James Croak [Hardcover]

Thomas McEvilley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

James Croak, one of America's most original artists, has produced an astonishing and idiosyncratic body of work during the past twenty years. Using a variety of innovative materials and techniques, including taxidermy, latex rubber, tar, and his trademark cast dirt, he has merged traditional allegiance to exacting craftsmanship with a late-twentieth-century sensibility, creating sculpture of presence and feeling. With more than 100 illustrations documenting the artist's development over the past two decades, the book follows his experiments with Minimalism - an approach that he revisited with his Window series - his examinations of American society in New Skins for the Coming Monstrosities, and the art of the figure that chiefly holds his attention today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"McEvilley ultimately argues for Croak's ever-expanding discovery of ways to connect his sculpture to that of the past, from Yves Klein and Marcel Duchamp, to the Baroque energy of Bernini and the classical resolution of Greek kouroi, while at the same time firmly holding on to a relevant critique of present-day society at large.

Drawing connections between the jagged trajectory of Croak's alternately operatic and frozen figures and the histories that they allude to, both social and art historical, is a difficult task managed well by McEvilley. His essay could serve as a model of how to place contemporary art within larger historical contexts without boxing it in to ill-fitting aesthetic considerations. Although McEvilley does occasionally sacrifice some of the probing spirit and dark humor of Croak's pieces, this seems to be unavoidable in order to make the valuable points that he does. McEvilley takes the different worlds of Croak's sculpture and resolves them i! nto an evolving stream of ideas, always linked to external references which anchor them and argue for a status quo that is open to the evolving critique, and the change, of additional transformation." -- excerpt fr. Sculpture magazine, by Tom Csaszar, Oct, 1999

This is a beautifully designed book with great color reproductions that captures the nuances of James Croak's sculpture of dirt. The book follows his 20 year career with a look at a few of his large metal minimalist works of the early to mid 70's, his L.A. transition into figuration creating assemblages of mix-match taxidermy and found objects, to the most famous of his sculptures of the 80's, "Dirt Man" and Dirt Baby series. The book finishes with last year's dirt sculpture in a historical context while Barbara J. Bloemink's interview gives you insight into his life and the reasons for making the sculptures he does. -- Robert Curcio - Cover Magazine

Thomas McEvilley's James Croak revisits one of the wilder West Coast artists of the past two decades, somebody who, like the Sots artists revisits the past of the culture for the sake of critiquing it. In 1982, Croak's "New Myths and Heroic Metaphors" series featured a full-sized Pegasus, a stuffed horse with feathered wings bursting through the roof of a customized '63 Chevy. Croak went on to create shuffling men sculptured from compressed, cast dirt, as well as a series of latex "New Skins for the Coming Monstrosities" that evoked all our uncertainties about the body and the need for protection from outside and inside forces. Easily one of least classifiable artists of the moment, Croak is easier to love at some of his artist moments than others, but the sheer quantity of serious weirdness-or weird seriousness-latent in his work makes this one of the more strangely appealing books of the moment, even without McEvilley's characteristically instructive placement of the artist in the eddying sidestreams of postmodernist sensibility. -- Jerry Cullum, Art Papers Magazine, September, 1999

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; First Edition, edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810963795
• ISBN-13: 978-0810963795
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 10.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,591,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite art book, September 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: James Croak (Hardcover)

The first time I saw the cover of this book, I fell in love with this artist's work. In "Pegasus with Chevy," I could feel his dynamic spirit. In the "Dirt Man" series, I saw his secure skill, while in his "Dirt Babies," I felt his unique talent. Especially, in "Hand Series," I felt his warm heart. James Croak uses a variety of materials such as latex rubber, tar and dirt. I think it is this challenging spirit that makes him a truly original artist. I enjoyed the book a lot. Moreover, this book is so beautiful that I display it to decorate my room.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a beautiful artbook, August 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: James Croak (Hardcover)

This book gives James Croak the credit he earnes for his work.It shows a good review of his work for the last three decades.The context Thomas Mc Evilley places his work in I found very interesting.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book about a unique artist, April 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: James Croak (Hardcover)

This book is a singular survey of this unusual artist. His "dirt pieces" are without precedent in the history of art and are rapidly becoming influential as we sum up our century. They literally appeared out of nowhere. Much of Croak's work is in stunning detail despite the oddity of the material. Thomas McEvilley's essay is ground-breaking as the book jacket claims inasmuch as there is tremendous amount of art of the figure today and the reasons for it are spelled out here. A beautiful and informative book !