasingly diverse range of subjects. Vermeer's subjects are absolutely typical of the Golden Age, yet his vision is supremely distinctive. Vermeer and his World begins with a comprehensive introduction to Vermeer and his paintings: from his early life and influences, key themes and inspirations to his artistic vision and technique. A virtual gallery presents an illustrated timeline of Vermeer's entire oeuvre in chronological order. Individual chapters showcase all 36 works attributed to Vermeer in giant size accompanied by an informative commentary on the historical context, explanations of key themes and box features on how particular paintings have influenced and inspired other works. (Amazon)

Art Direction Explained, at last!: Steven Heller; This book is a highly informative, highly entertaining introduction to what art direction is and what art directors do. Written by two of the world's leading experts on the subject, it covers the role of art director in numerous environments, including magazines and newspapers, advertising, corporate identity, museums, and publishing (Amazon) )

Drawing for Interior Design: Drew Plunkett; This book covers all stages of visual presentation as part of the interior design process, from early concept sketches and more evolved technical drawings to complex computer renderings, models for client presentation, and production drawings for contractors. Step-by-step sequences and special tips show students how to make the most of the available media, while practical advice on everything from communicating with clients and contractors to the legal implications of production drawings are covered (Amazon)

Juxtapoz car culture: Juxtapoz magazine; Juxtapoz Car Culture provides the unique opportunity to fill your imaginary tank and zoom into a segment of the real world populated by those totally devoted to car culture. Packed with meaty profiles on featured artists together with cartoonists, stripers, painters and photographers working in the field, this book is indeed one of a kind (Amazon)

Logo Design, Vol. 2: editor, Julius Wiedemann; In this follow-up to our immensely successful first volume, you ll find over 2000 logos as well as special case study features on brand identities such as MTV, CCTV, and the Metropolitan Museum s Berlin branch (Amazon)

Printmaking : a complete guide to materials and processes: Beth Grabowski; Printmaking is a comprehensive and up to date introduction to fundamental printmaking techniques including relief, intaglio, collagraph, lithography, screen print and monoprint. It shows how some of the latest and most experimental prints have been made using these techniques (Amazon)

What is Illustration?: Lawrence Zeegen; This new title in the highly successful Essential Design Handbooks series sets out to explain the underlying principles of illustration, as a means of visual expression, as a highly competitive industry, and as a contemporary, innovative practice. What is Illustration? is a must-have guide for illustration practitioners and students, as well as graphic designers and other media professionals who require an understanding of the issues and principles surrounding contemporary illustration (Amazon)

September 09

New Art Books:

Chalo! India : a new era in Indian art: Essel, Karlheinz. 2009; "Chalo means "Let's go!" in Hindi and the enthusiasm of that expression is evident throughout the pages of this catalogue for an exhibition at the Essl Museum in Austria. Encompassing a broad range of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, and installation, the book features more than one hundred works by artists and collectives from all over India." (Product description, Global books in print)

Exactitude : hyperrealist art today: Taylor, John Russell. 2009; "This astonishing book presents a selection of contemporary artists working in a figurative, hyperrealist style. It includes work ranging from still lifes and extreme closeups to large scale cityscapes and landscape painting, and features an enormous range of artists from around the world, all of whom work in a meticulous fashion and for whom the brushstroke is subservient to the image itself. This breathtaking, large format volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in art in the 21st century." (Product description, Amazon UK)

Georgia O'Keefe : abstraction: edited by Barbara Haskell. 2009; "Although Georgia O'Keeffe (1887�1986) has long been regarded as a central figure in 20th-century art, the abstract works she created throughout her career have remained critically and popularly overlooked in favor of her representational subjects. Beginning with charcoal drawings made in 1915, which were among the most radical creations produced in the United States at that time, O'Keeffe sought to transcribe pure emotion in her work." (Amazon US)

Henry Darger: Biesenbach, Klaus. 2009; "This large-format, lavishly illustrated volume presents the iconic American outsider artist in a new critical light, locating him for the first time as a major figure in the history of contemporary art." (Amazon US)

Titian : the last days: Mark Hudson. 2009; Towards the end of his life Titian didn't finish his paintings. The elderly artist kept them in his studio, never quite completing them, as though wanting to endlessly postpone the moment of closure. Created with the fingers as much as the brush, Titian's last paintings are imbued with a sense of final, desperate effort - a rawness and immediacy that weren't to be seen again in art for centuries. But what did Titian, who experienced as much in the way of material success as any artist before or since, mean by these works? Are they a harrowing, final testament or simply a collection of unfinished paintings? In the outbreak of plague that finally killed him, Titian's studio was looted, and many paintings taken. What happened to them is not known. This book is a quest - a journey through Titian's life and work, towards the physical and spiritual landscape of his last paintings. Looking at Titian's relationships with his artistic rivals, his patrons - including popes, kings and emperors - and his troubled dealings with his own family, the narrative moves from the artist's hometown in the Dolomites to the greatest churches and palaces of the age. Parallel with these physical travels is a journey through the paintings, following the glittering trajectory of Titian's life and career, the remorseless formal development that led to the breakthroughs of his last days. Titian: The Last Days is an exploratory history of the artist and his world that vividly recreates the atmosphere of sixteenth-century Venice and Europe, a narrative in which the search for the subject becomes part of the subject itself. The result is a brilliant and compelling study of one of Europe's greatest artists that is at once passionate, engaging and deeply personal. (Amazon)

Art:21 : art in the 21st century. Seasons:- three & four (DVDs) - we also have seasons 1&2!

2005 & 2007

DVDs: Contemporary artists work in globally influenced, culturally diverse and technologically dynamic milieus. In the US artists reflect a varied and changing landscape of identity, values and beliefs. The artists featured in this series demonstrate the breadth of artistic practice across the country and reveal a wealth of multicultural talent. Each episode is organized around a theme to help audiences compare and contrast the artists profiled. (Amazon)

Art for Obama : designing manifest hope and the campaign for change: Fairey, Shephard. 2009; "Few events in recent memory have captivated the world's attention like that of Barack Obama's historic presidential campaign. Not only did it stir passionate political momentum, but it also inspired the creative talents of a world of artists, illustrators, and graphic designers. Shepard Fairey's iconic Hope portrait became the face of the campaign and, more than ever before, innovative graphic design became a central strategy for winning the race." (Amazon US) )

Printmaking + mixed media : simple techniques and projects for paper and fabric: Elisha, Dorit. 2009; "Learn simple printmaking techniques and how to incorporate printed images into mixed-media artwork on paper and fabric with, a twist on traditional methods. No printing presses or special papers are required with this creative approach. From screen printing, collagraph, monoprinting, and sun printing, these techniques are especially affordable and accessible to any artist, from beginner to experienced." (Amazon UK)

Born on the streets : graffiti: Chandes, Herve. 2009; "The book then explores the explosion of creativity worldwide that followed the New York movement, especially in Paris, which became the nerve center for European graffiti in the 1980s. It juxtaposes the different aesthetics of cities like New York, Paris, London, Berlin, and Sao Paulo, highlighting styles specific to each city and the diverse practices of contemporary artists who began in the graffiti movement. There are interviews with artists who influenced the development of street art and with others, such as gallery owners, who were involved in its evolution." (Amazon US)

The art of Osamu Tezuka : god of manga: McCarthy, Helen. 2009; "The Art of Osamu Tezuka is the first authorized biography celebrating his work and life and featuring over 300 images - many of which have never been seen outside of Japan. With text by respected manga expert Helen McCarthy, The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga pays tribute to the work of an artist, writer, animator, doctor, entrepreneur, and traveler whose curious mind spawned dozens of animated films, and over 170,000 pages of comics art in one astonishingly creative lifetime." (Amazon US)

August 09

New Art Books:

Art and spiritual transformation : the seven stages of death and rebirth: Finley Eversole. 2009; Art and Spiritual Transformation presents a seven-stage journey from the darkened soul to the light of spiritual illumination that is possible through the world of art. Finley Eversole introduces a meditation practice that moves beyond the visual content of an art form in order to connect with its embedded spiritual energy, allowing the viewer to tap in to the deeper consciousness inherent in the artwork and awaken dormant powers in the depths of the viewer's soul. Examining modern and postmodern artwork from 1945 onward, Eversole reveals the influences of ancient Egypt, India, China, and alchemy on this art. He draws extensively on philosophy, myth and symbolism, literature, and metaphysics to explain the seven stages of spiritual death and rebirth of the soul possible through art: the experience of self-loss, the journey into the underworld, the experience of the dark night of the soul, the conflict with and triumph over evil, the awakening of new life in the depths of being, and the return and reintegration of consciousness on a higher plane of being, resulting finally in ecstasy, transfiguration, illumination, and liberation. To illustrate these stages, Eversole includes works by abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko and modern visionary artists Alex Grey and Ernst Fuchs, among others, to reveal the powerful and liberating forces art contributes to the transformation and evolution of human consciousness. (Amazon)

Contemporary art in the Middle East: edited by Paul Sloman. 2009; Contemporary Art in the Middle East is the first in an exciting new series--ARTWORLD--that seeks to showcase the most engaging, cutting-edge contemporary art being made around the world today. Contemporary Art in the Middle East gives those with a genuine interest in art and culture a vital source with which to see the amazing work coming out of a region where reports of political conflict often eclipse those of cultural innovation. With essays by esteemed writers, academics and practitioners, Contemporary Art in the Middle East profiles the work of the most cutting edge artists coming out of the Middle East today, including that by Khosrow Hassan Zadeh, Shrin Neshat, Mona Hatoum, Farhad Moshiri, Shadi Ghadirian, Ghazel, Mitra Tarizian, Reza Aramesh and Yehudit Sasportas. With artist pages presenting specially-commissioned works from some of the most important artists currently working out of the region, Contemporary Art in the Middle East is the first survey of its kind, shattering old stereotypes and providing a forum for art that is insightful, humourous, interesting and inspiring. (Amazon)

Futurism: edited by Didier Ottinger. 2009; Impassioned, polemical, and rebellious, the Futurist movement exalted the modern world by placing machines, speed, and technology at the heart of its artistic experimentations. Futurism embodied the same reality that it tried to capture: a dynamism that reflected the changing structure of the visible world. This landmark survey, published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's Manifesto of Futurism, traces the movement from its origins in Italy to the international creative forum. Richly illustrated with 130 works by luminaries such as Boccioni, Balla, Picasso, Braque, Leger, Sonia and Robert Delaunay, Duchamp, and Malevich, the book explores different modes of expression within shared themes: the lighting of modern cities, dance, crowd movement, and the speed of new mechanical means of transport. Featuring essays by the world's leading authorities on Futurism and the avant-garde, Futurism is a radical reassessment of the movement and essential for understanding the genesis of many of modernism's greatest works. (Amazon)

