Have you ever stopped to think how many times we are bombarded by truisms everyday? Get this book and you will get a clue. In the Truisms series over exposure to banality reveals how numbed out we all are. Take a cliche like "Children are the hope to the future" and place beside "Children are the most cruel of all". We say and repeat these truisms but do we really realize that they are empty in themselves ? Do we perceive the contradictions ? How we mold reality to suit our needs ? Truisms sooth us with the cushioned feeling of the "generally accepted truth". Jenny Holzer literally splashes intimate thoughts, truisms, activist slogans over the landscape. These truths, half-truths and huge lies stare out at us in billboards, park benches like a conscience made physical. This is art made on the very border of reality and language.

The book listed on this page, a monograph on Jenny Holzer by Phaidon Press, is fabulous. It contains information on Holzer's wide and influential art career, from her Truisms posters of the 'seventies to her electronic LED signs, carved stone benches, and virtual art pieces of the 'nineties.

This book is also unique, within the Holzer bibliography, because of the "Artist's Choice" section where Holzer provides excerpts from books and writings that have influenced her, along with explanations of why she's moved by them.

If you're interested in modern art, or women artists, this is a must-read

If this books isn't considered the ultimate guide to the history and philosophy of collage as an art form, it should be. Waldman intelligently discusses the history of collage in it's various forms through the past several hundred years and how the concept of assemblage and the found object has challenged and changed the art of collage. If you have this book hold on to it. I've been looking for a copy of this book for three years now, and it's difficult to find one I can afford.

The middle initial for Clare Bell is P, not

This is a terrific collection-- and one of the first I have seen to explore the connection between documentary and feminist film theory, history, and practice. The introduction by Walker and Waldman is extremely informative and helpful-- I have used it often in cinema studies classes and in writing papers and it has greatly expanded my knowledge in both fields of study.

Finally, a beautiful, comprehensive book about Joseph Cornell and his work. Diane Waldman knew Cornell intimately ever since she was an art student (and through doing gallery shows for him), and this affinity shows; this is ultimately a book of love and tribute to a friend.

The biographical material is excellent. Most fascinating segments deal with Cornell's stranger sides, such as when at his brother Robert's funeral, Joseph put a sheet over his head and laughed, creeping everyone out, and explained it was only a side joke that Robert would have understood. Cornell was terribly timid in front of women (particularly the ones he fancied) and had a complete dependence on his mother (he died months after she did). Waldman probes these and other significant personal issues (such as his association with Surrealism, and how the younger artists that have passed through him have influenced his work) and examines how they factored in Cornell's art. The book is generous with illustrations - Waldman supports her points with not only Cornell's work, but with other artists that were influential to him.

However, it is the lonely and telling poetry of Cornell's work that is the heart of this book. The boxes that Waldman chooses to include are presented intelligently, and beautifully. The innocence and nostalgia of each box is lovingly portrayed. The Medici series - Cornell's especially heartbreakingly beautiful and mysteriously passionate work - is presented perfectly by Waldman with thoughtful commentary and context, capturing in full its yearning and ardor. Waldman has given us a book that speaks eloquently about why Cornell is an artists people will remember for generations hereafter.

Some of Roy Lichtenstein's first works were humorous copies of Micky Mouse and Donald Duck that were done in part for his children. Thus her found both his trademark comic strip dots, and a charming sense of childlike innocence that can be found in most of his work.

Well, I'm a little partial, Roy Lichtenstein is one of my all time favorites, but this is a beautiful book. There are 350 full color reproductions and only 408 pages, so the majority of this book allows you to see the artist's work for yourself.

And what an incredible sample it is! The murals, the comic strips, of course THE GIRLS, the surrealism. I love "Cow Going Abstract". Who else could so lovingly mock every other artist! Carra, Picaso, Matisse, Magritte, Dali, Schlemmer- No one was safe! But Lichtenstein brought his own outlook to each of these artists, not merely copying, but giving that childlike enthusiasm - bright colors and virtually no shading - to all of their works.

This book abounds with the inspirational material for Roy Lichtenstein's work - The Dali's are right next to Lichtensteins own versions. Even his Brushstrokes series makes more sense when the little comic strip that inspired it is shown.

This book is an absolute treasure. It's only fault - it needs a sturdier binding!

Another gorgeous collection from the Guggenheim.