William Wegman: Funney/Strange (Paperback)

by Joan Simon (Author), William Wegman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The Brooklyn Museum (March 10 - May 28, 2006) (The Brooklyn Museum 20070218)

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. ( July 4 - September 24, 2006) (Smithsonian American Art Museum 20070731)

Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach (November 4, 2006 - January 28, 2007) (Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach )

Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts (April 7 - July 31, 2007) (Addison Gallery of American Art )

"The retrospective of William Wegman''s multifarious career. . . simultaneously confirms why Mr. Wegman hasn''t always received the respect he deserves and why he deserves it. The short explanation-on both counts-is that he has been too innovatively funny for too long and on too many levels (visual, verbal, commercial and arty) for people to see the serious artist behind the inveterate jokester. He''s also been funny in too many mediums for his achievement to be easily grasped. . . . In his long and productive career, Mr.Wegman has remained as true as any of his legendary 1970''s contemporaries to the belief that the artist''s job is to make something that doesn''t look like art. . . . His best work juggles the many balls of Post-Minimalism-process, language, performance-with an amateurish finesse that few of his contemporaries match. . . . He has not only embraced Americana, but he has also become part of it."-Roberta Smith, The New York Times (Roberta Smith The New York Times )

Product Description

This fascinating book reveals the full range of William Wegman’s art. Beloved by the general public for signature photographs of his troupe of Weimaraners, Wegman is also an immensely important figure in the contemporary art world.

A pioneer video-maker, conceptualist, performer, photographer, painter, draftsman, and writer, Wegman moves fluidly among various media: from conceptual works to commissioned magazine shots; from videos shown in museums to television segments made for Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live; from artist’s books parodying nineteenth-century naturalist studies to children’s books revealing tongue-in-cheek portraits of town and country life;  from photographic “landscapes” employing his canine muses to his most recent cycle of landscapes combining found scenic souvenir postcards with drawing, collage, and painting. Underlying all his creations is the light humor of “funny” mediating the darker human comedy of “strange.” Speaking to the absurdities of daily life, Wegman’s work is universally appealing.

William Wegman: Funney—Strange is illustrated with some 250 images. It is the first retrospective volume to consider the artist’s entire career from the 1960s to the 2000s and is an essential book for any fan of Wegman’s work.

(20061009)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (March 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300114443
• ISBN-13: 978-0300114447
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #249,820 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Far Side" of Photography and Art, March 23, 2007

By	Laurie (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews

A delightful book of wonderful off-the-wall fine art photographs and drawings by one of the wildest and cleverest artists around today - reminiscent of "The Far Side" cartoons of Gary Larson. Much more here than the humorous dog photos for which Wegman is best known. I saw the exhibit at the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach a few months ago, and couldn't wait to get home to order the book.