Customer Reviews

Zak Smith: Pictures Of Girls

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A fantastic group of pictures by an artist that deserves a much bigger audience.
They're all paintings and drawings--this business about a "photochemical process" is clearly a mistake.

The first thing that I notice about this artwork is its stunning complexity - papers and animals and characters repeating in almost fractal-like patterns. This may sound odd since they are all 'Pictures of Girls" - and the girls are also gorgeous, with bedroom eyes and clothing of varying scantiness. Nevertheless, it's the colors and lines and shading that capture my imagination. Sometimes I am shocked to find that I am staring at pictures of girls in compromising positions with octopuses - so beautiful but yet somehow underscored by a tingle of creepiness. That ambivalent excitement is the mark of true art, in my opinion. This is a great book.

Zak Smith is a brilliant alchemist. For my taste he is one of the first bona fide twenty-first century artists. I collect artbooks, and art when I can scrape the coin together. If I had the money today I would buy an original work by Zak Smith, (that is if there were any available for sale), but in lieu of an original work I bought his book. The full color pages of his art capture some of the excitement I feel whenever I look at his work. His use of color is outrageous especially when combined with the black and white tones of the ink drawing. The book Zak Smith pictures of girls shows off his mad skills, and I only wish it were a bigger book. BUY THIS BOOK!

Victoria Gladstone

I first saw work by Zak Smith when in New York for the Whitney Biennial in 2004. His illustrations for Gravity's Rainbow were included in the show, and I was stunned not only by the scope of the project but also by the remarkable amount of attention and care that he clearly poured into those pictures.

Having recently purchased the book Pictures of Girls, I must say that I'm as blown away by the work collected in this volume as I was by what I saw at the Whitney. Smith is obviously enamored of his subjects - there's no other way someone could capture so precisely the mood, the sense of place, the idiosyncratic beauty that the artist manages to convey. Stark lines and bright colors provide an arresting framework for the overwhelming degree of intricacy with which Smith infuses his paintings of the "girls." Gorgeous.

I also enjoyed the interview with Smith by curator Shamim Momin included at the beginning of the book - it's a great glimpse into the working methods of such a talented artist, and it will certainly inspire the next generation of artists to pursue their vision with the same unapologetic abandon.

As an avid collector of art books, trust me when I say that if you care even the tiniest bit about the state of contemporary art, Pictures of Girls is a necessary addition to your library. Every time I look through it, I notice something new to like about Smith's work. It's fresh, vivid, infinitely absorbing, and just plain beautiful. Whether you're an occasional museum-goer or a fanatical connoisseur, I honestly believe you will adore this book.

Smith's style is so detailed and colorful it is almost hypnotic. The rich blacks set the stage for everything that follows. There is an honesty in these paintings that brings the women to life, it feels as though you know them just by looking at their portrait...amazing work.

llego rapido, en buenas condiciones y sellado. y pues en general el libro es super!! recomiendo este provedor.

Positively amazing collection of reproductions and close-ups of works by one of the greatest artists of our time. Smith offers a departure from the traditional views of youthful female beauty.

I cannot stop staring at these beautiful women with their haunting stares.

What are you doing still rading this?!? Buy the book already!!!

I am a huge Zak Smith fan and just received this book today. But I sadly have to say I was disappointed.

I don't argue that Zak Smith is a brilliant artist who creates beautiful, detailed artworks. But coming from a graphic design perspective (what I'm currently studying in school), I didn't feel like this book presented his works well. I personally felt that there was too much negative space used on the pages adjacent to the artwork, and it could have been filled with more of Zak's great work. Some pages showed close ups of his detailed works, but I felt they were at times, unnecessary and cropped poorly. (Also, I feel to really take in Zak's Smith whole work, it's good to look at it from a faraway viewpoint).

I can understand that perhaps putting too much of Zak's crazily detailed paintings could cause viewers' eyes to tire out, but the way he has his works presented on his site works well, and I believe it could also work well in the book (Perhaps the book's pages would have been better if backgrounded black? Additional artwork on each page could add more visual interest and stimulation for the reader to keep browsing through pages and noticing all of Zak's lines, shapes, paints, etc. There could be a bit less negative space).

Also, I'm wondering, if it's just me and my monitor, but are the colors off? I feel that Zak's works on his site seem so much more lively, brighter, and rich in color than the way some of these pages seem to present them-- it appears as if the colors were muted down. Once again, could be due to the background of the white pages vs. his black backgrounded site.

Overall, I thought the book cover was designed nicely. I liked how the book included an extensive interview of Zak's process of making his art and background info on how he became an artist, but I expected more pictures of girls and more of his awesome detailed style.

*will hold on to this book for awhile and give it a chance to all sink through. If after reading the interview and looking through the pics some more, I find that I am still dissatisfied, I might just return it :/.