Paula Modersohn-Becker: Averil King. 2009; The innovative, highly original work of Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907) helped pave the way for modern art in Europe. In recognition of her achievements the first museum in the world devoted to the work of a woman artist, the Paula-Modersohn-Becker-Museum, was founded at Bremen. Designed as an introduction to the life and work of an artist whose output is not widely known elsewhere, this book aims to set her in her time and place for readers unfamilair with the art and culture of late nineteenth-century Germany. Paula trained in Berlin and at the rural artists' colony of Worpswede, near Bremen, marrying her fellow artist Otto Modersohn in 1901. She continued to live at Worpswede, but in the remaining years of her short life insisted on spending time in Paris, in order to experience the work of other important European artists and sculptors. Forming a close intellectual friendship with the great lyric poet Rainer Maria Rilke, she especially admired Cezanne, Rodin and Gauguin. Her persuasive and distinctive use of form and colour mean that she is now thought of as an early Expressionist. (Amazon)

Sleuth : the amazing quest for lost art treasures: Philip Mould. 2009; CSI meets Who Do You Think You Are? meets Time Team meets The Antiques Roadshow. Two-dimensional works of art become three-dimensional thrillers. Philip Mould is an international art dealer who has lived the high stakes game of art sleuthing for twenty years. In Sleuth, we encounter the fascinating dealers, experts, auctioneers and restorers who risk fortunes and reputations to turn overlooked artworks into coveted treasures. Sleuth is laced with dramas: / Gainsborough's earliest picture emerges in a Los Angeles saleroom - the author has three days to find the missing facts and decide what to pay. / The most powerful man in the art establishment, with the influence to elevate a copy into a priceless original, is asked to look at a 'fake' Rembrandt self portrait: if he says yes a GBP5,000 picture turns into GBP5 million masterpiece. / A Vermont professor unlocks the door of a defunct Catholic church to reveal a hidden cache of 300 portraits. / An auctioneer notices from the upper story of a bus that Damien Hirst's restaurant is being dismantled. He swoops in and sells the fixtures and fittings for GBP13 million. Sleuth is a series of stories which not only reveals the extraordinary culture of detection but the people behind it. Paintings and their discovery become a way into the minds, preoccupations and professions of a raft of influential figures beyond the commercial and museum facade - men and women who have shaped their lives in pursuit of truth and profit through art. (Amazon)

Bacon's arena (DVD): 2009; DVD: Francis Bacon is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century. This special edition has been created to mark the centenary of his birth and is produced in association with the Estate of Francis Bacon and the film is considered to be the definitive biographical documentary on Francis Bacon. (Amazon)

The cool school : how L.A. learned to love modern art (DVD)

2009

DVD: New York City has long been regarded as the heart of the American art movement, but near the end of the 1940s, as the post-war rise of Abstract Expressionism became the new wave of painting in the United States, a small but determined band of painters, curators, and collectors on the West Coast were determined to make themselves known. Filmmaker Morgan Neville examines the rise of the Los Angeles art scene and how it brought a new and vigorously American slant to contemporary painting in the documentary The Cool School. Neville profiles Walter Hopps and Irving Blum, owners of the Ferus Gallery, which championed the new school of Los Angeles art; sculptors Ed Kienholz and Larry Bell; and painters Ed Ruscha, John Altoon, and Billy Al Bengston, all of whom were championed by the Ferus Gallery; architect Frank Gehry, whose ideas dovetailed with those of the new L.A. artists; and Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell, actors and Hollywood bohemians whose love of the new L.A. art (and willingness to buy pieces) provided crucial support for a struggling movement. Jeff Bridges serves as narrator. (Amazon)

The freelance design handbook: don't start work without it: Fishel, Cathy.; The Freelance Design Handbook is a practical and inspirational illustrated desk reference for freelance designers hoping to develop a long term and successful career path. The book is packed full of best practice, practical business tips, and professional and creative strategies from successful freelancers, case studies, alongside industry reference resources, to inform aspiring freelance designers of their options. This book explores the different design fields open to freelancers, covering all genres of graphic design, including, branding, corporate identity, publishing, information design, and how each area is best approached from a freelance standpoint. (Amazon] )

The handy book of artistic printing: Clouse, Doug.; Print design, like virtually all other decorative arts, exploded in a profusion of ornament during the late nineteenth century. The authors of this book painstakingly unearthed examples of this once-ubiquitous if short-lived design culture, and present a treasure trove of visual material, most never before seen by today's designers. (Global books in print)

The independent design guide : innovative products from the new generation: Houseley, Laura.; The availability of high design at affordable prices has created a new generation of consumers who are looking for unusual and one-of-a-kind objects. A growing collector's market has fueled the interest in young, emerging designers, whose work has become highly sought after, and galleries are opening everywhere to help meet this new demand. This is the first publication to present these recently discovered talents and their creations. The focus is on pieces that are produced locally or by designer-makers who do not yet have international distribution. (Amazon)

Invitation and promotion design : ideas with impact: editors, Lou Andrea Savoir, Paz Diman.; Every day, countless promotional e-mail, business cards, flyers, posters and invitations are printed, sent and received, but only a select few capture our attention and interest or are remotely memorable, desirable, or even collectable. Invitation and Promotion Design presents the best of this genre worldwide. This incredible collection is an excellent reference demonstrating design examples that have had great impact in a noisy, media-glutted world. (Amazon)

1,000 garment graphics : a comprehensive collection of wearable designs: Everett, Jeffrey.; This book offers designers a vast collection of inspiring and innovative graphic works from the real world. The main emphasis is on fashion from t-shirt graphics, to sneakers, to baseball caps and more. The book will feature trends as well as graphics that endure the test of time. (Amazon]

Play all day : design for children: edited by Robert Klanten.; Play all day presents fascinating examples of innovative and well-designed toys, playgrounds, play environments, room decorations, wall coverings, furniture and kindergarten architecture. In addition to these products, it also presents illustration, photography as well as new and original ideas offering playful solutions that talented designers and creative parents are designing for and with their kids. (Amazon]

July 09

New Art Books:

Abstract America: Saatchi Gallery. 2009; A radical new generation of American abstract painters has emerged in the twenty-first century. Whereas their predecessors advanced abstraction in the shadow of the Cold War, this new generation arose at the cusp of the transition to the digital era and is marked by the traumatic events surrounding 9/11 and its ongoing social and political aftermath. In these shifting times the artist's alter ego might well be the DJ - brushstrokes are replaced by "riffs" while "old school" palettes are discarded for "Teletubby purple" or "bubble gum pink". This is the age of "the remix" where raw material is downloaded and "Photoshopped". Contemporary artists have irony at their disposal and switch to tie-dye aesthetics or psychedelia as fast as they can quote Malevich. This next wave is thrilling. Painted loops, reminiscent of Jackson Pollock, are revealed to be motorcycle skid marks - bringing new meaning to Abstract Expressionism. Even though traditions are "deconstructed" and paintings can echo "grunge", historical continuity remains. As Max Henry writes in his introduction, "The American Dream does not exist any more. It is itself an abstraction." Abstract America is being published in conjunction with the opening of one of today's most important institutions collecting and exhibiting contemporary ar - the new Saatchi Gallery in London. (Amazon)

Degas : the uncontested master: Jane Kinsman with Michael Pantazzi. 2008; Born in Paris in 1834, Edgar Degas art was considered radical in his adoption of modern subject matter and he was to become a key figure in the evolution of modern art. Degas: The Uncontested Master covers the period from Degas early portraiture and historical subject matter of the 1870s through his move to modern subject matter, to his late experimental paintings and photographs from the 1890s until his death in 1917. Degas exhibited with a group of other young artists who came to be known as the Impressionists, but he was seen to stand apart from them in his treatment and choice of subjects. The book includes work from the many mediums Degas used painting, sculpture, printing, pastels monotypes and photography and his favourite subjects: the ballet, the opera, the racetrack, women in bordellos and bathing, milliners and laundresses. It conveys the richness of colour and Degas experimental approach with his mediums. A major essay by curator Jane Kinsman looks at Degas role in organising the first Impressionist exhibitions and the break from the traditions of the Salon, quoting prominent critics of the time. The second major essay, by internationally renowned Degas expert Michael Pantazzi, presents a detailed biography of Degas with many new facts never before published. (Amazon)

Francis Bacon: edited by Matthew Gale and Chris Stephens ; essays by Martin Harrison and others. 2008; Along with JMW Turner, Francis Bacon (1909-92) is regarded internationally as Britain's greatest painter. Drawing on low-art sources, including photographs torn from magazines and imagery from films, coupled with a keen awareness of the rich historical tradition of painting stretching back to the renaissance, he developed a way of portraying the human body that was unique in the history of painting. ...Towards the end of the first decade of a new century it is time to re-assess the achievement of this unique artist, whose style was so personal and distinctive that his influence lay more in his commitment to art itself than in any stylistic legacy. Can a painter still be seen as vital in the digital age? Do Bacon's tortured, despairing figures still speak to the human condition? It might be that for the contemporary viewer, Bacon's imagery appears to have foreshadowed the scenes that have filled our newspapers and television screens in recent years. Leading expert on international modern art Matthew Gale and renowned expert on British art Chris Stephens are joined by other international critics in a radical reassessment of Bacon's position for the twenty-first century. (Amazon)

Frida Kahlo : the still lifes: Salomon Grimberg. 2008; The Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is one of the most famous artists of all time. However, while much has been written about Kahlo's striking self-portraits, her still-life paintings (of which 40 or so are documented) have not been subjected to such close scrutiny until now. In this groundbreaking study, noted Kahlo scholar Salomon Grimberg explores in detail and interprets all of the artist's still lifes, including some that have come to light only recently. Offering provocative new perspectives on Kahlo's creative process, and revealing how the still lifes reflected her internal reality and complement her self-portraits, this book represents an indispensable contribution to the literature on an enduringly popular artist. (Amazon)

