By Margaret Gajek, Derek Galon Ozone Zone Books, $44.95, 301 pages Houses are not just places of security, or places with beds and kitchens and living rooms, they are expressions of the life around us, what we want out if it, and what we are afraid of being too close to. My passion for exotic [...]
By Korero Books Korero Books, $39.95, 176 pages In this collection of photographs from Gayla Partridge we are taken down the path of the past. The path of pin up girls from the 1940s and 1950s. Down the path of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, to girls in space fighting aliens. The [...]
By Paul Buckley Penguin Books, $25.00, 256 pages Have you ever looked at the cover art for a book and wondered what they were thinking? Then this is the book for you. It is a feast for the eyes, with 75 book covers broken down from the often differing viewpoints of the authors, editors, and [...]
By Ian Macdonald-Smith Rizzoli, $55.00, 240 pages Books about historical architecture have always fascinated me. Just opening the pages allows for a figurative walk around someone’s home or office, even if the owners are long deceased. These rooms were actually lived in; work was accomplished here; steps sounded up and down the staircases; and calls, [...]
By Joakim Eneroth powerHouse Books, $50.00, 128 pages Swedish artist Joakim Eneroth entertains our perceptions in Short Stories of the Transparent Mind. The photography within this book does exactly what it needs to: expand our dialogue and present our world in a new way. Eneroth’s images have a way of slowing down our thoughts and [...]
By David Gerstel Latitude 67, $17.95, 243 pages Author David Gerstel is a seasoned contractor/builder in the San Francisco East Bay Area. He is well educated but not overbearing in presenting information to readers of his fourth book. The book provides his story in a deeply personal way. The reader can’t help having a sense [...]
Edited by Phaidon Press Phaidon Press, $39.95, 448 pages Every three years Phaidon produces a collection of the 100 top young artists choosen by 10 curators, and each curator gets 10 picks. As with previous collections, this one is thought provoking and a great introduction to artists that we might not have heard of. One [...]
By Martin Evening Focal Press, $54.95, 746 pages Author and photographer Martin Evening has published a valuable guide to unleashing utilizing and harnessing the countless strengths and abilities of Photoshop CS5. One might be daunted by the sheer size of the book, thick and heavy, yet not at all stretched by useless filler. “We have [...]
By Julian Bell Thames & Hudson, $34.95, 496 pages Bell’s book is noteworthy because it addresses art of the world, rather than focusing on Western or Eastern art alone. Bell segues from East to West with ease. This all encompassing approach is the work’s most celebrated feature and suggests art is the product of one [...]
By John T. Spike Abbeville Press, $95.00, 280 pages Caravaggio could be called the first realist painter; the people in his photographs are real people from the street of Rome, Naples and Sicily. This was a controversial choice and a dramatic change from mannerism. At times, he used the same model many times to portray [...]
By Gayeton, Douglas Welcome Books, $50.00, 176 pages Multimedia artist Douglas Gayeton combines sepia tone photographs and text (sometimes overlaying the art of the pictures) to introduce the reader to the residents and businesses of Pistoia, a small town in Tuscany. Italy was where the Slow Food movement got its start, created with a protest [...]
By Patricia B. Santora, Margaret L. Dowell, and Jack E. Henningfield, Editors Johns Hopkins University Press, $29.95, 184 pages Addiction and Art displays 61 pieces of original art used to represent the struggle, pain, joy, and recovery of those who are addicted to legal and illegal drugs. With powerful written statements to accompany the art, [...]
By Robert Stevens Norton, $40.00, 144 pages Paris in between the World Wars was a place of light, sound, and food. It was a place for Americans to escape and settle on the Left Bank amongst art galleries and book stores. It was a place that was turning into “The City of Light,” it was [...]
By Laurie Ossman Rizzoli, $55.00, 271 pages Great Houses of the South is more than an attractive coffee table book, it is full of wonderful photographs and lovely descriptions of the history and construction of the Southern houses. However, its strength lies in its unexpected use as a guidebook for the dozen or so unknown [...]
By Simone Werle Prestel, $19.95, 160 pages 50 major fashion designers are profiled in this book in full color spreads, showcasing their most memorable creations. Simone Werle, a brilliant writer and designer based in Munich, offers a fascinating look into fashion and its colorful designers by providing a detailed and informative explanation as to why [...]
By Susie Hodge Tate Publishing, $19.95, 128 pages Have you been to an art museum lately? Did it have a Modern wing? Did you risk all and enter it? Were you left bewildered and confused by the “art” surrounding you? Some of it might have been on walls, while other installations might have been more [...]
