The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1

Book Description

THE SANDMAN, written by New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, was the most acclaimed comic book title of the 1990s. A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven, THE SANDMAN is also widely considered one of the most original and artistically ambitious series of the modern age. By the time it concluded in 1996, it had made significant contributions to the artistic maturity of comic books and become a pop culture phenomenon in its own right.

Now, DC Comics is proud to present this comics classic in an all-new Absolute Edition format. The first of four beautifully designed slipcased volumes, THE ABSOLUTE SANDMAN VOL. 1 collects issues 1-20 of The Sandman and features completely new coloring, approved by the author, on the first 18 issues, as well as a host of never-before-seen extra material, including the complete original Sandman Proposal, a gallery of character designs from Gaiman and the artists who originated the look of the Sandman, and the original script to the World Fantasy Award-winning THE SANDMAN #19, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," together with reproductions of the issue's original pencils by Charles Vess. Also included are a new introduction by DC's president Paul Levitz and a new afterword by Gaiman.

Customer Reviews:

A book only as Oversized as the Series itself.......2007-09-28

Anyone who wants to start with Sandman I think should start by heading to the library and borrowing several volumes first. Anyone who's a fan should own this.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman is a wonderful series; a mythos that encompasses many other cultural mythologies into one nifty little setting. Anyone can pull up a short little synopsis about the series, but that would be an understatement of a task, for the series is so much more than just that. For the series is itself a mythology, a fantasy, and a reality, and anyone who comes across it, with a little patience, will immediately be swept away by the unfathomable truths contained within these tomes, and for once, being lost in a desert of dreams won't be such a bad idea.

However, I do have a few issues. The wonderful facet of a comic book (in the case of Sandman, Graphic Novels or Visual Literature) is that it is a collaborative medium. While Gaiman is undoubtedly a tour de force, the art itself helps to raise the bar of that force. Initially reading the series, you get a sense of its visceral visions and its somber tones, all through vibrant background colors. In the Absolute Sandman, however, the re-colors have somehow nullified some of that mood that was so powerfully combined with the writing itself. Newcomers to the series won't notice it if they start with this edition, but fans will. If you don't believe me, just compare the print from any of the previous TPB's or hardcovers of Issue #6 "24 Hours" (a shocking high-voltage horror tribute) or Issue #8 "The Sound of Her Wings" (this is the issue which for me is the definitive beginning of the mythos) with the Absolute editions. While the writing is still strong, I miss some of the old coloring, which helped to evoke a certain mood that solidified the series place in the comic book world. That isn't to say that some of the coloring hasn't actually improved on the old. In most cases, the recoloring was actually smoother and stronger, and set the mood more proper.

Newcomers should borrow from the library or from friends who have previous versions, to get a sense of the original mood (also, the book is just way too huge for carrying around), then if they see fit can buy the Absolute editions. I still think this is a wonderfully (and adequately) oversized edition, and some of the new coloring isn't bad, but bland in some cases. The large size magnifies the series in proper grandeur, and is an apt edition for fans to collect. It's not such a bad idea to own previous versions, in which there are those wonderful introductions by authors such as Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Stephen King, etc., with the Absolute editions (despite the costs), which I proudly own.

AMAZING!.......2007-09-25

I'm new to the Sandman comics and relatively new to Gaiman's writing, but this series was recommended to me several times so I decided to read it, and I most definitely was not disappointed. The story is very intricate and extremely creative, and the characters, although fantastic, become believable. The world entered while reading these comics is truly amazing, and those who can stand the scenes of violence will be well rewarded for checking it out.

speechless..........2007-08-25

I have already read my copies of the graphic novels to tatters, I've long since lost my copies of the original comic books. (I'm actually one of those weirdos who actually reads their comics.) I was completely amazed at the stunning quality of this collection. (No, the color reproduction isn't as bad as all the serious art students are making it out to be.) Absolutely beautiful. I'm always surprised when I talk to people who've never heard of Neil Gaiman's works. The Sandman series should be issued to the entire human race...

What follows is a series of remarks addressed to the readers of this review and about this book itself.......2007-08-16

Whoa... Were do i begin?

Let me start by saying, I would recommend to anyone to read some of the series, just to see if they like it. Personally, I think this is a treat not to be missed!

