Customer Reviews

Art that Creeps: Gothic Fantasies and the Macabre in Contemporary Art

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It's tough to do an overview of an Art Movement as it coalesces. Writing a book on Surrealism for example, is a No-Brainer. So Yasha Young, the editor of this book has her work cut out for her. The work is diverse in subject matter and technique. What unites it is a "Command to Look". No matter how disturbing the subject matter is, all of the artwork has a certain lush, almost Baroque texture that lures you in and makes you want to look and linger. "Baroque Noir" might be a better subtitle for the book than "Gothic Fantasies and the Macabre in Contemporary Art". The term "Gothic" has been overused and misused in the past decade so often that it's nearly useless. Unless a published merely wants to sell books to a legion of tattoed, leather clad teens. Which brings me to the controversial cover of this book. I like artist Chet Zar's paintings. But the way it's presented on the cover of this book, along with the Red "Gothic" text just screams; "ZOMBIES GEEKS, BUY THIS!". Not that I've got anything against Zombie geeks. But it's a crass marketing tool obviously dropped in by a Publisher to push books to people who don't really know about Art. Remove the cover, and you've got a tastefully bound black book, with the Red Gothic text on the Spine. In fact a glossy, ALL BLACK dust jacket on this book with the red text would have been both appealing, and tasteful.
Enough about the cover. Look Inside! The one thing ALL of these artists share is a serious commitment to their Art works and a desire to communicate/expunge some very curious views of the world. My favorites are Aunia Kahn's Dark, lush symbolic self portraits. She picks up the Gauntlet of fluctuating feminine identity that Cindy Sherman threw down 30 years ago. But while Sherman's photographs seem cold and distant, Kahn's invite the viewer into a dark, spooky, intimate little motel of pleasures and horrors.
Another favorite artist of mine is photographer Wayne Martin Belger. His constructed pinhole cameras are as much an Art work as the photographs he takes with them. The Steam Punk inflected cameras are all hard edged gloss, but the images he makes with them are surprisingly human, ephemeral and poignant. You probably won't like ALL of the Art in this book. But you can be assured to find some works here which will inspire and challenge your notions of Beauty. That's what thoughtful artists do.

I couldn't wait for this book because it has some of my favorite artists and I'm totally pleased with it! Each peice of artwork has its own page and the colors are vivid and beautiful!!! My new favorite book!!! It is a great collection of artists that are great inspirations if you are in the art field. If you are into eerie yet beautiful art then this book is a great choice!

Chet Zar is a fabulous artist and if there is any art that creeps, it's his. I think the cover art is perfect for the book and really conveys what the book is about better than any other image in the book. I do think that sour grapes in a book review is in poor taste, especially among artists. Get the book and keep the cover on! You won't be disappointed. It's a beautiful book. And if you leave it on your coffee table, you may become startled as you walk past in the middle of night for a glass of water and run for your teddy bear to comfort you.

Just bought a copy of this book...I beg to differ...The cover art is AMAZING!!!...Not much art out there right now that "CREEPS" like Chet Zar's work, and I only purchased this book because HE IS IN IT!

The cover is the worst part of this book. It is an unfortunate choice considering the quality of work inside it. I am happy I bought it. It had a good recommendation from one of my favorite artists featured in it - Marina Bychkova. But I never would have bought it on my own seeing just the cover! It is a wonderful book if you take off the dust cover!