Raymond Pettibon (Contemporary Artists) [Paperback]

Robert Storr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 2001 | Series: Contemporary Artists

In the early 1980s California-based artist Raymond Pettibon first began making his signature inkwash drawings - combinations of cartoon-like images with short, enigmatic texts - to adorn the record covers of underground music groups like Black Flag and Sonic Youth. After turning a generation of punk fans into unwitting art collectors, Pettibon was gradually picked up by the established art world as an artist producing some of the most unusual new representational artwork being made. Although he also produced paintings, collages, artist's book, videos and fanzines, Pettibon is known for his prolific production of drawings. These drawings have a great cumulative effect; they become increasingly intriguing the more one sees of them. Much has been made of Pettibon's literary background and reclusive personality as the biographical sources for these humorous yet dark, complex pictures. Yet the artist claims that his work has nothing to do with his own experience but is culled from the printed pages of American popular underground culture: Gumby, Ronald Reagan, surfers, Joan Crawford. At times his drawings seem almost dashed off from a comic strip; other are more painstakingly drawn. Most are in a simple graphic style combined with bits of text - sometimes weiredly connected to the imagery, but often providing baffling non-sequiturs. His unusual draftsmanship and mysterious personality have made him one of the most sought-after artists currently working in America. After appearing in numerous Whitney Biennials, in recent years Pettibon had his first museum-organized retrospective (at New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Drawing Centre) with more than 500 drawings covering some 20 years' work, establishing definitively his reputation in the uppermost ranks of contemporary American art.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Storr (Survey) is Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. His writings have appeared in Artforum, Village Voice and Parkett, among other publications. Storr is the author of numerous monographs, including Philip Guston and Louise Bourgeois. Author's Residence: New York, U.S. Dennis Cooper (Interview) is a novelist and critic, contributing editor of Spin magazine, and a frequent contributor to Artforum. He has published a number of novels, among them Frisk (1991), as well as a collection of poems, The Dream Police: Selected Poems 1969-93. Author's Residence: Los Angeles, USA Ulrich Loock (Focus), is Director of the Kunstmuseum Luzern. Previously he was Director of the Kunsthalle, Bern, where in 1995 he organized a major exhibition of Raymond Pettibon. He has written extensively on Conceptual art and contemporary art in general, including the Survey text for Luc Tuymans (Phaidon, 1996). Author's Residence: Luzern, CH For his Artist's Choice Pettibon his provided his own marked copy of James Joyce's masterpiece Finnegan's Wake (1939), with the artists own notes in the margins during his reading of this influential text. The artist has also chosen an excerpt from Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy (1769), which parallels Pettibon's own strangely obsessive themes. Raymond Pettibon has written numerous screenplays, some excerpted here, all published for the first time on this ocasion. Other never-before-published Artist's Writings include song lyrics, extracts from his handwritten notebooks, and an original artist's books. Artist's Residence: Los Angeles, California

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (June 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714839191
• ISBN-13: 978-0714839196
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 10 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #799,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #79 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Pen & Ink

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!!!!!, December 31, 2005

By 

File9 "zod7of9" (planet earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raymond Pettibon (Contemporary Artists) (Paperback)

I was a bit skeptical before purchasing this edition, I had bought a copy of "Otto Dix / Raymond Pettibon: Traue deinen Augen [Trust your Eyes)" and was quite disappointed. However this was not the case with volume. It's loaded with lots of pics of Pettibon's work, excellent book and a recommended choice.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Plots Laid Thick, October 23, 2005

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moth "mothnm" (Abiquiu, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raymond Pettibon : Plots Laid Thick (Paperback)

Content:

Like a journal of the personal journey, Pettibon draws and writes cartoons and screenplays over a period of time. He starts with the letter A, then moves into the most exalted of human efforts, his intent at the age of 14 to serve God first. Such freshness and honesty from a desirous-of-Nancy-Reagan degenerate. The effort starts off with the highest of intent then gradually and steadily mires.

Surfing, politics, artistic considerations, drugs, sex, Gumby, rockandroll. Almost every theme starts off insightfully but becomes an ordeal to read through. Even beyond the artist's desire to include his Gumbyesque dishonor, especially the screenplays could have used editing. Maybe he feared that editing would have left us the genius aspects when clearly Pettibon feels entitled full human expression, mud splats included.

If you prefer genius take Pettibon at his best and skim when it stops entertaining. Then again, juicy tidbits are hidden everywhere.

Form:

The publishers printed in black and white and color. The drawings aren't pretty but sometimes deftly, sometimes not, they convey effectively. Words on the drawings are sometimes reduced to a size requiring a magnifying glass if you want to search out the tucked in phrases Pettibon wasn't yelling.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raymond Pettibon by Robert Storr, February 3, 2003

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j cardoza - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raymond Pettibon (Contemporary Artists) (Paperback)

An amazing collection of Raymond Pettibon's work spanning over the years. High quality book loaded with images and information as well as interviews with Pettibon. Up until now no other book offered as much insight on this relatively obscure artist. Buy it!!!