They recolored shoddy coloring with... computerized shoddy coloring.......2007-07-15

I just heard about this book, and almost jumped for joy when I heard it was recolored. I always thought Sandman is so rich a mythology surely they could someday release a paint-over of the material as rich and artistically skilled as the material is imaginatively written. Well, this isn't it. The "recoloring" is just a bunch of Photoshop gradient color fills, and at that the job seems very amateur. If you're going to use gradients, AT LEAST know how to use them to create depth and roundness and shadows... this is just straight drops of color change... very boring. I know this won't bother everyone, people have different takes on art. For me it's a dealbreaker and I'll stick to the old versions which are cheap and have bad coloring rather than spending more money on new bad coloring.

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Graphic SF Reader
I always suspected Thor had no manners . . .
Gaiman at his best
A turning point in the Sandman saga.
I walked in Destiny's Garden...

The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists
Neil Gaiman , Neil Gaiman , Kelley Jones , Harlan Ellison , and Mike Dringenberg
Manufacturer: Vertigo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1563890410

Amazon.com

In many ways, Season of Mists is the pinnacle of the Sandman experience. After a brief intermission of four short stories (collected as Dream Country) Gaiman continued the story of the Dream King that he began in the first two volumes. Here in volume 4, we find out about the rest of Dream's Endless family (Desire, Despair, Destiny, Delirium, Death, and a seventh missing sibling). We find out the story behind Nada, Dream's first love, whom we met only in passing during Dream's visit to hell in the first book. When Dream goes back to hell to resolve unfinished business with Nada, he finds her missing along with all of the other dead souls. The answer to this mystery lies in Lucifer's most uncharacteristic decision--a delicious surprise.

There is something grandiose about this story, in which each chapter ends with such suspense and drive to read the next. This book is best summed up by a toast taken from the second chapter: "To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil his due." --Jim Pascoe

Customer Reviews:

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03

Spurred by the three Fates, Destiny calls a meeting of the Endless. This ends in Dream taking crud for getting pissed at an ex-girlfriend and sending her to Hell.

Spurred by the three Fates, Destiny calls a meeting of the Endless. This ends in Dream taking crap for getting pissed at an ex-girlfriend and sending her to Hell.

His older sister tells him off, so he goes to rescue her, knowing that Lucifer is likely to slay him. A bit nastier than that though, Lucifer abandons Hell and gives it to him, instead, without the old girlfriend.

Dream has to deal with all the mythologies that want this funky piece of supernatural real estate, while Lucifer gets to go and be a beach slacker.

I always suspected Thor had no manners . . ........2007-07-19

As everyone knows who reads his stuff, Gaiman is as original as. In this installment, the Lord of Dreams (one of the Endless, all of whom begin with a "D") goes to Hell prepared to do battle with Lucifer in order to obtain the release of an ex-lover he condemned there some ten thousand years ago. But Lucifer surprises him by evicting everyone from the underworld, shutting the place down, locking it up tight, and handing the Dreamer the key. What happens in a Creation with no functioning Hell? For one thing, the dead come back (not "to life" -- just back). For another, a great many deities from an assortment of pantheons, not to mention the evicted demonic tormentors, want to get their hands on the vacant property for their own reasons. As I said: Extremely original. And very well worked out, too. Another strong hit from a true Big Leaguer.

Gaiman at his best.......2007-04-02

For a short read, each episode is superbly written. Gaiman is the best of his genre.

A turning point in the Sandman saga........2007-01-16

After reading all of the Sandman collections, "Season of Mists" is with out a doubt my favorite.(it's also the first one I read) "Season of Mists" begins with a family meeting between Sandman's family "The Endless". During this meeting Sandman's older brother, Destiny announces that he has recently been visited by the fates. He says that the fates told him that "Something IMPORTANT will happen. Something that sparks a chain of events, causing much change and upheaval" Sandman's sister death then asks "And what is that occasion?" Destiny simply answers "THIS meeting that is all. The rest is up to you" After these statements Destiny's prophecy quickly unfolds when the family sits down to dinner. Sandman's sister, Desire attacks Sandman by opening an old personal wound, his past love life. If you read the books prior to "Season" you'll discover that Sandman sentenced is old flame, Nada (a formed African queen) to the tourments of hell because she refused to give up her mortal life to be his queen. Insulted by Destiny, Sandman storms off to sulk outside on the balcony. Death later comes out to give Sandman a royal tongue lashing (one of her shinning moments in the seires)and tells him that what he did to Nada was selfish and wrong. Sandman soon realizes that is big sister is right and he sets off to free his former love. Sandman and Lucifer(the lord of hell) have some bad blood(established in prior chapters) and when Lucifer is informed that Sandman is comming to his realm, he says that it is a day that they will both remember. When Sandman arrives in hell he is surpized to find the place empty. Lucifer soon greets Sandman to tell him that he has quit his job, let every soul free, and has decided to give the key for the gates to Sandman. This is where the true conflict of 'Seaons" starts. What is Sandman to do with this new realm? and with all of hell's souls now free, Where is Nada? Sandman soon finds that his troubles have only begun when gods and godesses of new and old flood his realm to lobby for posession of the key to hell. Who will Sandman choose and how will he save Nada when a powerful demon holds her for ransom? "Seasons of Mists" is the best written and most exciting chapter in the Sandman collection and one of the best graphic novels I've ever read. If you're a Sandman fan you MUST read this book. read it!

