Julian Schnabel burst on the neo-expressionist art scene of the early 1980s with huge, arresting paintings on collaged shards of smashed plates. A swaggering and contentious figure whose art no longer occupies center stage, he is probably best known today as a successful filmmaker. All the more reason, perhaps, for him to shore up his reputation by co-designing a mammoth book of his life and art. Julian Schnabel dispenses with commentary, except for the artist's own brief, broad-brushed introduction. Even the titles of his works are relegated to the illustrated index, which--despite Schnabel's proclivity for unconventional surfaces--omits any mention of media. Nearly 400 full-color reproductions trace Schnabel's output from 1976 to the present, interspersed with photographs of the artist, his family, and off-camera moments from the making of Before Night Falls, his film about the gay Cuban writer Reynaldo Arenas. Of course, all the famous Schnabel preoccupations are on full view, from the persistent references to Catholic ritual to the phallic imagery and the invocations of his wife Olantz. The newest mega-series, "Big Girl Paintings"--each face featuring a horizontal swipe of paint in lieu of eyes—-seems a hollow echo of the lively portraits of friends and family from the 1980s and 1990s. But die-hard Schnabel devotees will adore this lavish volume, which accompanies an international traveling exhibition that opens in January 2004 at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany. (U.S. venues have not been announced.) —Cathy Curtis
Book Description
Julian Schnabel (b. 1951) is regarded throughout the world as one of the most important artists of our time. Yet, remarkably, there has never been-until now-a book that addresses the extraordinary range of his entire creative output. This lavishly produced volume presents many artworks that have never before been exhibited, published, or even seen, filling a major gap in the history of contemporary art. More than 300 of Schnabel's works-paintings, photographs, sculptures, and film stills spanning a career of nearly 40 years-are reproduced here, along with texts drawn from the artist's interviews, essays, and notes. From the broken-plate paintings of the 1980s that brought him fame, to the recent, massively scaled Big Girls series, the artist's work is set in the context of his overall sensibility, becoming part of an ongoing pictorial diary of a life. Rather than a retrospective look at Schnabel's work, the book provides readers with a view of life and art as they collide. Julian Schnabel is certain to be welcomed as one of the season's most significant art publications.
Language Notes
Text: English, Italian
About the Author
Julian Schnabel's paintings, sculptures, and works on paper have been the subject of major retrospective exhibitions here and abroad, and his art can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles; Tate Gallery in London; and other key museums in Paris, Tokyo, and elsewhere. Schnabel is the writer/director of the feature films Basquiat (1996) and Before Night Falls (2001).
Julian Schnabel FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Julian Schnabel (b. 1951) is regarded throughout the world as one of the most important artists of our time. Yet, remarkably, there has never been (until now) a book that addresses the extraordinary range of his entire creative output. This lavishly produced volume presents many artworks that have never before been exhibited, published, or even seen, filling a major gap in the history of contemporary art." More than 300 of Schnabel's works (paintings, photographs, sculptures, and film stills) spanning a career of nearly 40 years are reproduced here, along with texts drawn from the artist's interviews, essays, and notes. From the broken-plate paintings of the 1980s that brought him fame, to the recent, massively scaled Big Girls series, the artist's work is set in the context of his overall sensibility, becoming part of an ongoing pictorial diary of a life. Rather than a retrospective look at Schnabel's work, the book provides readers with a view of life and art as they collide.
SYNOPSIS
Extraordinary in size (11.25x14") and contents, this work celebrates the oeuvre of painter, photographer, sculptor, and filmmaker Schnabel (b. 1951); it has been published to coincide with an exhibition traveling from Frankfurt, German to Madrid, Spain during 2004 (additional venues to be announced). The book opens with the artist's statement; but after that, 397 works are presented, and page by exuberant page, the reader experiences the intensity of Schnabel's visual work without interruption from text. At the end there is a selected exhibition history, a bibliography, and an (illustrated) artwork index. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
The large scale of this gorgeously produced book announces itself with the same kind of brashness and uncontainable energy for which painter Julian Schnabel is well known. His broken-plate paintings set his career aflame in the 1980s, and more recently his successes in feature film (Basquiat; Before Night Falls) have brought him back into the spotlight, but as this book makes clear, Schnabel has been painting (and sometimes sculpting) his way through the decades with unflagging energy. Eschewing critical apparatus and explanation, this book intersperses studio shots and film stills with reproductions of paintings, sculptures, and collages, many previously unseen; the only text is a brief excerpt from a William Gaddis essay and bits of the artist's notebooks. For those in need of some mooring, a handy illustrated index lists the title, scale, and date (ranging from 1974 to 2003) of each of the 397 illustrations. While his oeuvre has the exuberant unevenness one might expect of an artist who works nonstop and seemingly without the hindrance of an inner critic, the book conveys the sense of discovery and excitement that seems so critical to Schnabel's way of seeing. Other books on the artist include an autobiographical/art-book hybrid called CVJ (1987. o.p.) and a number of exhibition catalogs. This is the only book to show his work in depth and as such is highly recommended for all contemporary art collections. [Also see "Must-Reads for Fall," LJ 9/1/03, p. 39.-Ed.]-Carolyn Kuebler, "Library Journal" Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Art & Photography
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