Henry Moore textiles: edited by Anita Feldman ; introduction by Sue Prichard. 2008; "Henry Moore Textiles" is the first publication on this relatively unknown aspect of Moore's work. Much of the material, including many recently discovered textile designs, has never been published before. At the instigation of Czech textile guru Zika Ascher, in 1943 Moore began filling four notebooks with drawings for textiles. Other designs followed in the early 1950s commissioned by David Whitehead Fabrics following the Festival of Britain. Moore's prolific work resulted in the production of twenty-eight designs for silk squares, dress and upholstery fabrics, and wall hangings. Using strikingly vibrant colours and modern materials, the aim was to brighten up the post-war wardrobe and bring art into the realm of daily life. Generously illustrated, "Henry Moore Textiles" offers a new angle on a popular artist, and is published to coincide with the first exhibition devoted to this facet of Moore's work at the Henry Moore Foundation in Hertfordshire. (Amazon)

Mother : portraits by 40 great artists: 2009; Artists paint their mothers for many reasons - as a loving tribute, of course, but also to capture a memorable face, to work through conflicting emotions, as a family legacy, or the simple availability of a model. Looking at each work and considering its individual history reveals much about the relationship, the artist, and about the time and place in which it was created. Mother collects more than 40 of these fascinating portraits. Selected by art historian Juliet Heslewood, the portraits are displayed chronologically, and the changing nature of the subject can be seen as time progresses over the centuries to the present day. Text accompanying each portrait provides compelling background information about the artist and his or her mother, the mother's impact on the artist's career, and the artist's painting style. Among the painters represented are Rembrandt, Rossetti, Van Gogh, Sargent, Picasso, Kahlo, and Hockney. (Amazon)

Merchants, princes and painters : silk fabrics in Italian and Northern paintings, 1300-1550

Lisa Monnas. 2009

Covering a period that witnessed the flowering of the Renaissance and the major expansion of the Italian silk industry, this volume examines the Italian silk fabrics depicted in paintings from Italy, England and the Netherlands over the course of 250 years. Lisa Monnas offers a masterly evaluation of these paintings as source material for classifying surviving textiles, giving particular attention to the identification of historic textile types and their weave structure. Monnas examines a wide range of subjects, including silk as a marker of social status, the material possessions of artists and their ownership of textiles as props, the involvement of painters in silk design, and the repetition and transfer of patterns. She considers the evidence of paintings not only for the veracity with which the silks are depicted but also for their value as a historic source concerning the use of fabrics. (Amazon)

Neo utopia : the art & work of Superblast: by Manuel Osterholt. 2008; Berlin based graphic designer SUPERBLAST was immersed in the world of punk rock and skateboarding when he discovered graffiti in 1990 and quickly became addicted to the energy and vitality of the street art underground. As a logical evolution of writing with spraypaint, he started a career as graphic designer in 1999. While studying graphic design, he freelanced for several urban brands, had solo and collective art shows. In 2004 he honed his skills in the beautiful craft of creating letters, by attending lessons in Fontdesign from the world-famous Luc(as) de Groot. His unique iconic style and use of color in illustrations, lettering and wall pieces lead him to projects with some of the most interesting and innovative artists and companies in his field. Most notable are his collaborations with Playstation Portable, Ecko Unltd, Volkl Skateboards, Montana Cans, and many more. SUPERBLAST has designed clothing, graphics, magazine ads, and skateboard decks. Neo Utopia - The Art & Work of Superblast is a fascinating career retrospective from a pioneer of the European graffiti world. Included is a personal selection of graphic design work, graffiti, illustration, ad campaigns, logo design, typography and related art of the past 17 years as well as sketches and full color photos of work in progress. (Gingko Press)

One thousand years of manga: Brigitte Koyama-Richard; In recent years, Manga has seen phenomenal success, not only in Japan, where it dominates the publishing industry, but also in the West, where it is steadily growing in popularity and influence. As swift and sudden as the popularity of this graphic art form may seem, Manga has, in fact, deep roots in Japanese culture, drawing on centuries-old artistic traditions. As early as the twelfth century, Emakimono scrolls existed, a narrative form in which stories of all kinds�romantic, fantastic, even comic�were told through the combined use of text and illustration. Japanese art continued to change as profound political, social, and economic transformations remade the country in the centuries to follow. Today there is little doubt as to the meaning of the term Manga�nor to the astonishing popularity of the form�but few in the West understand the long artistic history that gave birth to this phenomenon and the social factors that continue to shape it today.One Thousand Years of Manga is both an informative account of the genesis of the form and a visual delight. Through its captivating illustrations and enlightening text, the book situates Manga in its proper context, appreciating it for what it truly is: an integral part of Japanese art and culture that is as rich and revealing as it is popular. (Amazon)

Street art San Francisco : Mission muralismo: edited by Annice Jacoby for Precita Eyes Muralists ; foreword by Carlos Santana. 2009; San Francisco's legendary Mission District boasts a greater concentration of street art than any other neighbourhood in the world. Beginning in the early 1970s as a form of social and political activism, a vibrant public mural movement has flourished in this dynamic, multicultural community. The result is a spectacular, ever-changing urban landscape transformed by the artistic convergence of traditional Mexican mural painting, folk art, Surrealism, Pop art, underground comics, advertising and graffiti.With 900 stunning photographs, this provocative book showcases more than three decades of work by a diverse array of artists, from the conspicuously anonymous to the internationally famous. Gronk, Rigo, Las Mujeres Muralistas, Barry McGee (Twist), R. Crumb, Spain Rodriguez, Michael Rio, Chuy Campusano, Susan Cervantes and Neckface are among the many who have made the streets of the Mission their public gallery. Both reverent and subversive essays and commentaries by writers and artists involved with the movement document the artistic, social and political forces that have shaped Mission Muralismo. (Amazon)

Graphic design referenced : a visual guide to the language, aplications, and history of graphic design: Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit; Graphic Design, Referenced is a visual and informational guide to the most commonly referenced terms, historical moments, landmark projects, and influential practitioners in the field of graphic design. With more than 2,000 design projects illustrating more than 400 entries, it provides an intense overview of the varied elements that make up the graphic design profession through a unique set of chapters: "principles" defines the very basic foundation of what constitutes graphic design to establish the language, terms, and concepts that govern what we do and how we do it, covering layout, typography, and printing terms; "knowledge" explores the most influential sources through which we learn about graphic design from the educational institutions we attend to the magazines and books we read; "representatives" gathers the designers who over the years have proven the most prominent or have steered the course of graphic design in one way or another; and "practice" highlights some of the most iconic work produced that not only serve as examples of best practices, but also illustrate its potential lasting legacy. Graphic Design, Referenced serves as a comprehensive source of information and inspiration by documenting and chronicling the scope of contemporary graphic design, stemming from the middle of the twentieth century to today. (Amazon)

Sketchbooks : the hidden art of designers, illustrators & creatives: Richard Brereton. 2009.; A fantastic source of inspiration, the book gives insight into the inner workings and private inspiration of creatives from the world of advertising, design, graphic design, fashion design, art, street art, and illustration. Intimate and often unseen, sketchbooks document the sources of inspiration as well as the journey to final execution. Providing a showcase of ideas, the sketchbooks themselves are complemented by interviews where the artists explain how they use their sketchbooks and how these relate to finished works, giving readers a direct and unmediated insight into the process of research and creation. (Laurence King Publishing)

June 09

New Art Books:

Art at Te Papa: editor, William McAloon. 2009; The evolution of the national art collection is closely linked with the story of Aotearoa New Zealand itself - its places, its people and their passions, and its developing sense of identity. Art at Te Papa, a major new book from Te Papa Press, spans the Museum's collection - from superb early European prints to exciting contemporary acquisitions. Te Papa's curators have selected more than 400 artworks, each one beautifully reproduced, and accompanied by an engaging mini essay. Works by international artists - from Rembrandt to Mapplethorpe - feature alongside iconic New Zealand art by Charles Goldie, Rita Angus, Bill Hammond, and many more. Lesser-known artworks will also surprise and delight. (Te Papa Press)

In search of paradise : artists and writers in the colonial South Pacific: Graeme Lay. 2008; In this lavishly illustrated book, author Graeme Lay presents the lives of twenty-three of the finest artists and writers to have been inspired by the South Pacific, and a rich selection of their works. In Search of Paradise is a compilation of memorable visual and literary journeys, covering two hundred years of European contact with the South Pacific islands and the people who inhabited them at a unique period in the region's history. Among the art and writings included are: The candid chronicles of Joseph Banks ...The radiant paintings of Paul Gauguin ...Gottfried Lindauer's depiction of a presumed-dying Maori race [Random House]

New art now : contemporary art in Australia and New Zealand : Auckland Art Fair catalogue 2009: essays by Gregory O'Brien and others. 2009; Internationally, art fairs are becoming one of the highlights of the serious art collector's year. Audiences see them as a supercharged environment for sampling the latest and dealers love the business they do. Indeed, some say about 25 percent of their sales happen at their stalls at the fairs. But we're not talking amateur art here. At the third Auckland Art fair to be held at the Viaduct in May 2009, the 40 exhibiting dealers are the real heavy hitters of the scene, from both sides of the Tasman. The Auckland Art Fair grows in stature each year. The record number of premier Australian galleries exhibiting, and the expected large number of Australian collectors attending, in 2009 is testimony to the interest in our artists Australian collectors have. New Art Now serves as the catalogue for the fair (which always kicks off with a glamorous opening-night vernissage featuring a keynote speaker) and is also a fantastic way to be informed on trends, issues and themes in contemporary art on both sides of the Tasman. The six essays (three by leading new Zealand art writers and curators, three by Australians) especially commissioned for the book offer a sparkling, lively and expert survey of the scene. [Random House]

The painted garden in New Zealand art: Christopher Johnstone. 2008; From James Busby on, European settlers made gardens from the moment they set foot on New Zealand soil, and of course Maori had extensive cultivations of kumara around their kainga. Many settler gardens were matters of survival - kitchen gardens on which families were reliant - but as individual circumstances allowed and prosperity spread, many gardens became increasingly ambitious and extensive. It is hardly surprising that artists were drawn to depicting them, as they have from the 1820s right through to the present day. This collection of 100 delightful works, selected by Christopher Johnstone ... tells the story of our gardening history as it intersected with our cultural and artistic development. Beautifully packaged and carefully researched, it is a treasure trove of magnificent images, many of gardens now lost to the passage of time. [Random House]

Seen this century : 100 contemporary New Zealand artists : a collector's guide: Warwick Brown. 2009; In our recent history never have there been more artists, more dealer galleries or more auction houses. Art is the new commerce, collecting the new passion. Warwick Brown published 100 New Zealand Artists and Another 100 New Zealand Artists in the early 1990s to great acclaim and now he's back with a book that taps into the vigorous art market in a canny manner. Taking 100 artists who have come to prominence since 2000 (hence the word play of Seen This Century) he gives the collector an invaluable tool by highlighting who is on the rise, who will become the next big thing and whose work should be bought now before prices skyrocket. Carefully selected using a range of filters to come up with the 100, this chunky book has four pages on each artist (including a 450-word text and a generous sampling of their work) and is designed in an appealing, fresh, crisp, catalogue style. (Random House)

