Mythic Beings: Spirit Art of the Northwest Coast [Paperback]

Gary Wyatt (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295977981
• ISBN-13: 978-0295977980
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #169,869 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 Impressive Book on Northwest Coast Art, December 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mythic Beings: Spirit Art of the Northwest Coast (Paperback)

Mythic Beings is an unassuming but impressive book. The major organizing theme is that spirit art captures the rich cultural and aesthetic traditions that permeate regional artistic expression. Northwest Coast art can be intimidating because it has a complex cosmology and iconography. Wyatt, however, makes this complexity accessible by using two underlying principles. The universe consists of separate but interrelated realms (e.g., sky, underwater), and each realm has its characteristic real and mythical creatures. Mythical creatures have distinctive physical representations used in both sacred and secular representations.

Mythic Beings features 75 beautifully reproduced photographs of masks, robes, and rattles representing the work of 34 artists. Each artist provides a commentary about his/her piece. This provides an opportunity to become familiar with the physical depiction and mythological roles of the creatures depicted by the artists.

Mythic Beings is a gem. It is a wonderful gift book for anyone interested in indigenous art and First Nations peoples.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A welcome addition to Native American art/culture studies., April 6, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mythic Beings: Spirit Art of the Northwest Coast (Paperback)

Profusely illustrated with brilliant, full color photography, Gary Wyatt's Mythic Beings: Spirit Art Of The Northwest Coast is a superb introduction to aboriginal art including totems, wood sculpture, masks, stone carvings and more. Wyatt's informative text is an outstanding survey placing each art piece within their cultural context, enhanced with the artist's own descriptions and commentaries. Mythic Beings is a very welcome addition to personal, academic, and professional Native American art and cultural reference collections.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A FIND, May 22, 2004

By 

Lee Murphy "Crypto-fiction novelist" (Reseda, California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mythic Beings: Spirit Art of the Northwest Coast (Paperback)

I recently came back from a trip to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. It isn't enough that it is some of the most beautiful landscape on Earth, but I also discovered the amazing artists of the Pacific Northwest community. The artworks within this book (as well as Spirit Faces also by this author) are so moving and beautiful, my only regret is that I am not able to start collecting on a massive scale.

Mr. Wyatt also allows the artists to describe for the readers their inspirations and ideas behind their products, which allows us to get to know them a little. After a short while I was able to determine the various artists based upon the varying styles of the pieces depicted here.

Highly recommended!