Customer Reviews

Eiko on Stage

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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!

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!

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

Covers all the movies she has contributed to and her stage work. A gorgeous presentation, oversized, quality glossy paper, with numerous color photographs and design sketches. If you love Eiko, this is the book for you !