I walked in Destiny's Garden..........2006-11-05

Highly disappointed with "Dream Country", I found myself a bit hesitant about opening the pages to this next chapter in possibly the most imaginative fictional character ever created. "Preludes & Nocturnes" made me salivate for more of Gaiman's creation, while "The Doll's House" set the foundation for future stories and possible interludes, but when it came to "Dream Country" I found myself taking several huge steps back. It followed a different beat, the characters were nowhere to be seen, and it felt like a colorful collection of short, un-compelling stories. I was hurt, and it took me quite a bit of time to open Gaiman's next chapter, but not to worry, my fears ended as I started to read the first few frames ... Gaiman was back, and no door was going to be closed for this next collection entitled, "Season of Mists"!

Gaiman has this unique ability to bring worlds of near non-parallel existence together in a way that we could never imagine. His darkness is back from the opening page when we meet one of his brothers - Destiny. What is great about this opening is that fans of Gaiman's previous chapters will instantly have satisfaction in knowing that the cold spell known as "Dream Country" is over, and we are pulled back into Dream's world. Gaiman re-introduces us to our heroine through his family, by introducing us to his sisters and brothers. While we do not know the purpose of the meeting, we see how the family (perhaps not unlike your own family) interact and co-exist. Like a glass of aged wine, the story progresses with comfort and ease, with Gaiman never quite giving us answers only leading us further down his darkened road. We see humility with our Master of Sleep, Sandman, when he is reminded of a past love that he sentenced to Hell ten thousand years ago. He wants her back, and due to the meeting (thanks to Destiny), he decides to get her back. Nearly reminiscent of "Preludes & Nocturnes", we head back to Hell, but this time, Lucifer himself has a trick up his sleeve.

Lucifer presents Sandman with the ultimate gift, the Keys of Hell, and it will be his decision on what to do with the "gift". What creates the meaty center of this epic tale are what choices the Sandman is presented with by each one of the possible suitors looking to inherit the keys to the almighty Kingdom. Gaiman intricately weaves different Gods from different myths and stories to give us such a vast universe of truths and legend. Gaiman grows the small world we began with into something extraordinary, a world with more open doors than one could ever imagine. We, the readers, are given hints towards the future, as to the strange occurrence of Dream's missing brother, the troubled love between him and Nada, as well as the angels that are determined to change Hell. Loki is even traded for a favor that I am sure Gaiman will explore later.

"Season of Mists" rebirths the excitement that was originally developed in the first two collections that introduced us to Dream. These stories are dark, disturbing, challenging, and utterly fantastical. There is an amazing blend (of which only Gaiman could create) of imagination, creativity, fantasy, and honesty within these stories that immediately pulled this skeptical reader back from the "Dream Country" void. The images are crisp, vibrant, and completely within the realm of this series - for those that couldn't enjoy "Dream Country", "Season of Mists" will bring you back to the world that you loved. Gaiman and his collection of illustrators bring us back to the world that we loved and missed with the last collection. The disturbing truth of Hell, the infinite life of Dream's family, as well as the colliding worlds around that all pine for a track of land to call their own. This collection opened a whole new world to the series, demonstrating that there is a world outside of our own that may have magic, but the undertones are very similar to ours. Sibling rivalry coupled with competitive land developers are just a few of the channels that Gaiman bring to us in "Season of Mists".

