Gary Panter (Hardcover)

by Robert Storr (Author), Richard Gehr (Author), Karrie Jacobs (Author), Byron Coley (Author), Gary Panter (Author), Doug Harvey (Author), Daniel Nadel (Editor), Mike Kelley (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...Panter - an artist, illustrator, set designer ("Pee-wee's Playhouse"), comic-book author and toymaker - deserves his new two-volume, boxed-set monograph. GARY PANTER (PictureBox/D.A.P., $95), edited by Dan Nadel and designed by Helene Silverman, is so rich in perversely witty imagery and raw lunatic expression that to savor it all requires spending considerable time thumbing through, then going back to focus on the details." --Steven Heller The New York Times Book Review

"Best First "Big Show": Panter isn't just a legendary underground comic-book artist and the guy who created the sets for Pee-wee's Playhouse; he's also a painter. For his Clementine Gallery retrospective, "Pictures From the Psychedelic Swamp, 1972-2001," Panter covered the walls with recurring characters (like his "post-nuclear punk-rock" dude named Jimbo) and curated a room with the quirky ephemera that's inspired his work (soap wrappers, Japanese candy, wet paint signs). "Show" is probably the wrong word for what was on view here: It was more like walking into Panter's messy, expressionistic, and entirely original brain." --New York Magazine, December 12, 2008

Product Description
An intimate look at the work and life of a legendary artist. Gary Panter has been one of the most influential figures in visual culture since the mid-1970s. From his era-defining punk graphics to his cartoon icon Jimbo to his visionary design for Pee-wee's Playhouse, he has left his mark on every medium he's touched. Working in close collaboration with the artist, PictureBox has assembled the definitive volume on Panter's work from the early 1970s to the present. This monumental, slipcased set is split into two 350-page volumes. The first is a comprehensive monograph featuring over 700 images of paintings, drawings, sculptures, posters and comics, alongside essays by Robert Storr, Mike Kelley, Richard Klein, Richard Gehr, Karrie Jacobs and Byron Coley, as well a substantial commentary by the artist himself. The second volume features a selection from Panter's sketchbooks--the site of some of his most audacious work--most of which has never been published in any form.
A three-time Emmy Award-winner for his production design on Pee-wee's Playhouse and the recipient of the 2000 Chrysler Award for Design Excellence, graphic artist Gary Panter has drawn inspiration from diverse vernacular and traditional art arenas over the course of the past four decades. Closely associated with the underground comics and music scenes on both coasts, he is responsible for designing the Screamers iconic 1970s poster, many record covers for Frank Zappa, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Residents and the ongoing comic character Jimbo. Most recently Panter has performed psychedelic light shows at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. and at New York's Anthology Film Archives. He was a featured artist in the major 2006-2007 touring exhibition, Masters of American Comics.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 700 pages
• Publisher: PictureBox (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979415314
• ISBN-13: 978-0979415319
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.5 x 2.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #386,535 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 30 years worth of Gary Panter's mind bending visions can be yours. , August 26, 2008

By	PShaw - See all my reviews

Forget vapid Celebrity Culture. Don't trust the path of commercialism. Popular culture is a graveyard. You think you owe respect to your elders with their dead ideas? You think culture shouldn't harsh your mellow steady flow? Oh, but wait! You're terrified of becoming lost, like the proverbial Black Sheep, aren't you? You really believe you're comfortable with the safe White Gangster Sheep. You're convinced there's a Black Abyss that will swallow you up if you venture out too far. Because the Black Sheep don't have safe friends. Who are the ugly minds that tell you these things? Why do you listen? Why do you keep surrounding yourself with piles of useless junk that represent the Ugly Spirit? Because you're ugly inside, but do you know why? Because the world is upside-down and your cultural compass is steering you wrong. You wish somebody would absorb the horror of pop culture for you and transform it into sublime images so you can enter a realm of Radiant Dark Light. If only you could do it, you would. You want to do it, you want to decipher this new path that is already decades old. Trust me when I assure you that your eyes are only half open. Because, there exists out there sheltered away from fame and glory a true visionary. A spark of creation that has single-handedly forged the templates for modern pop culture. You don't want to believe, you don't want to see. You think if you can copy late period Picasso or Matisse you're an artist who can get by without the decades of effort to learn how to reduce a form down to its essence. But there is no cheating, there is only hard work. Gary Panter has worked harder than you can even begin to contemplate and he's four decades ahead of you. Imagine keeping it together and staying fresh for 40 years. And now imagine a monolithic dedication to this impressive earth shattering force is here to set the record straight. Keep imagining that it's a steal for the price, because it is. And now imagine with all the money you're saving you'll also want to buy a handsome book pedestal too. So then you'll be able to keep a different page open to the room, so you can always have a little rotating Gary Panter gallery to look at. You can't escape from Gary Panter. The images are by Gary Panter. The future has been documented by Gary Panter. MindProbe. Occupant X. Dal Tokyo. Bob War. Rozz Tox.

5.0 out of 5 stars Freak Out!, October 21, 2008

By	T. Murata (Saugerties, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

2 book boxset covering all of Gary Panter's genius work-- not only his comics, but also his paintings, psychedelic posters, light shows, toys, graphic design,architectural models (!), and my favorite, a full book dedicated to pages from his hundreds of sketchbooks. The print quality in excellent, and the layout as well. The second book mirrors the binding of the sketchbooks, front and back page shown side by side. I'm not sure how to describe this, but check out the images above and you'll see what I mean.
Hardcore fans won't be disappointed with the depth and quality of this set, and for anyone unfamiliar with Panter's work, this is a perfect starting point.

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, October 15, 2008

By	M. Reddy (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is essential for anyone who's ever kept a sketchbook. Gary Panter is like the Velvet Underground of drawing: anyone who reads this will want to run out and make their own pictures.