The ultimate trophy : how the impressionist painting conquered the world: Philip Hook. 2009; In 1892 Degas' painting "In the Cafe" was sold for a mere 180 guineas at auction, with the public hissing as the hammer fell. Less than a century later another Impressionist work, Renoir's "Moulin de la Galette" sold at Sotheby's for $78 million, accompanied by enthusiastic applause. In this history-cum-memoir Philip Hook, Senior Director of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art department, examines the public's change of heart toward Impressionism. Starting with its shocking novelty and confounding style, he traces the impact of the Impressionist painting as it spread to Germany, America and Great Britain, polarizing modernists and conservatives.Equally fascinating is the story of Impressionism's change in status. More than exceptionally pretty pictures, Impressionist works have become a currency in their own right, being bought and sold like blue-chip stock - coveted as much for their monetary worth as for their intrinsic beauty. Drawn from Hook's own experiences with art collectors and dealers, this fascinating chapter in art history is narrated through the lens of today's art market. (Amazon)

Mega manga : the complete reference to drawing manga: Keith Sparrow. 2008.; This book provides all the techniques you need to create great manga characters, with step-by-step drawings in pencil, ink, and colour. Learn how to draw bodies and faces, eyes and hair, hands and feet, expressions and gestures, across a range of human and fantasy creatures.It includes galleries of finished art to show you the full range of what you can achieve, including scores of hairstyles, facial expressions, hand gestures, and body poses for you to practice, and add variety to your work.It contains pages of clothing, accessories and gadgets, weapons and vehicles for you to draw and colour and incorporate into your manga illustrations and stories, together with ideas for animals, including monsters and cute fantasy creatures, to help you build skill and confidence.Learn the basic techniques of drawing, inking and colouring. Create figures with individual features and clothing. Draw fantastic monsters, threatening mecha, and cute pets. (Amazon)

Sci-fi art : a graphic history: Steve Holland ; with Alex Summersby ... and others. 2009.; Science fiction has always been about visions as much as ideas, and this richly illustrated book surveys the landmarks of sci-fi arts last 150 years. Sci-Fi Art: A Graphic History traces the evolution of this popular art form from some of the earliest illustrations of the works of Jules Verne and HG Wells, through the classic cover art of the pulp magazines of the 1920s and 30s, to paperbacks in the 1960s and 70s, right up to contemporary film posters. There are chapters on sci-fi art in every medium including comic books from around the world, great movie and TV concept art, toys, RPGs, and video games. All the great artists are represented, from Chris Foss, Jim Burns and David Mattingly to Moebius, Albert Robida and Frank Kelly Freas. The history of this largely ignored genre of fine art is at last revealed in this fascinating overview.(Amazon)

American illustration 27: 2009.; Trawling the vast sea of contemporary illustration, American Illustration 27 presents the best images from the past year, from all forms of print and digital media. Of the 7,500 images submitted to the annual competition, by more than 1,000 illustrators, only 382 were selected to appear (one image per page) in this beautifully designed volume. (Amazon)

1000 new eco designs and where to find them: Rebecca Proctor. 2009.; As we become only too aware of the damage man has caused to the planet, more of us want to furnish and decorate our homes with products that do not harm the environment. But being sensitive to the environment does not mean you have to sacrifice good design. More and more designers are creating products that are both beautiful and ethical. 1000 New Eco Designs is a showcase of contemporary product design and interior products that are ecologically sound. Informative and visually inspirational, the book acts as a handbook, guiding readers through the complex issues involved in creating and choosing eco friendly designs for the home. A series of icons show each product's green credentials; highlighting the use of recycled materials, sustainable materials, carbon neutral, low air miles, so that readers can see at a glance the individual characteristics of each product. The book also provides full information on where to source and buy the work featured. (Amazon)

Green design : creative, sustainable designs for the twenty-first century: Marcus Fairs. 2009.; From vast architectural projects to modest one-off pieces of salvaged furniture, "Green Design" shows how the design world is responding to the environmental challenges of the twenty-first century. Emerging trends in green design are covered, such as recycling and ethical sourcing. Also considered is the parallel issue of social sustainability, where the welfare of factory workers is given equal importance to environmental issues, and the idea of Cradle to Cradle enterprises, where a product can be reused over several product histories or unending 'loops'. By showcasing existing green innovations as well as visionary projects that will be built in the coming years, including the world's first zero-carbon city, "Green Design" paints a future where technology and ethics merge. (Amazon)

Designing sustainable packaging: Scott Boylston. 2009.; This is a practical book on creating packaging prototypes that reflect sustainable and ecologically sound principles. It challenges the next generation of graphic designers to re-envision packaging design as a less environmentally destructive practice than it presently is, and examines an array of techniques and methodologies for creating innovative and sustainable packaging designs, from first concept to final production. The book is organised into two distinct sections embracing first the theory, including many case studies, and then the practice of eco-friendly packaging design. In the first part of the book, after introducing the student to the background of packaging design and its purpose, the author focuses on issues of sustainability. Through a series of case studies and interviews he looks at some of the companies that are leading the way in sustainable/green packaging. (Amazon)

Graphics explained 7 top designers, 7 briefs, 49 solutions -- in their own words: Michael Evamy. 2009.; The first in a new series, Graphics Explained reinvents the sourcebook format by giving equal importance to both words and images. In the book, a host of world famous designers open their portfolios, select seven of the best, and tell all about the intricacies of each project and the unique design solutions they have created. Seven categories of project are examined, including work for new clients, good causes, wide open briefs, repeat business, no budget jobs, collaborations, and working to short deadlines. This book will compare like with like by lining up seven projects, one from each category, by each of the seven featured designers. By showcasing various projects that started from a similar premise but led to highly original solutions, it is possible to pinpoint and demystify the difference in approach and method of each designer. (Amazon)

April/May 2009

New Art Books:

Monet and the Impressionists: George T. M. Shackelford, with contributions by Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, Clare Durand-Ruel Snollaerts and Terence Maloon. 2008; Seen the Monet exhibition at Te Papa? (ends 17 May) This is the book which accompanies the exhibition of works from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Assyrian palace sculptures: Paul Collins ; with photography by Lisa Baylis and Sandra Marshall. 2008; [This] book showcases a series of specially taken photographs of the British Museum's unrivaled collection of Assyrian sculptures. The images capture the majesty of the Assyrian king, as well as his magnificent court and its protecting divinities. An introduction sets the sculptures in their cultural and art historical context. A brief history of Assyria and the royal palaces is followed by an overview of the subject matter and meaning of the sculptures together with a discussion of their relationship with the artistic traditions of ancient Iraq and the wider region. There is also an exploration of the sculptures as the earliest examples of complex narrative art that developed from summary or symbolic scenes of royal achievements into images with multilayered meanings that occupied entire rooms and captured the raw emotion and energy of animals and humans with remarkable vitality. (Amazon)

Constable portraits : the painter & his circle: Martin Gayford and Anne Lyles. 2009; 'I've always thought that it was completely loopy for people to go on about portrait painters, English portrait painters, and not to have Constable among them' - Lucian Freud, 2002. Constable's sitters make up a 'Jane Austen' world, belonging to the middle and upper ranks of early-nineteenth century provincial society: clergymen and their wives, landed gentry and families wealthy from trade. From the outset, Constable was interested in landscapes but was forced to supplement his allowance by painting portraits. A number of these previously unknown works are featured in this accessible yet scholarly book, including family members, close friends and children, as well as commissioned portraits. Collectively, they provide a fascinating study of the period. This book and NPG exhibition(5 March-14 June 2009) seek to vindicate the view of Lucian Freud that Constable belongs to an important tradition of British portraiture, to bring Constable's portraits back to the fore, and give them the critical acclaim that they deserve. (Amazon)

Lights on : Norwegian contemporary art: catalogue editors, Gunner B. Kvaran, Hanne Beate Ueland, Grete Arbu. 2008; The first definitive survey of works by the younger generation of Norwegian artists. Through the last decade we have witnessed a steadily increasing globalization of contemporary art. Norwegian artists are acknowledged as being part of a larger artistic milieu - a milieu in which they have become more visible and active participants. Among the artists: Thora Dolven Balke, Siri Berqvam, Jan Christensen, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Ida Ekblad, Jan Hakon Erichsen, Matias Faldbakken, Jan Freuchen, Ivan Galuzin, Trine Lise Nedreaas, Martin Skauen, [etc.] Amazon)

Live forever : Elizabeth Peyton: Elizabeth Peyton ; [with essays by Laura Hoptman, Iwona Blazwick, John Giorno]. 2008; American artist Elizabeth Peyton has been credited with infusing the ancient art of portraiture with a new life. Her idealized, highly stylized oil paintings, drawings and watercolours are driven by the emotional, adoring eye of an unrequited lover. Willowy, melancholy young men and women - contemporary pop stars, royalty, artists and friends - are the magnetic subjects of her devotion. Caught as if in a state of ambiguous absorption and frozen at the height of their youth, they embody a new kind of portraiture that confirms and updates the immortalizing aura of the traditional genre ... This title is published in conjunction with the artist's major solo exhibition at the New Museum in New York, which will travel to the Whitechapel in London, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht. (Amazon)

Rothko, the late series: edited by Achim Borchardt-Hume ; with contributions by Briony Fer and others. 2008; Mark Rothko (1903-70) is widely seen as one of the greatest painters of the 20th century and was a leading figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement. In the late 1960s, he donated nine large-scale paintings to Tate on the condition that henceforward these would be shown as a unified immersive environment never to be mixed with work by other artists. The Rothko Room in its various incarnations has been one of the highlights of Tate's collection for the past thirty-five years.As is well known, the paintings in The Rothko Room formed part of a larger series known as The Seagram Murals. These were originally intended for the Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram Building in Manhattan, a commission from which Rothko famously withdrew, irritated, according to legend, that his paintings would be lowered to the status of wallpaper for rich diners. So far the question has never been asked: if the restaurant had space for 10 paintings, why did Rothko paint 30 in the series?For the first time, the paintings from The Rothko Room are examined together with others from the series, from Kawamura Memorial Art museum, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Rothko Estate and other private collections. (Amazon)

