Art Book Wishlist, January 2010

Phillip Guston: Paintings 1947-1979
Hatje Cantz Publishers
Contributions by Michael Auping, Martin Hentschel, Christoph Schreier.
I've always admired and adored the work of Phillip Guston, but I still don't have a book! Unfortunately, according to D.A.P. this book is out of print.






A good alternative to the monograph would be this catalogue:
Phillip Guston Retrospective
Thames & Hudson, 2006Text by Michael Auping










I've been waiting for a good David Park monograph, and lo and behold, here it is finally:


David Park, Painter - Nothing Held Back
Helen Bigelow
Published by Hudson Hills Press, September 2009

"David Park, Painter: Nothing Held Back" chronicles the brief but remarkably prolific career of American painter David Park. In his 49 years, he became an integral part of the San Francisco Bay art community in the early 1930s, and is counted as one of the immensely gifted artists who were part of the Bay Area Figurative Painting movement in its nascent beginnings in the 1950s. Park, who was drawing in perspective by the time he was five years old, began his professional career before the age of twenty, apprenticing together with sculptor Gordon Newell for sculptor Ralph Stackpole's monumental columns that were being erected in front of the Pacific Stock Exchange in California. His work was widely exhibited during his lifetime at institutions such as the Whitney Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Art and the California Legion of Honor. In addition, Park was a faculty member of the San Francisco Art Institute and later the University of California, Berkeley. Together with the 100 paintings featured, this monograph shows an artist who possessed a life-long passion for painting.

The Horror

My appreciation of art began not with "fine art" at all. It started with an appreciation for creative and aesthetic mediums outside from the gallery, museum, or other "fine art" outlets. As I believe is common with many artists and art fans my age, I was led to fine art through cartoons, comic books, and advertising design. Skateboard graphics, album covers, and even breakfast cereal boxes were vastly more engaging than anything framed on a white wall, and it was a love of movies and music videos that led to me art college in the mid-1990s.

These days, I'm saturated with fine art. Running a gallery, publishing art books, and being a working studio artist trying to keep abreast of the art world has me constantly inundated with high art and the lowbrow art that is currently high art. Frankly, I often feel uninspired and weighed down by the constant barrage of "fine art" and "fine artists". I even take steps to try to stay out of the incessant stream of art world opinions and discussions, but they seem to find me anyway.

So when I'm looking for inspiration or just something to get the creative stoke flowing again, I head back to the roots and look towards non-art artworks to refresh me. Luckily, between the internet and a healthy stream of compilation art books, there are plenty of archives to reference and appreciate.

Nosferatu 1922

One of my current favorites is Horror Poster Art, edited by Tony Nourman and Graham Marsh. It was published in 2004 by Aurum Press in the UK and part of a large series of movie poster books by Nourman and Marsh. This 12 x 9 inch book features neaqrly 200 pages of full color reproductions from over 80 years of horror film poster art. From early silent movies to B monster flicks to foreign cinema classics and even more, this book covers some film favorites and some great design work for less-than stellar movies. 

Hӓxan (Heksen) 1922
The Invisible Man 1933

The design of movie posters seems to be a lost craft these days, where artistic creativity and bold designs are almost always tossed aside in favor of giant celebrity headshots or photos with digital manipulated backgrounds.

Some of the really interesting pieces come from the foreign versions of American horror films, such as the Czech Psycho poster by Zdenek Ziegler or the Polish Alien (Obcy) poster by Jakub Erol. Often the artists making these posters were given only a title and brief summary of the film to work from. The Eastern European posters are famous for their abstract and conceptual designs. Awesome stuff.

Along with the bold images of the posters in the book there is commentary on the artists, the style, or other commonalities within the film subgenres.

Another great movie poster art book I own is Who Goes There?. It features 1950's horror and sci-fi movie posters and lobby cards. This was just a great era for charming B horror and monster movies, and often the posters and artwork (as well as art direction for the films) is far superior to the acting and story within the films themselves.

