Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall

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The British artist known as Banksy creates illegal street paintings with superhero daring and political conviction. But his most impressive feat is his anonymity, which is zealously protected by his cultish followers and ace organization, Pest Control. Ellsworth-Jones had no intention of revealing Banksy's identity when he sought an interview with the artist, but he was refused. So be it. Secrecy feeds the flame of this thought-provoking, irony-steeped, unauthorized investigation into how a regular guy from Bristol elevated graffiti to a fine art only to find himself trapped in the paradox of becoming a commercially successful, anticapitalist guerrilla artist. While he gamely searches for extant street paintings, Ellsworth-Jones chronicles ludicrous battles over wall removal, the tagging of Banksy's work by rival street artists, pop-up exhibits, and the lengths to whichfans go to purchase Banksy prints. Formerly chief reporter for the Sunday Times of London, Ellsworth-Jones redresses his lack of an art historian's fully dimensional perspective by candidly sharing his learn-on-the-go adventures and discoveries in a thoroughly ensnaring, eye-popping account of the paradigm-shifting innovations of a bold and brilliant masked artist.
Booklist (01/01/2013)

The Pinecone: The Story of Sarah Losh, Forgotten Romantic Heroine--Antiquarian, Architect, and Visionary

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This elegant biography of a little-known Cumbrian landowner, builder and local daughter captures the rural and industrial changes in Georgian England. Accomplished British historian Uglow (A Gambling Man: Charles II and the Restoration, 2010, etc.) ably depicts the picturesque landscape of Carlisle, just south of the Scottish border. As the eldest daughter of deep descendants of the Wreay landed gentry, who pioneered the iron and alkali works feeding the Industrial Revolution, Sarah Losh (1785-1853) and her beloved younger sister, Katharine, did not feel compelled to marry and relinquish their independence. Rich from their father's and uncles' early industriousness, well-educated, strong-willed and bookish, the daughters were able to travel to Italy and elsewhere to study art and architecture, and they brought their ideas home to "improve" their estate and local structures such as the Carlisle school and church. After the death of her sister in 1834, Sarah threw herself into the work of building, combining her love of poetry, antiquities and her ancient land into a distinct, original style that was not Gothic, but that melded simple, rustic elements of the old Saxon and Norman, what she considered Lombard Romanesque. Employing in the woodwork designs of available flora and fauna like eagles and pine cones, Sarah embarked on work as a sculptor herself. With a light touch, Uglow integrates greater historical developments--e.g., the Napoleonic wars and the development of Romanticism--within an intimate bucolic story of people whose life was the land. A writer who knows her subject intimately creates a fully fleshed portrait of an England that would soon vanish with the advent of the railroads. COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Alternative Histories: New York Art Spaces, 1960 to 2010

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"In some 400 pages this book provides thumbnail sketches of more than 140 alternative spaces and related organizations, including the artist-run restaurant Food, Bomb magazine and the activist group Gran Fury... This is an indispensable source boo that leaves you wanting more--specifically, individual studies of some of the organizations it covers. It stands as a vibrant and irrefutable evidence of what happens when people take things into their own hands." "The New York Times"

Drawing Projects: An Exploration of the Language of Drawing

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Library Journal (12/01/2012):
This unusual volume profiles the working process of ten contemporary emerging and established artists working in the medium of drawing, with 15 related projects for the reader to work through.

George Bellows

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Library Journal (11/01/2012):
In association with the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, which is currently holding a major George Bellows retrospective, this account of Bellows's paintings, drawings, and graphic art has 12 contributions, each written by a different scholar. The result, edited by Brock (associate curator, American & British paintings, National Gallery of Art; "American Modernism: The Shein Collection"), is a lively and comprehensive consideration of Bellows, the Ashcan School artist known for his modernist figurative depictions of life in the first two decades of the 20th century. Bellows's art famously covered wide subject matter, including New York tenement life; Woodstock, VT, townscapes; Monhegan, ME, seascapes; and boxing matches and portraiture. No other volume solely on Bellows's work has been published in decades, though he has appeared in books about the Ashcan School, such as the recent "An American Experiment: George Bellows and the Ashcan School" by David Peters Corbett. The Bellows retrospective will move on to New York's Metropolitan Museum and London's Royal Academy. This well-written book will appeal to art lovers in the three cities hosting the exhibit, and anyone interested in the Ashcan School or New York in the 1910s and '20s. VERDICT This is a fresh look at an artist due for a book-length treatment.--Kathryn Wekselman, Cincinnati, OH Copyright 2012 Reed Business Information.

The Art of Urban Sketching: Drawing on Location Around the World

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Library Journal (06/01/2012):
Campanario founded the nonprofit organization Urban Sketchers, and this book showcases the work of over 100 artists worldwide who draw scenes from the cities where they live and travel, posting them at urbansketchers.org. The concept caught on fast, and new groups are forming around the world, connecting with each other online. Here, Campanario offers guidance on tools, techniques, the urban environment, and drawing styles, but the main strength of this book is the 500-plus full-color examples of successful sketches drawn in metropolises and towns all over the globe. VERDICT Part travel book, part art instruction, this is a great guide to look at before (or instead of) your next vacation. Copyright 2012 Reed Business Information.

Secrets of Great Portrait Photography: Photographs of the Famous and Infamous

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In this sexy, bold book, Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Brian Smith tells the stories behind the photos and lessons learned in 30 years of photographing celebrities and people from all walks of life.