This groundbreaking book, the most comprehensive survey ever assembled, takes America's rich heritage of vernacular art out of the antiques arena and the specialty museum and into today's art world. AMERICAN VERNACULAR presents hundreds of newly identified and never-before-published objects, from carnival figures to religious totems, from antique trade signs to spectacular examples of hand-carved canes. The book reveals the powerful strains of imagination that have shaped the American visual landscape and continue to nourish cutting-edge artists today.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The rise of interest in "outsider" art over the past decade is now largely a fait accompli, in part due to Maresca and Ricco, the authors of American Primitive and American Self-Taught, and now, a follow-up survey of under-recognized vernacular objects. This classy, beautifully designed catalogue reinforces the seriousness and value of the outsider tradition; it features 450 color illustrations of angels, birdbaths, carousel swans, phrenology heads and gospel organs that together constitute the true handmade visual inheritance of American history. Addressed largely to the educated art viewer, the book makes a good argument for expanding the bounds of serious art to include the sheet metal cutouts, weird figurines and duck decoys that it documents, in the end telling us something we might have guessed-namely, that artists have been drawing from these unrecognized traditions for many years. With magazines and museums now devoted to outsider art, and traces of outsider greats such as Henry Darger and Thornton Dial showing up in the work of young artists, future generations will no doubt need to look for other artistic genres to plumb; in the meantime, this gorgeous volume will prove popular to artists, collectors and art appreciaters alike.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Frank Maresca and Roger Ricco have for years, through the Ricco Maresca Gallery in New York City and through their collaboration on several books, played a pivotal role in the effort to bring folk art into the mainstream.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book for a different take on Folk and Outsider Art,
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This review is from: American Vernacular: New Discoveries in Folk, Self-Taught, and Outsider Sculptures (Hardcover)
This is an awesome book for the person interested in a fresh approach to the standard canon of traditional folk art. Although this features some of the old standbys like decoys and weathervanes, the true spirit of this book, and a reflection of the aesthetic sensibilities of its authors, Roger Ricco and Frank Maresca, is in the celebration of the variety of sculptural forms that occur in folk, outsider and self-taught art. The writing is a bit dry and a little academic, but the real reason to get this book is for the great photographs that come at you page after page. For any one interested in art and how it can occur in the most interesting ways, this is an incredible reference book that you must have. One other note: this book is a sort of continuation of an earlier book by Ricco/Maresca titled "American Primitive" that is, sadly, out-of-print.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Knockout Book on Outsider Art!,
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This review is from: American Vernacular: New Discoveries in Folk, Self-Taught, and Outsider Sculptures (Hardcover)
This is a stunning book! A large scale, heavy, coffee table book which is visually exciting.
I have a number of other Folk art/Outsider Art books. They are all fairly similar but this one contains a rich variety of items and many things that were new to me. It is one of the best I have seen. A quirky mixture of humorous, beautiful, powerful and even some sinister examples of this genre. I gave a second copy as a gift and the recipient is equally enthralled by it. I would highly recommend this book.
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