Wyndham Lewis portraits: Paul Edwards with Richard Humphreys. 2008; This book is the first of its kind to focus exclusively on the unique talents of iconoclastic artist-writer Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957) as a portraitist. Lewis was the most important British modernist creator of the first half of the twentieth century, and as one of the 'Men of 1914' - a group which also included Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce - he is credited with revolutionising 20th-century art and literature. Broadly chronological, "Wyndham Lewis Portraits" begins by examining how Lewis portrayed himself using a series of multiple identities, and explores how he developed this idea in his portraits of well-known personalities such as Stephen Spender, Edith Sitwell, Virginia Woolf and G.K. Chesterton.In order to lay bare the many distinctive aspects of self-presentation that Lewis saw in each sitter, many of his supposedly definitive portraits in oils are presented in this book alongside clusters of his preparatory drawings, bringing to life his vibrant interpretations of some of the major artistic and literary figures of his time. (Amazon)

Fashion illustration school : a complete handbook for aspiring designers and illustrators: Carol A. Nunnelly. 2009.; Packed with instructions for techniques used by professional illustrators, this book walks the reader step-by-step through the methodology of drawing fashion. It demonstrates the best ways to create detailed fashion illustrations in a variety of media, teaching the reader about drawing, rendering and following logical steps in depicting fabric surface textures and folds that follow the form of drawn figures. This will be an essential coursebook for all student illustrators and fashion design students. (Amazon)

Graff : the art & technique of graffiti: Scape Martinez. 2009; In this unprecedented book, master graffiti artist Scape Martinez shows how he does his thing, offering streetwise advice to help other "writers" create maximum-impact, legally sanctioned work. Step by step, he lays out the philosophies and realities of the genre. From picking a "tag" and developing letterforms, to the logistics of prepping a wall and working a spray can in a painterly fashion, Graff will help you find your style and leave your mark--large and loud...Complete with a glossary and a timeline tracing graffiti history, Graff is the bible for street artists looking to elevate their work, graphic designers wanting to expand their vocabulary, and anyone interested in giving their work an edgy, urban look. (Amazon)

Little people in the city: the street art of Slinkachu. 2008.; "They're Not Pets, Susan", says a stern father who has just shot a bumblebee, its wings sparkling in the evening sunlight; a lone office worker, less than an inch high, looks out over the river in his lunch break, 'Dreaming of Packing it all In'; and a tiny couple share a 'Last Kiss' against the soft neon lights of the city at midnight. Mixing sharp humour with a delicious edge of melancholy, "Little People in the City" brings together the collected photographs of Slinkachu, a street-artist who for several years has been leaving little hand-painted people in the bustling city to fend for themselves, waiting to be discovered...' Oddly enough, even when you know they are just hand-painted figurines, you can't help but feel that their plights convey something of our own fears about being lost and vulnerable in a big, bad city.' - "The Times". (Amazon)

World calendar design.: 2009; Design works are provided from various countries and readers will enjoy the distinct designs which reflect the designer's culture, as well as the universality of the calendar design. (Amazon)

Design parts sourcebook : rock & street culture: Oilshock Designs. 2008; Sub-culture graphics are ready-for-use in this book providing imagery which is useful for a variety or art types. Developed by a group of experiences designers from the apparel industry these inspired images are great for printing onto t-shirts and other clothing and accessories, CDs flyers, web pages and even as references for tattoo art. The illustrations are provided as print reference in the pages of the book and also provided on a companion CD-Rom where the files are available as both Illustrator EPS files and JPEG files, making them easy to modify and customise. (Amazon)

Street art : in the artists' own words: Ric Blackshaw and Liz Farrelly. 2008; Most street artists are self taught, have a highly developed eye for color and design, and a burning desire to be seen and heard. It is also now true that many talented street artists have moved from the street into the commercial world of advertising and design, as well as into the art galleries and museums. Banksy, an internationally renowned street artist whose work combines intricate graffiti and stenciling techniques, was recently featured in the New Yorker and sells his work for over $500,000 per piece. He has inspired a cult following and legions of artists imitating his style. The Street Art Book is the first book to go behind the scenes of the street art world. As an insider's look, it takes us inside the studios of some of the most prominent street artists. It will help street artists successfully create and develop their individual styles. The book explores all of the materials, tools, and techniques that the most famous street artists use as well as showcasing outstanding and innovative work from around the world. Expert artists share their tips for reaching the ultimate twin goals of getting work seen and sold. (Amazon)

Feb/March 2009

New Art Books:

Art and upheaval : artists on the world's frontlines: William Cleveland. 2008; Artists in communities in crises the world over are working to resolve conflict, promote peace, and rebuild civil society. Here are six remarkable stories of artists in Northern Ireland, Cambodia, South Africa, the United States (Watts, Los Angeles), aboriginal Australia, and Serbia, who heal unspeakable trauma, give voice to the forgotten and disappeared, and re-stitch the cultural fabric of their communities. Author Bill Cleveland is an activist, teacher, facilitator, lecturer, and director of the Center for the Study of Art & Community. He is the author of Art in Other Places, which explores the emerging community arts movement in the United States. (Amazon)

Art of the modern movie poster : international postwar style and design: By Judith Salavetz, Spencer Drate, and Sam Sarowitz, ; text by Dave Kehr. 2008; Critically authoritative visually stunning and physically massive Art of the Modern Movie Poster is the first and last word on post-WWII film poster design. Showcasing fascinating examples from 15 nations this collection of more than 1 500 exemplary designs is a must-have for film buffs design and poster aficionados alike. The posters are organized by country of origin offering an intriguing glimpse into each region's unique visual sensibility and sometimes unexpected takes on familiar films. Gathered from the renowned collection of the Posteritati Gallery in New York - one of the largest holdings of international film posters in the world - this volume is the definitive survey of both film and popular graphic art in the modern era. (Amazon)

Daniel Johnston: With contributions by Jad Fair, Philippe Vergne, Harvey Pekar and an interview with Daniel Johnston. 2009; Daniel Johnston only ever dreamt of two things: he wanted to be a rock star and he wanted to be a famous artist. Amazingly enough, he succeeded at both. Today he is an acclaimed indie music star whose charmingly twisted songs have been covered by the likes of Beck, Yo La Tengo, and TV on The Radio. His artwork appears in galleries throughout the world and was featured in the 2006 Whitney Biennial. Johnston's pen and colored marker drawings contain a range of characters, some benign or heroic, and others quite disturbing. In his complex world, good battles evil attended to by an assortment of playful characters. Johnston's world is also informed by his conservative Christian upbringing, and filled with depictions of biblical vengeance and salvation. Looking at his work, we are reminded of Heironymous Bosch as much as DC Comics. Daniel Johnston contains over 150 full color illustrations, many taken from the artist's private archives and never seen before. There is also commentary and analysis by the Walker Art Center's Philippe Vergne, alt-rock luminary Jad Fair, and underground comic legend, Harvey Pekar. "I see him as an artist on the periphery of the art world, but not an outsider artist . . . It's impressive when you see the consistency of the work." -Philippe Vergne (Amazon)

Edward Steichen : lives in photography: Todd Brandow and William A. Ewing ; with contributions by A.D. Coleman and others. 2008; With his prodigious range, versatility and output, Edward Steichen casts a long shadow in 20th-century photography, and this lushly produced book assesses his legacy. Wending through Steichen's 70-year career, the book presents his early, impressionistic black-and-white nudes and portraits of luminaries such as Rodin as well as atmospheric still lives and editorial fashion shots for Vogue and Vanity Fair. Steichen experimented and excelled in every genre of photography and even his most commercial work shows more aesthetic consideration than product placement. The images are accompanied by insightful essays from a number of expert critics and curators, all of whom place Steichen in his proper context as one of the most influential and controversial artists of his time, alternately reviled as a parvenu and lauded as the Leonardo of photography. This book nimbly navigates divergent critical responses and brilliantly encapsulates the innovations and transformations of this pioneer of modern photography. (Amazon)

Impressionism & Scotland: Frances Fowle ; with contributions by Vivien Hamilton and Jennifer Melville. 2008; The first book to explore the Scottish taste for Impressionism and Post-Impressionism c.1865-1930 and the impact of this art on two generations of Scottish artists. The author, Dr Frances Fowle holds a joint post as Senior Curator of French Art at the National Gallery of Scotland and Lecturer in Art History at the University of Edinburgh. She has published widely on nineteenth century art, collecting and the art market... (Amazon)

Joan Miro : painting and anti-painting 1927-1937: [edited by] Anne Umland. 2008; Taking Joan Miro's notorious declaration of 1927--"I want to assassinate painting"--as its point of departure, this richly illustrated volume is the first to focus on Miro the "anti-painter," identifying the core practices and strategies the artist used to challenge painting between 1927 and 1937. Joan Miro: Painting and Anti-Painting 1927-1937 surveys the various material, iconographical and rhetorical forms of Miro's attacks on painting by presenting, in chronological sequence, 12 distinct series of works, beginning with a remarkable group of paintings on unprimed canvas and concluding with Miro's return to Realism in "Still Life with Old Shoe" (1937). Acidic color, grotesque disfigurement, stylistic heterogeneity and the use of resistant, ready-made materials are among the key tactics of aggression that are explored in this extraordinary presentation of the interrelated and oppositional series of paintings, collages, objects and drawings Miro produced during this crucial decade of his long career... (Amazon)

Lucky kunst : the rise and fall of Young British Art: Gregor Muir. 2009; These days artists like Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin are big business and major celebrities. But Gregor Muir knew them at the start of their careers - before people even talked about a movement called YBA. His unique memoir is the first history of the birth of the Young British Artists, and a slice of London subculture. Muir - who now runs a major London gallery - describes himself accurately as YBA's "embedded journalist". He was the only writer who happened to be in Shoreditch and Hoxton at the time when the White Cube Gallery was founded, and at that unique moment of recent history when a remarkable array of young artists - Hirst, the Chapman brothers, Sarah Lucas, Rachel Whiteread, Sam Taylor-Wood - all came together to produce a fresh, irreverent, wacky and quickly enormously popular form of art. Often it was notorious - Hirst's shark, Whiteread's House, Lucas's two fried eggs and a kebab - and incredibly newsworthy. Their hedonistic riotous world grew up in a then forgotten, down-at-heel part of East London. Back then Shoreditch was full of squats and grotty pubs, not groovy nightclubs. Muir tells the history of YBA up to the seminal Sensation show at the Royal Academy - a picaresque, hilarious story never before told. An Ian Sinclair for the modern art world, this is a memorable and unique piece of modern history. Gregor Muir now runs a London art gallery. (Amazon)

