Red Grooms (Hardcover)

~ Arthur Danto (Author), Timothy Hyman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This new book -- with hundreds of pictures... is the best account of his accomplishment we have had." -- The New York Times Book Review

Product Description

Best known for his extravagant life-sized artworks of stores, subways, and city scenes, Red Grooms populates these environments with offbeat, spirited, easily identifiable characters who strike a humorous chord. Intertwining sculpture with painting, his work transcends both traditional portraiture and caricature.

This is the first major book on Red Grooms's work published since 1984 and includes many drawings, personal photographs, and prints that have never been seen or published. Many of his famed sculpto-pictoramas appear in full color and some in gatefolds, such as Moby Dick Meets the NYPL, Tennessee Carousel, and The Marathon.

Grooms's 1995 Grand Central Terminal is still remembered by thousands as a peak artistic experience. Other environments include an agricultural building for the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa, the beloved Ruckus Manhattan (complete with subway car and Brooklyn Bridge), and a Ruckus Rodeo commissioned by the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art. Mixed-media pieces highlight portraits of classic and contemporary artists, from Toulouse-Lautrec to Francis Bacon. Hollywood greats, historical figures, even Chuck Berry, have been immortalized in the exuberant Grooms style.

Arthur Danto writes on Red Grooms and the spirit of comedy; Marco Livingstone's introduction contextualizes Red Grooms's work in the art of his time and discusses his relationship to Pop, Happenings, environmental art, and developments in painting; a recent interview with Red Grooms by Timothy Hyman completes the text.

Grooms's work has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States and around the world. The artist lives in New York City and Nashville, Tennessee.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications (July 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847825779
• ISBN-13: 978-0847825776
• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 9.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #607,278 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hippodrome Hardware revisited, July 9, 2004

By	Christopher Locke (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There is more life and awed-amazement-at-the-world in Red Grooms' work than you will find in any given 10,000 snotty galleries and overstuffed museums. And yes, Virginia, it really is art, but it's OK to laugh. Buy this book and renew your faith in... well, in Western Culture, if you insist. This stuff is So Cool! (Plus Arthur Danto is no mean critic, so that doesn't hurt any either.)

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make that twelve stars, June 27, 2005

By	Wayne A. (Belfast, Northern Ireland) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Every young pup with pretentions who's about to enter art school for the first time should be hit over the head with this book as they pass through the ivy-covered entrance.

What's been missing from art the last several decades? Simple. FUN, COLOR, JOY, HUMOR, DELIGHT-IN-LIFE, SENSE-OF-WONDER, THE SUBLIME, CRAFT, TALENT. Last two contemporary art exhibitions I walked into I burst out laughing. In the first case there was nothing there--well not enough worth mentioning--and all this wonderous nothing took up a spectacular amount of space. In the second, the art was so over-the-top lame and foolish that I almost sprayed out my mouthful of cheap "opening" wine--a wall covered in socks stuffed full of brie or something equally absurd. Worse, they were no different than exhibits I'd attended TWENTY YEARS AGO. Furthermore, just how many more salutes to race, gender, differently abled-ness, multi-culturalism, AIDs awareness, violence awareness, and so on do we need? Do we really want our lives filled with nothing but either slick marketing crap or propaganda? At some point isn't it getting horribly obvious that these "social concerns" are all fallback points for mediocre artists who lack any genuine inspiration? After all who's gonna write a bad review about an art show that highlights violence against women? What prof is going it give it a bad grade, especially if the prof is a feminist who thinks the purpose of all art is to increase awareness of women's issues? It could be TOTAL CRAP and she'll ace it. Hell, do a lot of art that shows how enamoured you are with your own private parts and you might meet a hot date during the opening. Seriously, this entire contemporary art culture, from schools and grants on down, needs to be examined in detail.

Sure, these are important social topics I'm slinging mud at but its stuff like this and the never-ending minimalist and art installation mentality, AND the corporate baloney, that's driven all the STUFF WE'D GENUINELY GET A KICK OUT OF off the map. If all art does is reflect how sick and screwed up the world, or at least the artist, is, or "celebrate" mediocrity then how do we fire people up with the kind of lust for life that'd make them want to change things? And most of these socially concerned art exhibits preach to the choir, or are self-congratulatory daisy-chains, or are such hideous bummers that one wants to go home and blow ones brains out. Nothing has changed, no wrong has been righted, but somebody got a grade or a grant, or some promotion and a bunch of sensitive trendies can go home and think they did something great for the world while they nibbled on cheese and crackers.

This is all so horrifyingly obvious to regular Janes and Joes out there that the Republicans can cut 100% of all funding for art--and they sure as heck will--and there'll be nary a peep. Remember "Piss Christ" from years ago? Well believe me they never forgot it. Honestly, it, along with too much of Maplethorpes work, and a lot of street art--stuff that set the antagonistic mood many years ago--is just plain awful and this comes from a guy who loves plenty of outrageous stuff.

With that in mind, Red Grooms rocks and it's no surprise he's from the South (go check and you'll find a lot of truly great American artists are from the Red States). This book brought an immediate grin to my face and a deep longing to go out and paint gigantic and colorful hot air balloons (the old really ornate and cool kind) all over the sides of buildings, concealing the visually monotonous spraycan crap that's covered the urban landscape like kudzu and that we can't complain about because it's some sort of "cultural expression."

Groom's work is also a damn good argument for the problem with our reliance on computer graphics. This kind of vital, colorful, life-affirming stuff is too sketchy and edgy to be done on a PC. You literally have to go out there and get your hands dirty, work really hard with materials, to do great stuff like this. This is about the best collection imaginable of his wonderful cartoony stuff. Tons of great photos.