Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing (Themes) [Hardcover]

Emma Dexter (Author)

Book Description

Series: Themes | Publication Date: December 1, 2005

Emma Dexter's introductory text offers a critical account of the recent evolution and role of drawing in the art world, and introduces some of the trends, methods and artists included in the book. In the following and largest section of the book (over 300 pages and approximately 500 illustrations), the 100 or more artists are presented in an A to Z order. Some artists are presented on 2 pages, some on 4 pages. About 5 selections of work are reproduced for each artist, along a text written by an author who is a specialist on the artist's work. The 500-word texts are brief surveys of the artist's career to date, and aim at introducing the methods and subject matter at issue in their recent works. A selected list of exhibitions and bibliography also complements the reproductions and text on each artist.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Emma Dexter is Senior Curator at Tate Modern in London. She was co-curator of the exhibition Cruel and Tender: The Real in the Twentieth Century Photograph. Other recent shows include a retrospective of Luc Tuymans, Pin Up: Contemporary Collage and Drawing, and a special installation by Bruce Nauman in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall as part of the museum's ongoing Unilever Series.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press; First Edition edition (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714845450
• ISBN-13: 978-0714845456
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 10.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another must have Phaidon book., January 7, 2006

By 

clifford "akitonmyers" (Portland, OR, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing (Themes) (Hardcover)

This is a book that when you first open it up and flip through a couple of pages you will be saying to yourself that you have to sit down with it for a long considered look. Myself, I just looked at the care that Phaidon press took while publishing this, from its rough artistic pages to the in-depth look at contemporary drawing and knew instantly that this was a survey book that I would be opening time and again for years to come.

The artists that are covered here are not neccisarily unknown. Pettibon, Peyton, and other long standing luminaries stand along side scores of other artists that I had never heard of. What it is, is a survey of non-illustration/often conceptualy based drawing that is occuring today be the artist known or obscure.

If you are into drawing, this is a must have book. One thing to keep in mind is that the format presented here is pretty much along the lines of Vitamin P and the three 'Cream' books. I think all four of these ranged from good to great, if you disagree with this sentiment, you might not like 'Vitamin D.'

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing contents but poor quality reproductions!, October 25, 2006

By 

Jan Vanden Berghe (Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing (Themes) (Hardcover)

As an art teacher, artist and scholar I buyed the book for it's very interesting overview of contemporary drawing, a fiew of the artists I already knew. Maybe because of the thick matte paper used in printing, a lot of the drawings loose their sharpness and overall colourfulness and clarity. In comparing reproductions in other publications (e.g. "Drawings" Michaël Borremans, edit. Walther König, Köln) one can only ascertain that the loss of quality is in fact unacceptable for such an ambitious publication like "Vitamin D". Moreover the bigger part of the art works are printed in a too small size for allowing a good viewing.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On reproductions, June 7, 2007

By 

~L - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing (Themes) (Hardcover)

Vitamin D is an outstanding publication of drawings from contemporary artists which shows great depth in both subjectivity and theme, the one overwhelming issue seems to be the quality of the reproductions within. Context gives us the reason for this.. in that these are works by CONTEMPORARY artists and as such have not been digitized as throughly as say the often if not OVER reproduced imagery of Leonardo or Michelangelo, so yes some of the reproductions are less stunning however they are more than adequate and what is more important, they are reproduced well enough to spark interest in seeing the original. Artwork can never truly be reproduced, you must experience the original to truly appreciate the pieces. However Vitamin D does what it was designed to, as did it's predecessor Vitamin P, giving a contemporary overview of works and the artists who create them which have yet to be studied. These books are history in the making and that alone gives them more merit than most art publications. This series is more than worth owning and will prove to be volumes you will return to again and again.