I haven't mentioned this in my other reviews yet, but I have to with this collection because it became more obvious to me as I read and saw Dream in each of the stories. I am an enormous fan of what Gaiman has chosen to do with this character - he has given Dream a constantly changing face. What I mean is that Gaiman always has new artists creating his work, thus providing us this true feeling of being in a dream where nothing remains the same. I love to see other's thoughts on what Dream may look like, and while we revert back to the "original" form to demonstrate consistency, it is these subtle changes that make these stories more enjoyable each time you turn the page. The Sandman may be only one person, but he wears many eccentric faces.

Overall, for those that felt that Gaiman fell off his stride in "Dream Country", you will not be disappointed with this outing. We go further into the mind of Gaiman to see his demons, his Gods, and his darkly religious undertones. What I loved about this collection is that while there is this idea of religion, Gaiman seems to bring it to us in all different shapes and sizes. There are Gods, but he skittles around the idea of one larger entity. I loved the idea of "Chaos" and "Order", and the shapes that they chose to take. I deeply enjoyed the poetic ending that seemed to bring purpose to it all - it seemed that Destiny did make an impact, even with just one small event. "Season of Mists" easily ranks as my second favorite in this series. While I do believe that there isn't one that could quite match the veracity of "Preludes and Nocturnes", this one comes very close. For anyone that wants to explore the world of Dream, I would use this as a reference due to the humanity of his character in these stories. He has a conflict, and it is how he chooses to deal with the issues that make him purely Gaiman. I was impressed from page one!

Grade: ***** out of *****

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Sunshine & Noir
Mike Davis , Mike Kelley , and David Hockney
Manufacturer: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 8790029194
Release Date: 1998-03-02

Book Description

Artistic production in L.A., while certainly influenced by the international currents which have defined New York, has always retained a distinct affinity. Sunshine & Noir takes an indepth look at the art and the artists that define art in L.A.

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Looking for some good zombie yarns? Look no further.
EC WOULD HAVE BEEN PROUD!
Overall quite excellent
Nine Cautionary Tales of the Risen and Hungry Dead

The Dark Horse Book Of The Dead
Mike Mignola , Evan Dorkin , Eric Powell , Kelley Jones , Jamie S. Rich , and Guy Davis
Manufacturer: Dark Horse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1593072813

Book Description

Mike Mignola presents a Hellboy yarn combining Shakespeare and graverobbing in this follow-up to Dark Horse's Eisner-nominated books of Hauntings and Witchcraft. Also returning to this volume are Jill Thompson, who won a 2004 Eisner for her painted work in Hauntings, and her collaborator Evan Dorkin, with another occult canine adventure. New additions for this volume include Goon creator Eric Powell, celebrated B.P.R.D. artist Guy Davis, and the artist who spent the last twenty years making superhero comics more scary - Kelley Jones. Cover artist Gary Gianni also returns, mixing prose with comics, with a rare tale by the man ultimately responsible for Dark Horse's biggest hit in years - Conan creator Robert E. Howard.

Customer Reviews:

Looking for some good zombie yarns? Look no further........2007-09-09

The Dark Horse Book of the Dead is a surprisingly varied collection of creepy tales involving revenants of all stripes. A handsome hardcover volume (with a great cover by Gary Gianni), it contains nine stories ranging from the outright fantastical to the strikingly contemporary.

As is the case with any anthology, the stories contained herein are hit or miss, although there are more hits than misses. Many of you investigating this volume will no doubt be interested in Mike Mignola's "The Ghoul," a Hellboy romp that is entertaining (though not his best work). However, Mignola's tale is not the only standout. Eric Powell's "The Wallace Expedition" imagines a Victorian excursion to the Arctic with dire consequences that is exceptional in its artwork and narrative quality; Pat McEown's "Queen of Darkness" is a dark fantasy tale that finds a young swordsman on a quest to rid his world of the hellish evil that has befallen it; Jamie S. Rich and Guy Davis' "Kago No Tori" is an atmospheric (and explicitly gruesome) ghost story taking place in feudal Japan; and Evan Dorking and Jill Thompson's "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" explores what happens when dogs and the occult mix.

All of these are worthy entries, but the real standout is "Old Garfield's Heart," a "weird" tale by Robert E. Howard with supebly rendered illustrations by Gary Gianni. This yarn - encompassing 1930s Texas society, history, and black magic - may surprise some readers in that it is a Howard story that is not explicitly fantastic, and reads more in the vein of an M. R. James or William Hope Hodgson tale. The virtuoso composition and execution of this story shows just how good Howard was and will make you want to go out and investiagte his westerns.