Mrkusich : the art of transformation: Alan Wright and Edward Hanfling. 2009; The story of twentieth-century art is dominated by a major shift from representation to abstraction, from Cezanne's paintings of hills and houses to Pollock's pictures of nothing. Yet in New Zealand we know a lot about Rita Angus and Colin McCahon but little about the post-representational art that now dominates the art world. This book is the first account of the work of New Zealand's leading abstract painter, Milan Mrkusich. Trained as an architect and working for the innovative design firm Brenner Associates in the 1940s, Mrkusich quickly established a new mode of painterly abstraction. Drawing on ideas from alchemy, phenomenology, and modernist thinkers, Mrkusich soaked up the work of international artists to establish his own New Zealand modernism. This book traces Mrkusich's work from the early emblem paintings, through the triumphant corner works of the 1960s, and on to the artist's broad recognition from the 1970s. Milan Mrkusich is New Zealand's most powerful modernist. For him, a painting is paint on canvas first and foremost: 'it's not the Kaipara mudflats. It's a painting. It's paint. To me it's just a whole lot of grey paint.' MRKUSICH shows how an artist growing up around the Kaipara mudflats can produce abstract art admired around the world. (Amazon)

The best of brochure design. 10: [compiled by] Perry Chua. 2008; Brochure design is a perennial in the world of marketing and graphic design, yet it can be challenging to execute successfully. This collection of the world s best brochure design offers hundreds of ideas, pages of inspiration, and armloads of advice for professional graphic designers and students alike. Using a clean, unfussy presentation, this book is a highly visual collection of ideas, from choosing type to photo treatments and everything in between. Rockport's Best of Brochure Design is a best selling series. This tenth installment is much like its predecessors: a stunning collection of work from internationally-acclaimed designers. (Amazon)

Ultimate illustration!: Eva Minguet Camara. 2008; The ultimate illustration resource for artists and art lovers everywhere, "Ultimate Illustration" takes a comprehensive look at the work of today's most celebrated illustrators around the world. Tools, techniques, colour palettes, media, design ideas, talent and inspiration are explored, featured beside full-colour pencil, crayon, watercolour, and collage illustrations. Artists will include: Julie West, Sege Seidlitz, Josh Cochran, Fadrique Gonzalez, Ben the Illustrator, Brosmind, Steve Lawson, Twisted-Fifties, Pablo Pasadas, Matthieu Marcola, Marta Montoliu, Jason Maloney, Ana Bagayan, Julien Canavezes, Agentemorillas, Tara McPherson, Myztico-Zen, Ilara Gasperoni, Alison Casson, Frank Papandrea, Ana Juan, Jaime Zollars, Osvaldo Gonzalez, Scott Radke, Karen Runge, Anthony Lister, Ros Shiers, Sarah Beetson, Fabio, Tansy Myer, Tamar Moshkovitz, Katharina Gschwendtener, Jason D'aquino, and Gi Myao. (Amazon)

Stereographics : graphics in new dimensions: Edited & published by Viction:ary. 2008; This ground breaking new book explores how the pathways of graphic design are moving away from the over exposed digital medium and turning to the crafty real-world manifestations of analog inspired visual ideas. One brilliant method within this milieu is the creation of graphics in a sculptural or 3 dimensional environment. Logos are no longer flat, but are designed to reflect a physical presence that is palpably discernible on the printed page; typefaces are carved and sculpted. All of which means, that the edges between the real, the physical and the imagined have again been blurred. Stereographics explores how the discipline of prop building and model creation can be applied in graphic design, especially in innovative and fresh new font design. It features hundreds of successful projects including promotional flyers, brochures, in-store graphics, textiles and clothing. (Amazon)

Packaging sustainability : tools, systems, and strategies for innovative package design: Wendy Jedlicka ; with Elise L. Amel and others; With initiatives like the Wal-Mart Scorecard in the U.S. and the E.U.'s Packaging Directive, delivering sustainable packaging is now an integral part of today's global competitive market. Written by experts from a wide variety of fields, here is a comprehensive, single source of actionable information that enables everyone involved in the design and development process to make smart, informed decisions, opening new possibilities for creating truly innovative solutions. (Amazon)

Small environments: Yenna Chan. 2008; The Contemporary Design in Detail series takes a highly visual look at architectural design details that are more often dealt with in a technical textbook format. The books take readers on a tour of the best details designed by great architects around the world. The series provides a powerful presentation of the most challenging and evolving architectural and design categories. Small Environments focuses on the type of architectural details that make up distinctive residential spaces under 1,200 square feet (120 square meters). It presents recent work by architects from around the globe in colour photographs and architectural drawings. Rather than simply another compendium of small projects, the book is structured according to categories of architectural detail. It includes sections on components essential to the design of small spaces, such as built-in pieces, mobile systems, storage, outdoor rooms, siting strategies, and daylighting details. (Amazon)

Tangible : high touch visuals: Matthias Hubner. 2009; The borders between graphic design, illustration, art, interior design, architecture and craftsmanship are becoming increasingly blurred. More than ever before, graphic design is being used as the underlying medium together with multiple practices to manifest creative visions. Following in the footsteps of Hidden track (2005) and Tactile (2007) Tangible presents further developments from the work of young designers and artists who are experimenting with this multidisciplinary approach and creating outstanding original tangible designs. These designers from different disciplines are choosing to no longer work exclusively in two dimensions, instead dealing intensively with space, materials and physical products. Each chapter in the book features different trends and styles demonstrating various approaches and solutions to this new area of graphic design. Graphics morph into spatial sculptures, the intangible is made visual through handmade craftsmanship, physical experiences, visual environments and staged spatial installations such as art installations, interiors and architecture as well as urban interventions. (Amazon)

Color & layout : from asparagus white to burnt olive: By Otto & Olaf + Nacho Marti ; [translation Kevin Krell]. 2008; "Color & Layout is a vibrant, sensitive, and poetic journey through the universe of colors, showcasing graphic works from across the globe. This riveting collection features stunning full-color examples of designed layouts, detailing how the color spectrum is organized, expanded, and manipulated. It reveals how color evokes memories, moods, sentiments, and desires, and takes an in-depth look at the striking usage of color in propaganda, journalism, and advertising campaigns. Both beautiful and informative, Color & Layout is a must-have resource for graphic designers, artists, illustrators, and advertisers alike." (Amazon)

The best of brochure design. 10: [compiled by] Perry Chua. 2008; Brochure design is a perennial in the world of marketing and graphic design, yet it can be challenging to execute successfully. This collection of the world s best brochure design offers hundreds of ideas, pages of inspiration, and armloads of advice for professional graphic designers and students alike. Using a clean, unfussy presentation, this book is a highly visual collection of ideas, from choosing type to photo treatments and everything in between. Rockport's Best of Brochure Design is a best selling series. This tenth installment is much like its predecessors: a stunning collection of work from internationally-acclaimed designers. (Amazon)

Ultimate illustration!: Eva Minguet Camara. 2008; The ultimate illustration resource for artists and art lovers everywhere, "Ultimate Illustration" takes a comprehensive look at the work of today's most celebrated illustrators around the world. Tools, techniques, colour palettes, media, design ideas, talent and inspiration are explored, featured beside full-colour pencil, crayon, watercolour, and collage illustrations. Artists will include: Julie West, Sege Seidlitz, Josh Cochran, Fadrique Gonzalez, Ben the Illustrator, Brosmind, Steve Lawson, Twisted-Fifties, Pablo Pasadas, Matthieu Marcola, Marta Montoliu, Jason Maloney, Ana Bagayan, Julien Canavezes, Agentemorillas, Tara McPherson, Myztico-Zen, Ilara Gasperoni, Alison Casson, Frank Papandrea, Ana Juan, Jaime Zollars, Osvaldo Gonzalez, Scott Radke, Karen Runge, Anthony Lister, Ros Shiers, Sarah Beetson, Fabio, Tansy Myer, Tamar Moshkovitz, Katharina Gschwendtener, Jason D'aquino, and Gi Myao. (Amazon)

Stereographics : graphics in new dimensions: Edited & published by Viction:ary. 2008; This ground breaking new book explores how the pathways of graphic design are moving away from the over exposed digital medium and turning to the crafty real-world manifestations of analog inspired visual ideas. One brilliant method within this milieu is the creation of graphics in a sculptural or 3 dimensional environment. Logos are no longer flat, but are designed to reflect a physical presence that is palpably discernible on the printed page; typefaces are carved and sculpted. All of which means, that the edges between the real, the physical and the imagined have again been blurred. Stereographics explores how the discipline of prop building and model creation can be applied in graphic design, especially in innovative and fresh new font design. It features hundreds of successful projects including promotional flyers, brochures, in-store graphics, textiles and clothing. (Amazon)

Packaging sustainability : tools, systems, and strategies for innovative package design: Wendy Jedlicka ; with Elise L. Amel and others; With initiatives like the Wal-Mart Scorecard in the U.S. and the E.U.'s Packaging Directive, delivering sustainable packaging is now an integral part of today's global competitive market. Written by experts from a wide variety of fields, here is a comprehensive, single source of actionable information that enables everyone involved in the design and development process to make smart, informed decisions, opening new possibilities for creating truly innovative solutions. (Amazon)

Small environments: Yenna Chan. 2008; The Contemporary Design in Detail series takes a highly visual look at architectural design details that are more often dealt with in a technical textbook format. The books take readers on a tour of the best details designed by great architects around the world. The series provides a powerful presentation of the most challenging and evolving architectural and design categories. Small Environments focuses on the type of architectural details that make up distinctive residential spaces under 1,200 square feet (120 square meters). It presents recent work by architects from around the globe in colour photographs and architectural drawings. Rather than simply another compendium of small projects, the book is structured according to categories of architectural detail. It includes sections on components essential to the design of small spaces, such as built-in pieces, mobile systems, storage, outdoor rooms, siting strategies, and daylighting details. (Amazon)

Tangible : high touch visuals: Matthias Hubner. 2009; The borders between graphic design, illustration, art, interior design, architecture and craftsmanship are becoming increasingly blurred. More than ever before, graphic design is being used as the underlying medium together with multiple practices to manifest creative visions. Following in the footsteps of Hidden track (2005) and Tactile (2007) Tangible presents further developments from the work of young designers and artists who are experimenting with this multidisciplinary approach and creating outstanding original tangible designs. These designers from different disciplines are choosing to no longer work exclusively in two dimensions, instead dealing intensively with space, materials and physical products. Each chapter in the book features different trends and styles demonstrating various approaches and solutions to this new area of graphic design. Graphics morph into spatial sculptures, the intangible is made visual through handmade craftsmanship, physical experiences, visual environments and staged spatial installations such as art installations, interiors and architecture as well as urban interventions. (Amazon)

