Eiko on Stage [Hardcover]

Eiko Ishioka (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000

One of the most influential designers of this century draws from a wide range of cultural and historical sources to create images that are provocative, emotional, sometimes shocking, and always beautiful. This new book chronicles nine of her most dynamic stage and screen productions from the past fifteen years, including: Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, M. Butterfly, starring Anthony Hopkins, Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung, and The Cell, starring Jennifer Lopez.

In the accompanying text, Eiko takes us into her creative process and the harmonies and discords of her fascinating, explosive collaborations with such artists as Paul Schrader, David Copperfield, and Philip Glass, among many others. In counterpoint, Francis Ford Coppola shares his personal experience of a unique creative collaboration.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

All too often, the talent behind wondrous sets and costumes, in advertising and in films, goes unrecognized, although rewards flourish in such high-visibility contests as the Grammies, the Oscars, and the Tonys. Ishioka, well known in her native Japan, will achieve more international fame with the publication of her second book (the first being Eiko by Eiko , 1983). She dissects the beginnings and realizations of her art in nine forms, ranging from a four-night-only performance of a Japanese opera to her millennial movie, The Cell . Hallmarks soon become apparent: literal visual metaphors (the anatomical diagram of an arm for David Copperfield's Broadway magic show); minimalism, as in Hwang's M. But terfly; and a sinuosity cloaking bodies in The Cell and The Ring of the Nibelung . Color photographs do much of the talking--and more than adequately pay homage to Eiko's art. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Callaway; 1st edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0935112537
• ISBN-13: 978-0935112535
• Product Dimensions: 14.1 x 12 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #809,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every page I turned made me gasp in awe. Phew!, November 2, 2000

By 

"malcolmtent" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eiko on Stage (Hardcover)

Let me say at once: this is the most incredible, most beautiful book I own. And I've collected quality illustrated books for years. It stands between Avedon's "Observations" and Damien Hirst's "I want to be with everybody blah blah..." on my (reinforced) bookshelf--and right now it tops either of them in its artistry, design, and sheer beauty.

I'm getting carried away. So... this is a breathtaking journey through 10 of the projects that this artist/ costume designer/ set designer has undertaken in the last fifteen years--in sketches, photographs, and her own narrative--from creating the look of Paul Schrader's Mishima, to dressing Jennifer Lopez in The Cell. Between times, she has lent her incredible vision to theatre, film, opera, and installation art.

I think she's been so successful because she's never compromised her vision. It inspires me (as an artist) to not give in. Eiko Ishioka won an Oscar for her costumes for Dracula. No doubt she'll be nominated again for her work on The Cell. According to the flap text, she has also won a Grammy, and a Cannes Film Festival Award. I expect to see her win an award also for this book--It's as good as any of her big-name, big-budget projects. Good for her!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kind of mind-blowing, February 4, 2009

By 

Doc Occula "I Can Has Cheezburger?" (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Eiko on Stage (Hardcover)

I cannot recommend this book highly enough for artists, costumers, filmmakers, theatre designers and directors and set designers as a valuable asset to your research library. Eiko is one of the most visionary designers of our time and this book is replete with extraordinary photos of her extraordinary work, as well as interesting information and interviews about how she achieves it. I use this book all the time when I teach design because the photos are marvelously detailed and complete. When you have close-ups that are close enough to count threads in a garment, it's worth using that photo. Her work is inspiring and I have shown many directors, who were unfamiliar with anything she'd done other than the costumes for 'Dracula', a different way to approach their visual techniques by showing them this book. A real find!

5.0 out of 5 stars EIKO, June 24, 2009

By 

B. Fernandez (Honolulu, HI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eiko on Stage (Hardcover)

I love this book it has such beautiful pictures and I use it as inspiration.