Overall, The Dark Horse Book of the Dead is highly recommended for lovers of good old-fashioned horror with a grim and gruesome edge.

EC WOULD HAVE BEEN PROUD!.......2006-09-06

EC Comics is long gone, a victim of 1950's paranoia run amuck. Horror comics themselves went through a very long lull in the 80's and most of the 90's, taking a backseat to superhero and sci-fi related books. But horror comics have come back in a big way over the past decade or so and leading the charge has been Dark Horse Comics, who have really taken up the mantle of EC Comics both in their tone and inventiveness. Dark Horse has been feeding horror-starved fans everything from modern, gory horror, to books based on classic Universal horror films of the 30's and 40's.

A great example is this fantastic, Hardcover graphic novel, "The Dark Horse Book of the Dead", an anthology of ten stories by a host of talented artists and writers including Mike Mignola, Kelley Jones, Evan Dorkin, Guy Davis, and Jill Thompson. The opening tale by Jones is a truly EC inspired tale called "The Hungry Ghosts". Jones' work conjures up memories of EC greats like Jack Davis and Reed Crandall as a lone hunter ventures into haunted woods, endlessly stalked by a horde of ghoulish ghosts, but the hunter has a secret that will keep him alive and free of the spirits.

Mike Mignola's story is a short, Hellboy adventure as Big Red tracks down a poetry-spouting cannibal who has subsisted for centuries by grave robbing and eating the remains. One of my favorite tales was a comedic piece by Bob Fingerman and Roger Langridge called "Death Boy". This zany, cartoony story finds a young man who was saved after a suicide attempt, only to be given the touch of death by the Grim Reaper who decides he wants to take a holiday from his work.

"The Magicians" takes a look at the conscience of the practitioners of the black arts as a man raises the skeletal remains of his father in order to have a father and son heart-to-heart conversation. A dark and moody tale to be sure...

"Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson is a cautionary tale...Cats should never raise dogs from the dead to use them in their never ending battle with the canines. Dogs just don't like cats, even if the dogs are zombies!

There's also a great short story by Conan creator Robert E. Howard, called"Old Garfield's Heart" which features illustrations by Gary Gianni. While Howard was certainly most well-known for his works of swords and sorcery, he was equally adept at horror as this story will show.

Just a wonderful book of horror tales wrapped up in a gorgeous hardcover edition. Dark Horse continues to be one of the true leaders in modern comic book horror.

Reviewed By Tim Janson

Overall quite excellent.......2006-07-19

This is the first in the series that I picked up. I was drawn in by Kill Thompson, Mike Mignola, and Kelley Jones, and was delighted to fin some others that I never knew I knew!
The stories overall were great. For he most part they were interesting and engrossing. did find Mignola's a little tough to chew through, since the poetry only seemed to distract from what was actually happening (which in and of itself was pretty neat). But, of course, his gorgeous art style and fun characters made up for it.
My two favorites, though, were unexpected ones. I know some people might not, but I actually really enjoyed the comicky humor of Fingerman and Langridge's piece. It was cute with charming art.
The absolute stunner, however, was Jill Thompson's. I've been a fan of hers for a while, but I didn't expect something this great. It was cute without being sickly sweet. The characters were fun, and the plot was neat.
Overall, this book was really great, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Nine Cautionary Tales of the Risen and Hungry Dead.......2005-12-27

Anthologies are almost always a mixed bag of tricks, the alchemical products of well-intentioned editors possessed by some inspired thematic vision that compels them to collect a range of exemplary work under a single banner, ideally providing maximum bang for a reader's buck. With 94 pages of content, including an interesting 11-page prose piece from Robert E. Howard lightly seasoned with a handful of illustrations, its bang for the buck factor is pretty high.

"Nine Cautionary Tales of the Risen and Hungry Dead - Told in Words and Pictures; including famously Dead Author and Patriarch of Terrifying Adventure, Robert E. Howard." It's rare that a book's promotional blurb is worth referring to, but in this case it's appropriate thanks to its nailing of the anthology's overall tone: wry and a tad old school, perhaps the kind of thing Max Gaines would be publishing if the Comics Code Authority hadn't castrated his line of horror comics so many years ago. From the clever twist of Kelley Jones' "The Hungry Ghosts" opener, to the waterlogged horror of Jamie S. Rich and Guy Davis' "Kago No Tori," Book of the Dead delivers literate storytelling that doesn't shortchange fans of gore and hanging entrails. Pat McEown's "Queen of Darkness" is the most intriguing entry, hinting at a much larger story that begs for a more elaborate telling, possibly hinted at in the credits which explain this story "marks his return to comics as both writer and artist."

David Crouse and Todd Herman offer up the disturbing "The Ditch;" Eric Powell's "The Wallace Expedition" is a creepy tale with a nice Classics Illustrated-style execution; and Book of the Dead editor Scott Allie himself teams up with Paul Lee and Brian Horton for the surprisingly melancholy "The Magicians." Allie arguably saves the best for last, though, closing out with Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie," sort of Stephen King's Pet Sematary told from the perspective of the pets themselves. Fans of Grant Morrison's overrated WE3 should check this one out to see a twist on a familiar theme done right.

While there are no outright misses here, there are a couple of questionable entries that keep this worthy project from A+ status. Mike Mignola's "The Ghoul" strikes a dubious balance between pretension and confusion as the BPRD track down a ghoulish fellow who only speaks in poetry while Hellboy beats the stuffing out of him, as annoyed by the stylistic quirk as I was. Perhaps some more familiarity with Hellboy would have improved my opinion of the piece, but if so, in this context, it would still be considered a swing and a miss. The other strike is Bob Fingerman and Roger Langridge's "Death Boy," a cartoony humor piece that brings to mind the old Sesame Street "one of these things is not like the others" segments. It's not bad, per se, just completely jarring in its tone and a bad fit here.

Nevertheless, the whole is far greater than the sum of its unequal parts, and it's an enjoyable collection worth every penny, suitable not just for genre fans but any fan of good writing and artwork. It's also a perfect introduction to comics for anyone that thinks they're just for kids and/or all about superheroes.

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Without Boundary
Homi Bhabha , Orhan Pamuk , Ghada Amer , Mike Kelley , Shirin Neshat , and Bill Viola
Manufacturer: The Museum of Modern Art, New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0870700855
Release Date: 2006-02-01

Book Description

The attention currently directed from the West to the Islamic world has profound ramifications for the art made by those who come from the region but live elsewhere: that origin is increasingly becoming a defining term in the consideration of works by artists such as Mona Hatoum and Shirin Neshat. Resisting any homogenizing impulse, Without Boundary recognizes a need to ask if this art is marked by an Islamic difference. Author and curator Fereshteh Daftari considers issues ranging from the aesthetic legacy of Islamic art to contemporary ideas of identity and faith. Essays by MoMA Director Glenn D. Lowry, whose own academic and curatorial background involves traditional Islamic arts; Homi Bhabha, the preeminent theorist and scholar of the postcolonial condition; and the Turkish writer and novelist Orhan Pamuk, winner of the German Book Peace Prize and author of My Name Is Read and Snow. Artists include Jananne-Al-Ani, Ghada Amer, Kutlug Ataman, The Atlas Group/Walid Raad, Mona Hatoum, Shirazeh Houshiary, Emily Jacir, Y.Z. Kami, Mike Kelley, Rachid Koraichi, Shirin Neshat, Marjane Satrapi, Shirana Shahbazi, Raqib Shaw, Shahzia Sikander and Bill Viola.

Minor Histories: Statements, Conversations, Proposals (Writing Art)

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Minor Histories: Statements, Conversations, Proposals (Writing Art)
Mike Kelley
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0262611988

Book Description

What John C. Welchman calls the "blazing network of focused conflations" from which Mike Kelley's styles are generated is on display in all its diversity in this second volume of the artist's writings. The first volume, Foul Perfection, contained thematic essays and writings about other artists; this collection concentrates on Kelley's own work, ranging from texts in "voices" that grew out of scripts for performance pieces to expository critical and autobiographical writings.

Minor Histories organizes Kelley's writings into five sections. "Statements" consists of twenty pieces produced between 1984 and 2002 (most of which were written to accompany exhibitions), including "Ajax," which draws on Homer, Colgate- Palmolive, and Longinus to present its eponymous hero; "Some Aesthetic High Points," an exercise in autobiography that counters the standard artist bio included in catalogs and press releases; and a sequence of "creative writings" that use mass cultural tropes in concert with high art mannerisms--approximating in prose the visual styles that characterize Kelley's artwork. "Video Statements and Proposals" are introductions to videos made by Kelley and other artists, including Paul McCarthy and Bob Flanagan and Sheree Rose. "Image-Texts" offers writings that accompany or are part of artworks and installations. This section includes "A Stopgap Measure," Kelley's zestful millennial essay in social satire, and "Meet John Doe," a collage of appropriated texts. "Architecture" features an discussion of Kelley's Educational Complex (1995) and an interview in which he reflects on the role of architecture in his work. Finally, "Ufology" considers the aesthetics and sexuality of space as manifested by UFO sightings and abduction scenarios.

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100 Artists See GOD, not politics
A truly great idea that is stunnngly dissapointing in its execution

100 Artists See God
Meg Cranston , Andrea Bowers , Angela Bulloch , John Baldessari , Chris Burden , Liam Gillick , Rebecca Horn , Christian Jankowski , Mike Kelley , Martin Kippenberger , Paul McCarthy , Paul Pfeiffer , Richard Prince , Gerhard Richter , Ed Ruscha , and Diana Thater
Manufacturer: Independent Curators International, New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0916365689
Release Date: 2004-04-02

Book Description

With a mix of irreverence and sincerity, artists John Baldessari and Meg Cranston here tackle nothing less than the question of God. Acting as curators, they have invited 100 artists to respond to one of art's most enduring challenges: picturing the divine. The artists selected are those whose work the curators know and admire, those who possess the sense of humor and audacity necessary for such a project, or artists who are "likely to surprise." The works in this exhibition explore many different themes, including miracles, divine intervention, baptism, heaven, martyrdom, and the search for enlightenment. Included is one work by each of the 100 artists--primarily drawings, photographs, and paintings, along with a few sculptures and single-channel videos--some of them made in response to the curators' call for participation. Represented artists include Reverend Ethan Acres, Eleanor Antin, Chris Burden, Sam Durant, Jimmie Durham, Nicole Eisenman, Katharina Fritsch, Liam Gillick, Jack Goldstein, Scott Grieger, Rebecca Horn, Christian Jankowski, Mike Kelley, Mary Kelly, Martin Kippenberger, Louise Lawler, Roy Lichtenstein, Rita McBride, Paul McCarthy, Catherine Opie, Tony Oursler, Jorge Pardo, Raymond Pettibon, Paul Pfeiffer, Richard Prince, Rob Pruitt & Jonathan Horowitz, Gerhard Richter, Susan Rothenberg, Ed Ruscha, Gary Simmons, Lawrence Weiner, James Welling, and Franz West.

Customer Reviews:

100 Artists See GOD, not politics.......2006-12-01

In response to the sole review for this book, having been at the exhibit I have to say that both the catalogue and the show did very well in sharing honest and intimate perspectives about personal relationships with divinity. While more political venues consistantly discuss God solely in relationship to religion, church, and state, _100 Artists See God_ serves both as a breath of fresh air and a reminder that the human relationship with the divine is individual and personal, transcending faith and political alignment.

A truly great idea that is stunnngly dissapointing in its execution.......2005-07-27

Art more than any other discipline has the ability to break open new intellectual and emotional ground. It an be a powerful tool. Governments and religions have tried to guide and or control artists since artists began translating their world view’s onto the pictorial and sculptural plane.

Religion has universally been a major control element in the sociology of artists, and the depiction of god is a major taboo in both the Christian and the Muslim world. Between religion and art is a fertile ground for the imagination, it is a ground that is still potentially loaded, a fertile ground for the artist to shock, or stimulate an audience.

You would think that a subject such as the depiction of god (given the military industrial religious complex which is currently so dominant) would engender more than a very light weight response from artists.

Sadly this is not the case. There are no compelling images of faith and devotion nor any compelling criticisms of god and religion, no overt discussion of the grotesque coupling of government and church, and so I can only say that this is a very disappointing book.

It is potentially an interesting project and the curator really ought to be dismissed for their lack of vision and inclusion. So many artists to choose from but they really have filled the book with mediocre works. Sadly evident in the bulk of the work displayed in the book is a lack of insight into the subject and a lackluster commitment to aesthetics.

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Foul Perfection: Essays and Criticism
Mike Kelley
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0262611783

Book Description

The work of artist Mike Kelley (b. 1954) embraces performance, installation, drawing, painting, video, and sculpture. Drawing distinctively on high art and vernacular traditions, including historical research, popular culture, and psychology, Kelley came to prominence in the 1980s with a series of sculptures composed of craft materials. His recent work offers dialogues with architecture and with repressed memory syndrome, and a sustained inquiry into his own aesthetic and social history. The subjects on which Kelley has written are as varied as his artistic media. They include the work of fellow artists, sound, caricature, the uncanny, UFOlogy, and gender-bending.