And, finally, a while back I purchased Vintage Hollywood Posters III. Rather than an art book, this is an auction catalog for a sale in June of 2000. This catalog covers far more than just old horror films, and has the bonus of having the estimated values of the posters printed under each image (they go for anywhere between $500 and $10,000). 

All three of these books costs around $20 when I got them (the Horror Poster Art book was £19), but it seems like all three are out of print now. I'm sure you can find them around the net used, or lots of other similar books. 

I'm very happy that lots of design media that originally created for promotion or packaging is now being appreciated as art... and that publishers are compiling books like these for us to enjoy.

Dracula: Prince of Darkness 1965

Field Guide

I found Field Guide, by Derek Stroup, at OK in Los Angeles, an excellent design store that has a well curated art book collection. I knew nothing about it, and after a little research I know not much more. All I really need to know is that I like it, visually, and I think I "get" it, conceptually. It is simply a collection of black and white photographs of television antennae on the tops of homes and buildings. 

As a huge fan of antiquated objects (I think I'll call them antiquations), I am growing to love artwork that deals with these things that have had there original purposes disappear or lose enough popularity to have them be discontinued. Viewmaster 3-D viewers, Super8 film, mimeograph prints, even now Polaroids (although these may be coming back). Without their popular qualities or original purposes these objects take on new aesthetic qualities, either in the aesthetics they create (like rub-on letraset lettering), or in the look of the objects themselves (like old cabinet arcade games). I can hardly bring myself to think of it, but soon enough things as common as newspapers and 35mm film negatives might only be found amongst artists and nostalgic purists. And don't even get me started on vinyl records and analog video. 

The television antenna fit along these artistc lines perfectly when the book was first published in 2002, and even more so now that the final switch to 100% digital broadcasting has rendered these objects completely without purpose. The context of this book being a "field guide" gives an even bigger impression of these objects becoming rare and hard to identify, perhaps even verging on extinction. 

Derek Stroup has published other books from bodies of artworks, some of which are available at Printed Matter online. I purchased Field Guide for $16, but it looks like the price can get into the $24 range. It is 4 x 6 inches in size, with 164 pages, including a good essay, "The Antenna in Architecture", by Eric Fredericksen. It is a first edition (edition size unknown), signed by the artist. My particular copy has some pages of the essay bound out of order, but I don't know if that is just my copy or for all of them.

You can find contact info and other art projects from Derek Stroup on his website: www.derekstroup.com. 

Now get out there and enjoy looking at the television antennae in your neighborhood, or even things like telephone poles and hand-painted signs, cause they just might not be around for much longer.

Live for Deth

Bay Area artist and feline myth creator Deth P. Sun has recently released a new zine. You can always count on Deth to offer up a steady stream of quality art products (as well as ridiculous amounts of original artwork) on a regular basis. From giclee and serigraph prints to T-shirts, stickers, postcards, or beer cozies, Deth's signature characters are almost always available to be yours at a reasonable price. But my favorites have always been the zines.

Please Be Brave, which was released earlier this summer, is a self-published art zine is every sense of the word. Deth made the art, copied the pages, organized the production, and even hand trimmed the pages. It features a whole lot of images drawn from the deep, deep well of Deth's endless sketchbooks. It features impressive spontaneous renderings of both the world around us and Deth's popular mythical cat realm. With plenty of skulls, monsters, ghosts, mountains, junk food, swamps, swords, cameras, instruments, caves, cars, crystals, sea creatures, plant life, houses, toys, art supplies, head gear, birds, and just about everything including the kitchen sink.The pages are crammed with objects, and interspersed with the occasional epic scenario. And, for the first time I can remember, there are a few rabbits in there too. 24 pages, black and white.

You can order your copy direct from Deth, or at the Rowan Morrison online supermarket of art books, for $8. 

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This also seems like a good opportunity to celebrate some of the other great Deth P. Sun zines of the past. Let's start with one from about 5 or so years ago, called 40 Drawings. 

With, you guessed it, 40 drawings of gods, monsters, cats, and other epic things, this zine is pretty slick for a handmade photocopied affair. I really don't know much about its production or stuff like that, but it is interesting to note that while the subject of Deth's artwork was similar then to what it continues to be, it is clear his style has evolved and gotten a bit more refined since 40 Drawings was made. The zine also features a lot of the "humans-in-animal- costumes" art, a theme which has become much less frequent in Deth's work.