Color & layout : from asparagus white to burnt olive: By Otto & Olaf + Nacho Marti ; [translation Kevin Krell]. 2008; "Color & Layout is a vibrant, sensitive, and poetic journey through the universe of colors, showcasing graphic works from across the globe. This riveting collection features stunning full-color examples of designed layouts, detailing how the color spectrum is organized, expanded, and manipulated. It reveals how color evokes memories, moods, sentiments, and desires, and takes an in-depth look at the striking usage of color in propaganda, journalism, and advertising campaigns. Both beautiful and informative, Color & Layout is a must-have resource for graphic designers, artists, illustrators, and advertisers alike." (Amazon)

January 2009

Art Books:

Chagall : love and exile / Jackie Wullschlager. 2008: 'This is a masterly biography. Jackie Wullschlager has a painter's eye, a historian's grasp of context and a novelist's pace and momentum. She gives back to Chagall's paintings the sharpness and strangeness that they had for his contemporaries, and she makes the story of his life so gripping that I couldn't put the book down' - Hilary Spurling. (Amazon review)

Hearst, the collector / Mary L. Levkoff. 2008: William Randolph Hearst (1863 - 1951) was one of the most famous men in America in the first half of the 20th century. His life as a newspaper magnate and politician was satirized in Orson Welles's Citizen Kane, and his home in San Simeon, California, is still one of the most visited house museums in the country. Hearst the Collector explores another facet of his extraordinary life and notoriety: his phenomenal art collection.
During the 1920s and 1930s, he amassed the largest private collections of tapestries, antiquities, silver, and arms and armor of his time. His collection furnished six palatial residences. Hearst the Collector takes the reader inside each, illustrating with rarely seen historical prints the most interesting pieces from Hearst's vast holdings, which were dispersed over the years among many museums throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Rijksmueum. (Amazon)

The man with kaleidoscopic eyes / by Alan Aldridge. 2008: Alan Aldridge burst upon the creative world of Sixties London just like The Beatles, for whom he worked. A charismatic personality with a fan base as strong as any rock star, Aldridge created exuberant, colourful designs, which conjured up grotesque monsters and gave form to universal fantasies, capturing the dreams and hallucinations of a generation. This illustrated biography charts Aldridge's life as a graphic entertainer, with paintings and drawings covering his whole career from 1964 right up to the present. Interspersed in some 250 colour illustrations are stories and anecdotes about those who Aldridge encountered along the way, among them Picasso, the Queen and Salvador Dali. (Amazon)

A masterclass in drawing & painting the human figure : anatomy, the nude, portraits & people / Sarah Hoggett & Vincent Milne. 2008: Since the first people began to draw and paint, human figures and faces have dominated art. Through line drawings, paintings and sculpture, artists attempt to convey emotion, express spirit or simply show the physical beauty of the human form. (Amazon)

Outsiders : art by people / compiled by Steve Lazarides. 2008: Such innovators are showcased as Antony Micalleff (featured in The New York Times and Dazed and Confused and collected by Angelina Jolie), Brooklyn-based international artist collective Faile, Parisian artist JR (known only by his initials because of the illegal nature of his work), and Conor Harrington. Debuting completely new material, Tank Girl and Gorillaz cocreator Jamie Hewlett is also one of the 20 prominent artists featured. An essay by Damien Hirst, one of the most controversial and influential artists of the 21st century, is included. (Amazon)

Postmodern art : from the post-war to today / Francesco Poli ; with the collaboration of Francesco Bernardelli. 2008: Nineteen forty-five marked a historical moment in the figurative arts, with new trends related to changes in the cultural climate caused in large part by the war. This book presents an in-depth overview of the arts from the postwar period in Europe and the United States to today, from analysis of the pictorial languages of the leading masters of the second half of the 20th century, including the avant-gardes of the 1950s, to consideration of the trends that have inaugurated the third millennium, breaking the traditional borders between painting and sculpture... Contemporary art has become the site of cultural exchanges during our time, with global materials and contexts. External space has itself become part of art, leading to such extremes as Land Art. Postmodern Art, with more than 400 color images, explores the currents, themes, and names that are part of the artistic heritage of today, from Art Informel to New Dada to body and video art. Its sixteen chapters present painters, sculptors, photographers, and architects with their most important works, many of them results of the close identification between art and life. (Amazon)

World architecture : the masterworks / Will Pryce. 2008: This majestic survey of the greatest buildings from around the globe includes both the acknowledged stars - the Pantheon, Hagia Sophia, Gothic and Renaissance cathedrals, masterpieces of Islamic architecture at Isfahan and Samarkand, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Sydney Opera House - and the unfamiliar and unexpected: the Hindu temple of Prambanan in Java, the French pilgrimage church of Sainte-Foy at Conques, and Santa Maria della Consolazione in Todi, Italy. More than one hundred magnificent buildings are included, over fifty of which are featured in highly detailed photo essays. Will Pryce's accompanying texts and commentaries provide an extra dimension of understanding for the contexts in which they were created, and of the evolution of architectural history. (Amazon)

Graphics Books:

1,000 greetings: creative correspondence designed for all occasions. 2008.: With designers constantly working for clients and having a limited amount of freedom in much of their work, the chance to strike out on their own and do something truly original and personal is a real luxury. The cards included represent some of the most creative design available so are a wonderful source of inspiration for all types of projects. All designers and design firms, whether in-house or freelance, create their own greeting cards which serve not only as a greeting card, but as an opportunity to show off their work in a totally unique and uninhibited light. In addition, they are the perfect project because they are small enough so they are not incredibly time consuming nor are they very expensive to produce -- even with unique materials or treatments. (Amazon)

Masters of design : logos & identity : a collective of the world's most inspiring logo designers / Sean Adams. 2008: Through real world examples and illustrations, the authors present the work of the 20 legends focusing on the subject of identity and logos. This ranges from simple mark-making to full scale programs applied to multiple mediums. The book also includes a gallery of marks, sidebars on heroes and inspirations, and diagrams to explain concepts or processes. The designers included will have a wide age range, type of work, in-house agencies, small business, large firm, domestic and international designers. Each profile is about 2,000 words and includes 10-15 projects with captions that detail the specifics. We include current projects as well as the projects that put these people on the map. (Amazon)

For sale : over 200 innovative solutions in packaging design / John Foster. 2008.: For Sale showcases packaging designs from 50 top firms. 15 firms are showcased with several spreads of work samples and an in-depth interview to capture their creative process and best advice. Profiles include noted packaging designers Wink, Sub Pop, Werner Design Werks, Starbucks, Modern Dog, Turner Duckworth, Art Chantry, Fossil, Invisible Creature and more. (Amazon)

Indie publishing : how to design & produce your own book / edited by Ellen Lupton. 2008.: Indie Publishing's special focus on the visual design of books makes it unique among publish-it-yourself manuals. Readers are taken step-by-step through the process of designing a book to give it personal style as well as visual coherence and authority. Design principles such as scale, cropping, pacing, and typography are explored in relation to each example, along with commentary on how to create effective title pages, tables of contents, captions, and more. The book aims to inspire readers with examples of print projects similar to those they might undertake on their own. Sample designs include a picture book, artist's portfolio, exhibition catalog, poetry chapbook, novel, and zine. (Amazon)

Musikraphics. 2008.: Songwriters and musicians convey complex emotions through their music, and graphic designers and artists are then faced with the challenge to create complimentary graphics to go with them. The vibe of the content, record and CD covers, tour posters, stickers and fan club accessories can transcend mere packaging and become timeless cultural ephemera. Focusing on contemporary designs from today's most exciting underground and indie music, pop, country, jazz, R&B, Hip Hop, alternative rock and electronica, "Musikraphics" features work ranging from pure graphics to photography, sticker, collage and silk screened art and innovative packaging for vinyl records and mp3. (Amazon)

The design entrepreneur : turning graphic design into goods that sell / by Steven Heller and Lita Talarico. 2008: This book will survey the innovative entrepreneurial options a broad group of contemporary graphic designers have engaged in over the past decade, while also addressing the creative, fabrication and promotion issues necessary to bring unique products to the marketplace. It stems from the School of Visual Arts MFA "Designer as Author/Entrepreneur Program"...as well as other well-known and up and coming designers who have created successful cottage and mainstream design businesses....These firms and individuals have wed their designers' talents and entrepreneurial spirit to viable products or lines of products. (Amazon)

100 habits of successful publication designers : insider secrets for working smart and staying creative / Laurel Saville. 2008.: The author polls a wide range of designers whose years of experience have helped them find not only the most creative solutions for their clients' design needs, but also the most successful solutions. The insights of top publication designers will help guide other designers in both approach and execution of designs that succeed for their clients. It covers a variety of topics, so the reader is able to walk away with a variety of insight to all aspects of his or her career. [Amazon)

December 2008

New Art Books:

Annie Leibovitz at work / [text based on conversations with Sharon DeLano ; editor, Sharon DeLano]. 2008: Annie Leibovitz describes how her pictures were made, starting with Richard Nixon's resignation, a story she covered with Hunter S. Thompson, and ending with Barack Obama's campaign. In between are a Rolling Stones Tour, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, The Blues Brothers, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Keith Haring, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Patti Smith, George W. Bush, William S. Burroughs, Kate Moss and Queen Elizabeth. The most celebrated photographer of our time discusses portraiture, reportage, fashion photography, lighting, and digital cameras. (Amazon)

Art and the moving image : a critical reader / edited by Tanya Leighton. 2008: The arrival of the moving image in contemporary art has provoked a great deal of discussion among critics, artists, and curators and presents a serious challenge to our understanding of the traditional media and institutions of film, painting, and sculpture. Art and the Moving Image explores the cause, the motivation, and the aesthetic, social, and political significance of this paradigm shift. This is the first reader to gather together critical reactions to the moving image in contemporary art, and includes seminal historical texts as well as newly commissioned essays from leading art historians, critics, artists, theorists, and philosophers. (Amazon)

NZ Art Books for Summer Reading:

New Graphics Books:

Gothic art now / Jasmine Becket-Griffith. 2008.: Having spent so long on the peripheries of the art world, Gothic art has finally broken into the mainstream, proving that its depths hide far more colour and diversity than most would ever have imagined. "Gothic Art Now" brings the very best in dark artwork into the light in one visually stunning volume, gathering artists from across the globe and revealing their exciting and dynamic new imagery. (Amazon)

