From Booklist
Yoruba artwork is at once powerfully expressive and technically adept. In a succession of scholarly essays, 18 experts delineate recent findings on the traditions and forms of this West African art. Identifying individual artists, tracing the development of stylistic trends, analyzing motifs, and linking Yoruba art with "praise poetry" (known as oriki) are some of the areas covered. Although academic, the text is nonetheless animated by the writers' great involvement with and enthusiasm for topics that yield ample material for rumination and research. The culminating essay by John Mason offers a particularly exciting examination of the development of Yoruba-American art and artists, from Cuba to New York City and South Carolina. Color illustrations will be included, along with black-and-white images of altars and shrines, carved trays, wooden heads, figurative posts and doors, and other artifacts. Alice Joyce
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
The cultural legacy of the Yoruba peoples is revealed in a strong collection which examines the artist's legacy and social influences and the Yoruba's influence on African arts as a whole. Striking black and white and color images pepper a collection which reveals the works of carvers, singers, painters, and a host of Yoruba artists from many different walks of life. A compelling collection. -- Midwest Book Review
