John Alexander: A Retrospective (Houston Museum of Fine Arts) [Hardcover]

Jane Livingston (Author), Alison de Lima Greene (Contributor), Robert Hughes (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Houston Museum of Fine Arts | Publication Date: January 28, 2008

This handsome book presents three decades of artwork by John Alexander (b. 1945), who draws upon the rich imagery of his East Texas heritage to create art with a national impact. A native of Beaumont, a Gulf Coast oil and fishing-industry town, Alexander grew up in a region heavily influenced by Cajun, Creole, and African-American cultures. Early in his career, Alexander produced visionary landscapes and feverish, often self-revealing drawings that incorporated the imagery of the bayou. By the mid-1980s, the scale of his oil paintings had increased, and his landscapes had assumed a more hallucinatory character. The authors show how the artist's frenetic expressionism gave way to an interest in figuration and narrative, and how his approach to genre painting gave voice to his outrage at social injustice. In tracing the evolution of Alexander's work, the authors also explore the enduring theme of the natural environment and its depredation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Emotionally raw, physically intimidating, beautiful and barbed, the work of American painter Alexander in the 1970s and '80s captures perfectly the artistic sensibility of the time. Growing up in the Gulf Goast marshlands of east Texas, Alexander came of age in the midst of the turbulent 1960s, and the contention of the Civil Rights movement, along with a distrust of his religious upbringing, are common themes. An artist's artist, he combines his political message with stunning depictions of nature, portraiture and the occasional bizarre still-life, often taking the theory and conscience of Expressionism into satirical territory-works Pope Dewey, Pope Huey and Pope Louie depict the holy men in beaked masks and dunce caps. The course of Alexander's evolution from chaotic drip paintings of devils and pigs to a more refined and illustrative technique are chronicled, tied by "dramatic light-and-shadow effects" and an "overall apocalyptic atmosphere." Also included are post-9/11 works, many concerning capitalist greed and religious hypocrisy. Alexander is anything but subtle, and this volume-as informative as it is beautiful-frames his work well without diminishing its impact.
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About the Author

Jane Livingston is a well-published author and independent art historian. Alison de Lima Greene is the curator of contemporary art and special projects at The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Robert Hughes is an award-winning critic and the former art critic for Time magazine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Museum Fine Arts Houston (January 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300125062
• ISBN-13: 978-0300125061
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 10.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #633,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Alexander Technique

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5.0 out of 5 stars John Alexander the Great, April 5, 2010

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Gary Iem "garebear" (los angeles, ca) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: John Alexander: A Retrospective (Houston Museum of Fine Arts) (Hardcover)

I saw his exhibit at the Smithsonian in DC. I fell in love with his art. I wanted to buy his book with a lot of his illustration but it was too expensive. So I looked for it online and surely enough, it was on Amazon. I ordered it and it came in great condition. Surprisingly, it was way cheaper than what the museum was charging. I definitely recommend this book to individuals who enjoy political cartoons and dark imagery.