Comickers art : tools and techniques for drawing amazing manga. 2008.: The first book in the Comickers Art series, Comickers Art: Tools and Techniques for Drawing Amazing Manga explores the various drawing tools and art techniques necessary to create successful and authentic manga. This book will teach you how to use pencils, markers, brushes, and software to create all styles of manga, and features the manga artists who best use each of the key techniques. Four color finished work from each of the featured artists is also included to inspire. (Amazon)

The Upset: young contemporary art / R. Klanten. 2008.: The Upset documents a new breed of contemporary artists associated with the Lowbrow Art movement and Neo-Surrealism. Newly recognized by an international audience, these artists are creating works largely influenced by visual subcultures...The term Lowbrow may sound self-deprecating; rather it represents a distinctive artistic composition and technical approach in which art is produced. The Upset documents this movement and the artists associated with it. Feeding off an array of popular subcultures, they often draw influences (Amazon)

Juxtapoz tattoo / Henry Lewis. 2008.: The second book in an ongoing series from the seminal West Coast art and culture magazine, Juxtapoz Tattoo focuses on a subject very dear to the inked hearts of its readers. Most of the featured artists came up at the beginning of Tattoo s modern renaissance in the mid 1990 s, hungry for a new approach, but steeped nonetheless in the traditions of their craft. Whether these gifted tattooists are creating a modern twist on a classic archetype, or pushing the boundaries of the future primitives aesthetic, innovation is the common goal.(Amazon)

Strokes of genius : the best of drawing / edited by Rachel Rubin Wolf. 2007.: Drawing is the most intimate and immediate form of self-expression, fundamental to every artist's ability to communicate with a viewer. The sense of energy and expression that can be captured in mere strokes of charcoal, ink, pastel, marker or any of the other modest mediums proudly represented in this book is astounding. A glowing celebration of the art of drawing, Strokes of Genius features styles ranging from meticulous realism to imaginative flights of fancy, from lyrical sketches created in minutes to intricately layered renderings that took months to complete. (Amazon)

Illustration : a visual history / by Steven Heller and Seymour Chwast. 2008.: This lively visual history of the art of illustration, by the foremost historian of graphic design and a well-known illustrator, joins the authors' previous "Graphic Style" as an indispensable resource for anyone interested in art, design and popular culture...Its innovative approach offers two complimentary ways of presenting the history of the art form: as style (from Victorian to Digital) and as form (ranging from political work to the erotic). It deftly reveals the visual aneurisms, quirks and tics that characterize drawn, painted and digitized illustrations in different styles and places leading illustrator in historical context. [Amazon)

November 2008

New Art Books:

Art : the definitive visual guide / editorial consultant, Andrew Graham-Dixon. 2008: This is the ultimate visual guide to paintings and sculpture from around the world. Bring a gallery of more than 2,500 of the world's most influential paintings and sculptures ever created into your home and learn everything you need to know about art history. Peruse over 8,000 stunning works from 700 artists and explore the major milestones of art history from cave paintings to modern masterpieces. Learn how to 'read' composition, subject matter, technique and style as key paintings are examined in intricate detail to help you understand the artist's intentions, style and method. Picture-packed pages explore common themes such as landscapes, nudes and animals. This book is created in collaboration with the biggest art library in the world, Bridgeman, this is a must-have for every family bookshelf. (Amazon)

Dali & I : the surreal story / Stan Lauryssens. 2008: An extraordinary memoir of fortune, fraud, and the master of modern art. Art dealer Stan Lauryssens made millions in modern art, but he sold only one name: Salvador Dali. The surrealist painter's work was a hot commodity for the newly rich, investors, and shady businessmen looking to launder their black-market cash. Stan didn't mind looking the other way; he just hoped the buyers would look the other way as well. The artworks he sold came from some very questionable sources, but he soon discovered that the shadiest source of all was Dali himself. The more successful Stan became, the closer he came to Dali, until he found himself living next door to the aging artist, in the Catalonian hills. While hiding from Interpol's detectives, Stan spent his time with the artists, musicians, business associates, and eccentrics who surrounded Dali. He learned about Dali's secret history, the studio of artists who produced his work, and the moneymaking machine that kept Dali's extravagant lifestyle afloat long after his creativity began to flounder. Dali & I offers a behind-the-scenes view of the commerce and conspiracy that go hand in hand in the international art world, written by a man who has been to the top only to discover that it's not so different from the bottom. (Amazon)

Long live the modern : New Zealand's new architecture, 1904-1984 / edited by Julia Gatley. 2008: From houses, factories, bridges, and apartment blocks to chapels, motorways, and memorials, this pictorial history celebrates 180 iconic New Zealand buildings, sites, and neighborhoods, designed by many of the nation's most famous architects. The 46 contributing writers document each building's design, construction, context, and history, assisted by historic and contemporary photographs and floor plans. Representing a unique and precious part of New Zealand's history, this showcase reveals an acclimatized, vernacular style singularly adapted to suit the New Zealand climate and conditions. (Amazon)

Please listen I have something to tell you about what is / by Chris Johanson ; introduction, Aaron Rose ; texts, Sean Kennerly, Jack Hanley. 2007: For more than a decade, Chris Johanson has been transforming day-to-day subject matter into simple stories in paintings that make bright, flat reference to illustration or folk art: The New York Times called their look "a down-on-its-luck, cheerfully abject cartoon style reminiscent of artists like William Wegman, Raymond Pettibon and Sue Williams." The same primary palette and angular compositions make Johanson's abstract works, which often take the form of geometric patterns or starbursts, into gleeful but sophisticated takes on Modernism. This, the artist's first major monograph, is also only the second title from Alleged Press, created by Aaron Rose of the influential Alleged gallery (1992-2002) and organizer of the groundbreaking traveling exhibition and accompanying catalogue, Beautiful Losers, in which Johanson featured prominently alongside artists such as Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, Phil Frost, Spike Jonze and Harmony Korine. Please listen I have something to tell you about what is assembles Johanson's complete works to date, as well as several new pieces that have appeared nowhere else. Each spins a world from small, diffuse details: these are scenes where nude dancers, distracted pedestrians, forests, abstract rainbows and "good vibes" exist next to one another, on a sinister, comic edge that, even in its apparent brightness, can reflect the darkest places of human experience. (Amazon)

Street & studio : an urban history of photography / edited by Ute Eskildsen ; with Florian Ebner and Bettina Kaufmann. 2008: The street allows photographers to conceal cameras and catch subjects unaware, in informal settings. By contrast, the studio permits both photographers and subjects to present carefully composed images to the world through elaborate staging and technical tricks. In recent years, with celebrities posing in the street and the studio being used for more informal, intimate shots, both traditions have undergone a transformation. This stunning collection features many of the greatest street photographers of all time - Brassai, Cartier-Bresson, Arbus, Frank, as well as studio-based artists such as Carlo Ponti, Edward Steichen, Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, and Jurgen Teller. Street and Studio provides a revealing look at the history of photography through the contrasts and tensions between these two traditions. Insightful and engaging essays by leading critics explore how the images these photographers have produced have conditioned the way we see both the modern city and ourselves. (Amazon)

New Graphics Books:

1,000 music graphics : a compilation of packaging, posters, and other sound solutions / Stoltze Design. 2008: This book will offer designers a vast collection of inspiring and innovative graphic works from the world of music. The main emphasis will be on music graphics including album/CD covers and inside spreads, packaging, posters, and other sales materials from the past decade. Music makes the world go 'round, and great album designs generate sales for the record companies that back the artists. By showing diverse album graphics from the last decade, designers get a glimpse into what makes or breaks album sales and just how risky the content can be before it goes too far. Many designers hope to break into the music business by way of design, and this collection will offer insight and inspiration for those venturing in. This book will be a compendium of all types of graphically appealing album art, covering all kinds of music and music developers. (Amazon)

Postcard / [words and image selection], Agathe Jacquillat and Tomi Vollauschek at FL@33. 2008: In recent years, postcards have become so much more than a tacky holiday greeting. Graphic designers, illustrators, and advertisers are seizing the postcard and re purposing it with quirky new designs that give a new twist to a classic format. "Postcard" is a showcase of the most exciting postcard designs and postcard-related projects, including handmade artworks, limited edition sets and books, commercial promo cards, high-tech postcards and interactive online projects that successfully link the virtual with the physical world. Designed and compiled by international design studio FL@33, the book features more than 100 artists, illustrators, photographers, designers and studios/collectives from around the world, with emerging talents sitting alongside established artists. (Amazon)

Foundations of art and design / Alan Pipes. 2008: "Foundations of Art and Design", in its new and updated edition, guides artists and designers through the fundamentals of their fields and provides insights into putting these principles into practice. Part 1 covers the elements that can fill a blank page - points and lines, shapes, textures and colours - to create a sense of space, time and motion. Part 2 reveals how to develop unity and harmony, balance, scale and proportion, contrast and emphasis and rhythm to achieve a successful whole. Comprehensive yet accessible, with a wide range of illustrations drawn from all areas of art and design, this is an ideal book for students embarking on course in graphic design, fine art and illustration as well as allied courses in interior design, fashion design, textile design, industrial design, product design and printmaking. (Amazon)

Collage : assembling contemporary art / [editor, Blanche Craig]. 2008: Collage: Assembling Contemporary Art is the first authoritative survey of the history of collage from its origins through to the latest work being produced by artists today. Collage has a relatively short, but incredibly rich history. Dating back to the early 1900s, it first emerged in the work of artists such as Picasso, Braque and, later, the Constructivists and has since proliferated through figures like Kurt Schwitters, Max Ernst and the Surrealists, branching out into a myriad of fine art practice that encompasses assemblage, montage and déollage. The popularity of collage is on the increase again, partly as a result of such postmodernist concerns as pluralism, multiplicity and hybridity. This art form is also flourishing in other areas, ranging from the traditional `cut and paste' method through to digital and installation collage. Featuring works by international artists Picasso, Schwitters and Ernst, through to Hannah Hoch, Martha Rosler, John Stezaker, Richard Hamilton, Layla Curtis, David Salle, Eduardo Poalozzi, Javier Rodriguez, Robert Rauschenberg, Mimei Thompson, David Thorpe, Fred Tomaselli and many more. Collage: Assembling Contemporary Art also includes texts, by both academics and artists, which outline the history of the medium as well as critically addressing how collage is being used throughout contemporary art today. (Amazon)

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