Next up is the classic Oakland zine. Based on a map to his girlfriend's house party and originally drawn and made during Deth's brief time living in Los Angeles, Oakland highlights some clever cartographic skills along with a loving local view of the neighborhoods and shops of the East Bay through the artist's eyes. This zine has been a constant best seller and has been reprinted several times. 


A little known fact is that there are, in fact, two different versions of the Oakland zine among its several reprints: 

A reissue from 2007 features a bunch of images of photographed details from the city of Oakland reprinted from Deth's magnificent (and completely unknown) Polaroid collection. Deth has told me the he is not going to reprint this zine again, so you had better get yours while the getting is good. 

And finally, A Knife In The Dark, which is as close to a complete Deth P. Sun hero's quest narrative as we are likely to ever get. 

Epic landscapes, heroic battles, and momentous journeys are all told with a small narrative bit of text to go with each piece of art. This zine, like Oakland, is small in size but a real treat. Just to get a few tidbits of narrative text that isn't completely abstract and actually ties the images together in sequence is real nice. Now out of print, if you find one of these you should snatch it up because it is unique and very enjoyable.

And, finally, I would be a fool not to spend a bit of space here going over the merits of I See It All, the only full-on book of Deth's artwork currently available. Rowan Morrison published this book earlier this year and it was pretty successful right off the bat. This book faithfully reproduces 64 pages from a sketchbook made by Deth P. Sun in March of 2008. It features hundreds of sweet drawings, landscapes, and handmade typography. The roots of Deth's fine art evolve upon the page. I really love this book and am proud to have helped with its production. Here are just a few sample pages:

I See It All> is a real testament to how prolific and productive Deth is when it comes to drawing. He filled an entire sketchbook (including over 40 pages that weren't used for the book) in about 5 weeks! The man can draw it all, from landscapes to architecture to weapons to stylized lettering.

- 7" x 10"
- Limited 1st Edition of 500 copies
- Rounded Corners
- 64 single sided pages (128 pages total)
- 100% recycled paper, soy-based inks and perfect bound with animal-free glue

I See It All is available at Giant Robot stores and other fine art bookstores, or order your copy direct from Rowan Morrison and get some free Deth stickers or postcards with every book. Despite this book being published this year we are nearly sold out so get on it.

Order yours online here



I was stoked to see such variety in I See It All, and continued in his latest zine, Please Be Brave. An artist with talent and popularity like Deth's can be easily tempted to get a little too comfortable and slip into "giving the people what they want" and not challenging themselves. It is always great to get a little retrospective perspective to highlight some progression. I always look forward to see what Deth P. Sun will come up with next and hope he continues to push himself while staying on point and true to his epic vision.

You can always get a lot more of Deth's artwork from his website at www.dethpsun.com. Thanks for sticking through this long post. What can I say... Deth makes a lot of awesome zines.

Spring Lounge

Yes, yes, YES! Mel Kadel has recently self-published another amazing art book. Mel's first two art publications, Rough Cookie and Honey Pool, are two of the highlights of my ever stacking and sun-faded collection. Always top sellers for the few days our artist's bookstore has them in stock, Mel's artwork has a way of connecting to almost everybody and the craftsmanship that goes into her books is just astounding.

If you haven't already, you can read my review of Rough Cookie here and my review of Honey Pool here. I continue to stand by all my gushing comments for the artwork and the books themselves. Spring Lounge takes the bar that Mel has already set ridiculously high for herself and kicks it up a notch. All the things that made the previous books great is still here, but the artwork has slowly progressed. The work has gotten a bit more complex, yet somehow more accessible. The pacing of the images, from symbolic landscapes to figurative interactions to detailed patterning, is well managed. The colors are perhaps a little bolder, and the few more risks are taken.

