Arturo Herrera: You Go First

by Arturo Herrera (Artist), Friedrich Meschede

Cartoons meets Surrealism by way of Abstract Expressionism in Arturo Herrera's multi-layered body of work, an oeuvre which progresses through specific stages of abstraction. You Go First is devoted to the primary and most essential stage of Herrera's collage. In his subversive paper and gouache combinations, Herrera abstracts barely recognizable childhood imagery into sly, formal adventures in vanguard two-dimensionality. Memories of once-familiar illustrations are triggered; recalling them fills in the blanks created by Herrera's cutting and pasting. Other phases of his art-making process push further and further from the original found imagery, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves , to create completely abstract-seeming wall works and MDF sculptures. You Go First features nearly 100 collages produced during 2002, sequenced and selected by the artist himself.

Genres: Art

120 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Adam Grossi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arturo Herrera's early (mid-90's) collage works are truly astounding: simple but bold, they conflate and confuse early Disney charactes and landscapes with the world of high Modernist abstraction, creating their own language of transfigurations and implosions. They blew me away the first time I saw them, and they continue to inform my own paintings. This book is a nice compilation of them, excellent reproductions, not much fluff and clean, elegant design.