This book offers a diverse collection of Kelley's writings from the last twenty-five years. It contains major critical texts on art, film, and the wider culture, including his piece on the aesthetic he calls "urban Gothic." It also contains essays, mostly commissioned for exhibition catalogs and journals, on the artists and groups David Askevold, �yvind Fahlstr�m, Douglas Huebler, John Miller, Survival Research Laboratories, and Paul Thek, among others. Kelley's voices are passionate, analytic, and ironic, and his critical intelligence is leavened with touches of whimsy.

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Influential Mike Kelley Monograph
If you do not know Mike Kelley, with this book you will.
Mike Kelley: Punk Conceptualist

Mike Kelley
John Welchman
Manufacturer: Phaidon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Pop | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0714838349

Book Description

Description: Memory Ware, Wood Grain, Carpet: these three series, already experimented with by Mike Kelley in the past, are brought together in this insightful publication. Kelley consciously presents a nexus of works whose similar surface treatments and presentation inevitable evoke modernist painting history. According to Emi Fontana, "Popularly known as the master of exercises in garbage style, Kelley is in reality Mr. Clean. He situates his output within a wider system, that of recent modernist art history, appropriating modernism's structures, acting from within but without exercising the appropriational coldness common to the gestures of many American artists of his generation." Fifty-three images present Kelley's most recent works in vivid color.

Customer Reviews:

Influential Mike Kelley Monograph.......2005-12-31

This was one of the first and best monographs of this most important of West Coast artists who is now enjoying a slight rennaissance. For years this was the only book available on Mike Kelley, other than thin catalogues of european shows. Luckily, with the advent of more writing on Kelley, we have come to find that indeed it was and is the best introduction to his work. We are introduced to Kelley's work via tons of lovely color photos, b & w personal photos of kelleys, lengthy interviews, and essays. Nothing is to hard to understand and the psychological subtexts of his work easily filters into the writing without confusion. His earliest collegiate work recieves just as good attention as his later sonic youth-era works, although I would have appreciated more discussion of his side project the influential noise band Destroy All Monsters. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the west coast art scene, and should probably be recquired reading for anyone taking a class on the subject.

If you do not know Mike Kelley, with this book you will........2002-05-15

I have nothing but praise for Phaidon's publications. Each of their artist's books contain great documentations of the artwork, plus detailed writings by the artist and critics. If you are going to read a description of an artist's work, who better to explain it to you than the artist. This is especially true with Mike Kelley. He is well known for the writings he does for each of his works and he pulls no punches in his delivery.

Mike Kelley: Punk Conceptualist.......2000-09-01

Mike Kelley's excellent catalog from Phaidon may be the most definitive work to date concerning the merging of Elite and Popular culture. Kelley's use of his own astute observations about the world in which we live to "debunk belief systems" and deflate popular pretentions is nothing short of revelatory. His pathetic stance in sculpture, drawing, performance, sound, and banner-making constitute total war on austerity. All modes of his work are well-documented here with color photography of installations and descriptions and criticism by some of the best in their fields.

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Big Nothing, The
Ingrid Shaffner , Bennett Simpson , Jutta Koether , Claudia Gould , Jo Baer , Gareth James , Mike Kelley , Yves Klein , Louise Lawler , and Richard Prince
Manufacturer: ICA Philadelphia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Museums & Collections | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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Contemporary Art | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0884541053
Release Date: 2004-06-02

Book Description

Profound and ironic, nothing is one of the driving themes of 20th century art. One thinks of Piet Mondrian's reductivist approach to abstraction, Marcel Duchamp's contention that art resides in ideas, not objects, Mark Rothko's painterly reach for the sublime, Andy Warhol's affirmations of the vacuity of Pop culture. The Big Nothing will focus on themes of nothing, nothingness, and negation in contemporary art and culture, surveying the legacy of these and other manifestations of absence made manifest in contemporary art. Artist include Gareth James, Jutta Koether, Louise Lawler, Richard Prince, Yves Klein, Bernadette Corporation, John Miller, and James Welling, among others. Given its broad connotations, "nothing" provides general audiences with immediate access to looking at and thinking about the art of today. Part of a pan-Philadelphia cultural event initiated by the ICA, in which the city gives itself over to the art of nothing.

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