The high point of the book comes with the two-page, 16-paneled storyboard piece that has just about everything you could ever want from a Mel Kadel illustration. I won't reproduce it here in the blog because it is just too damn good. It is a step up, or a step sideways, and I always admire an artist willing to push themselves and see where thing can go (even when the risks don't reap rewards). When the experiments do pay off, like we have here, it's pure gold.

Like the previous books, Spring Lounge is full-color inkjet printed onto coffee soaked paper. I hear each page is hand-soaked, hung to dry, and hand-fed into the printer one at a time by the artist herself. The printing is near perfect. The book smells like coffee. The cover is a 3color screenprint onto fancy printmaking stock. The book is 6" x 9" and has 40 pages. Hand signed, dated, and numbered from an edition of 100. Retail price of $24. Minds blown.

Frankly, these books, at these prices, with art this good, with art printed this well, in editions this limited, are starting to make all other small-time art publishing projects look like piles of garbage. Mine included. Spring Lounge is so awesome I really can't praise it enough (though I'm trying). You can see more images from the book and of Mel Kadel's artwork at melkadel.com. Spring Lounge is available for purchase direct from the "buy" section of Fudge Factory Comics, or we still have two copies available (as of August 8th) at Rowan Morrison Online Artists Bookstore. You should buy yours now or be an idiot and wait two years and buy it for several hundred dollars.

And, once again, I can't resist the crass plug for the limited edition Mel Kadel serigraph from Rowan Morrison Publishing. Only $20, signed by the artist, shipped flat, and we only have about 25 left.

Blackstock's Collections

If you know me at all, you know I like art books. Another thing I like is collections of things (thus my own art series, Junk Pirate). I also like drawings. Put all these things together and you have the current favorite in my art book collection: Blackstock's Collections.

Published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2006, this book features a huge collection of Gregory Blackstock's drawings of collections of thing. All kinds of things. Divided into thirteen categories such as "Our Famous Birds", "The Noisemakers", "The Vehicles", and "Architectural Collection", then further divided into individual artworks based on specific collections within these categories. Each artwork features anywhere from two to several dozen items within the specific collection, articulately rendered and labeled in pen, pencil, crayon, and sharpie marker. Visual lists. All these objects, with their individual details and subtle differentiations, have been created from memory. Yes, from memory.

You see, Gregory Blackstock is a savant. Savant Syndrome is a remarkable condition in which a person with autism or another developmental disability has some extraordinary genius or ability that stands in stark contrast to their other limitations. Often, if not always, these amazing abilities as coupled with a photographic memory. Coupled with intense motivation and practice, and in Blackstock's case, a supportive family and art community, these amazing abilities have created a body of work that is an amazing document of the world around him, and all of us. From this work Blackstock has been labeled an "anthropologist of the everyday".

Unlike much "Outsider art", Blackstock's work lacks emotion and reveals nothing of an inner, personal world. Remarkably, his success in the art world has motivated him towards more work that is created with the intention of being showcased.

While it is hard to separate any work like this from the exceptional and rare memory talents and patience of its creator, I feel Blackstock's drawings have an appeal much beyond the 'freakshow' aspect. This art would be a nearly impossible thing to create from a normal mind (considering it was made without reference material), but that isn't what makes this work enjoyable. The talent feels genuine, and the drawings are compelling in and of themselves, an aspect I often find lacking in other Outsider art. 

Blackstock's Collections has 144 pages in color, plus an essay on the discovery of the artist's work and his first exhibition and an excellent essay of Savant Syndrome as it applies to Blackstock's work. Both essays are enjoyable, educational, and easy to read (a rarity for art book writing these days). It is available at almost every bookstore (find it on Amazon here) with a retail price of $19.95. My own copy of the book is falling apart at the binding, but this is less a testament to shotty craftsmanship than to my own brutish handling of my art books. 

LINKS: another good review of Blackstock's Collections at moleskinerie.com

an online article about Blackstock by Darold Treffert, MD, who wrote the essay in the book.

Garde Rail Gallery's artist page from Blackstock with other good links

I See It All by Deth P. Sun book signing event

Friday, April 24th
6:00 - 8:30 pm

Giant Robot San Francisco Presents: