Jessica Stockholder (Contemporary Artists)

I'd seen photos of Stockholder's installations and was excited for more. When I found she had a volume in this series I was thrilled. As I'd hoped, there were more photos of even more fantastic installations - massive, colorful, and complicated constructions of as many different materials and textures as you can imagine. It all looked great.

But my enthusiasm quickly faded. Reading the artist interview I found her to be not just a devout disciple of the art-for-art's-sake formalist school, but downright giddy about the idea. That's not a BAD thing, though its really not MY thing, but to get a perspective on where this formalism is coming from, check out some of these quotes. "I've always felt uncomfortable in museums and galleries. There's a kind of deadening in those places that I work in response to." Huh. "Even so, I love what the art institution makes possible . . . it's a place where you can express anything, and explore any thing without hurting your neighbor" (13). On her creative process she says, "I begin in a very physical place, without a lot of words. . . . There's a quiet - there are no words for what I'm going to do" (14). So if this kind of serious thinking appeals to you, go buy the book I guess, but this stuff just kept coming and systematically grated on each of my nerves. To me she came off like a beret-clad sophomore art student from a "Doug" cartoon.

Next, viewers interested in considering her work in terms of content are left grasping at straws. The titles attached to her installations allude to a possible allegorical content (which on some occasions makes superficial connections with the materials used in the installations), begging for a psychoanalytic reading. Based on what I read in this book, there isn't too much of interest through that door, and she doesn't really tell us much to base such an analysis on. Another direction to take is to take the temporary nature of her work as a reaction against notions of art as a commodity. The book put that on the table, and it made sense. And though, yes, you can say that, the same can be said for the whole of installation art dating back decades before Stockholder got her hands in it. By not offering any real direction (certainly I didn't find any such thing in this book) on the issue of meaning or subject matter she's made a number of critics wary. Myself, after the admittedly powerful initial reaction to the brightness and color in her installations, I'm left empty and bored.

This is not to say that I find Stockholder's work completely without value. Her work does have a strong impact on a lot of people. And she has a great eye. Also, there is a fantastic article by Jack Bankowsky (from the Oct. 1990 issue of "Artforum") I highly recommend. He has a pretty interesting take on why her work is interesting. But based on this book alone, I was ready to write Stockholder off entirely. And even now I'd have to say Stockholder's work is not my cup of tea at all.

Photographs by Edward Weston
Remembrance by Charis Wilson

Of all the unnoticed works of art in nature revealed by Weston's camera it was the human form that most persistently challenged this great photographer throughout his working life. Erotic, sculptural, and poetic, his nude photographs of lovers, friends, and of his son Neil combine the essentials of physical passion with a desire to go beyond the transitory to a discovery of eternal forms.

In his search for the ideal, Weston concentrated on the fundamental physical aspects of his subjects, empowering his prints with an intrinsic grace and elegance. There is a desire to draw near, and a distant, unknowable sense of sculpture; reflection of universal rhythms, revealing the "vital essence of things."

In his Daybook dated December 9, 1934, Weston wrote, "The first nudes of C. were easily the finest I had done, perhaps the finest." "C" was Charis Wilson, then a girl of 20. For the next ten years, she lived with and posed for Weston, and developed such an instinctive understanding of his style that as they drove through the West on photography expeditions, Weston would often close his eyes and doze while Charis scanned the horizon for "Edward Weston" subject matter. Charis proved so adept at putting Weston's thoughts into words that shortly after they met, he turned over to her all his writing chores.

In the present volume, Charis draws upon her experiences as both model and partner to offer a uniquely informed remembrance not only of Weston's nudes-- which comprise the largest single category of his output-- but also of the man himself. Of her first encounter with Weston's photographs of the nude, Charis writes, "Nothing could have been farther from 'Art Poses' than Edward's nudes, and I was fascinated by their strong individuality as body portraits. At first I had the same trouble with the peppers, dead birds, and eroded planks-- I couldn't get past the simple amazement at how real they were. Then I began to see the rhythmic pattern, the intensely perceived sculptural forms, the subtle modulations of tone, of which these small perfect images were composed. And I began to appreciate the originality of the viewpoint that had selected just these transitory moments and made them fast against the current of time."

Edward Weston...the most highly revered of photographers...his nude photographs emerge in fugues of craft and insight neither nudes nor naked but filled with life.

Hardcover, 8.5 x 1.75 in./56 pgs / 20 color.

Jessica Stockholder: Westfalischer Kunstverein Munster, 10. April-31. Mai 1992, Kunsthalle Zurich, 31. Oktober 1992-3. Januar 1993

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Jessica Stockholder: Westfalischer Kunstverein Munster, 10. April-31. Mai 1992, Kunsthalle Zurich, 31. Oktober 1992-3. Januar 1993
Jessica Stockholder
Manufacturer: Kunsthalle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

German | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Arts & Photography | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

Nonfiction | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

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ASIN: 3925047239

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Like color in pictures
Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson , Rhonda Lieberman , and James Welling
Manufacturer: Aspen Art Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0934324395

Lacking education in a trade or profession, Jose finds work as a man-servant to a wealthy Los Angeles white businessman. Jose is on call at all hours and suffers daily the demeaning yes-sir-ing and yes-ma'am-ing, his job demands; a fact not lost on Patsy as she grows up.

The family's visit to the Philippines in 1936 when Patsy is 9-years-old, opens her father's world to her: the large and generous family; the vast land-holdings and spacious house. Once a Spanish colony, the Philippines is now U.S. property with a citizenry restless for independence. The Philippine-Norwegian-American family is welcomed like celebrities with lavish parties in Manila and Saravia -- later known as Sarabia. In 1936, there are only hints of a Japanese military threat and the terrible war which would engulf the country in half a decade.

After their Philippine visit, the family resumes life inthe U.S. and Patsy make! s it safely through a normally rebellious adolescence. Jose, resigned now to never finding meaningful work in the U.S. continues as servant -- a fact hidden from his family in the Philippines through careful choice of words. But Jose's jovial spirit has been broken. One day after two decades of faithful service, he simply quits his job and leaves without retirement or severance. Times are tough for the family, but the couple manages to put Patsy through college.

McReynold's account leaves us with a deeper understanding of the Filipinos who have come to this country in waves: first, at the start of the century, as did Jose Justiniani; after World War II; and more recently in the 1980s. Filipinos have come as laborers, service providers and professionals. "Almost Americans" belies its title, for it is truly an American story. During its telling, McReynolds deftly embroiders her story with insights into Philippine history; its long subjugation under Spanish rule; its resistance to U.S. takeover; finally, independence. Filipino contributions to America are considerable, but remain to this day -- despite this year's Philippine centennial celebrations -- largely unheralded.

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Almost Americans, A Quest For Dignity -
Patricia Justiniani McReynolds -
Manufacturer: Red Crane Publishing -
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PRT9NC