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Eva Hesse: Sculpture (Jewish Museum)

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Eva Hesse was one of those rare creative spirits who took the unsettled, unhappy, tragic, and difficult aspects of her life and used the underpinnings of uncertainty to forge a wholly unique and superbly creative body of work. "Oh...more absurdity!" she would exclaim, reviewing her latest creation. One hears in that comment an undertone of glee, that she has unleashed another unheard-of creation upon the world. Her use of uncoventional materials is also a provocative element of her work, and she knew that...saying "art doesn't last...life doesn't last..." and this was before her terrible diagnosis of brain cancer in her early 30's. As with the early death of Mozart, here we have an instance of a powerfully creative spirit cut off in her prime. Who knows what powerful masterpieces she would have created had she lived on...(she would have been 70 this year...not unreasonably old...)
This book is a superb combination of photographic documentation, subtle and well-thought-out essays and careful production (layout, color plates, binding...all are top-notch!) Of special interest are the reproductions and essays about the yearbooks/scrapbooks compiled by her father, detailing her growth and life in the early stages, including photographs, documents, graphs, etc. Works of art in themselves! All art-lovers of any stripe should consider this excellent volume for inclusion in their library.