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Jess: To and From the Printed Page
Jess: To and From the Printed Page focuses on the artist simply known as "Jess" (1923-2004), and celebrates his lively and lifelong dialogue with poets, poetry and printed matter. Published to accompany the iCI touring exhibition, it features collages made for publication, the books and magazines in which they were reproduced, as well as many previously unreproduced paintings, drawings and assemblages. The book offers a fresh perspective on Jess's work by specifically addressing the interrelation between his art and the California literary culture of which he was a part. It also explores the intimacy of the collaborations and conversations in which he participated over five decades, and points to his effect on younger artists today--through his use of "pop" materials in collage and paint, his early homoerotic themes and his enjoyment of the book format as a compositional vehicle.
- GenresArt
Paperback
First published June 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 30, 2024
I read an article somewhere about the artist Jess and his collages and was intrigued enough to reserve several books about him from the library, although this is the only one I've received so far.
Based on this book alone, I'm not that impressed with his work. His collages seem stilted and studied, often so busy that they become incoherent, even though spontaneity was one of his guiding principles. But the collaborative way he worked with his husband, poet Robert Duncan, and other artists and writers, has a lot to recommend.
In fact, Jess did not aspire to be original, but "to reflect in a different light that which already exists." Much art being produced today, not just in the medium of collage, is cut-and-paste, which now includes the contributions of AI. In that respect he was prescient. But just putting a variety of things together doesn't mean you've made something worth looking at, reading, or listening to. Most of the work pictured in this book just did not speak to me, although I liked the two collage portraits, especially the one of Robert Creeley, and one of his early paintings, "Land of the Mangaboos".
I enjoyed Ingrid Schaffner's text as well. At one point she mentions one of Duncan's favorite words to describe the kind of art he and Jess liked and attempted to create--"polysemous"--which "refers to imagery that flows in all directions while accruing a multiplicity of meanings". An apt description for what the internet has done to our thought processes I think, and one that also highlights the basic problems inherent in this approach to creation--without some kind of structure, it's easy to get lost and end up nowhere.
"To and From the Printed Page" is worth a look and a read, if only as a reflection of the cultural and historic transformations in the arts that propelled the end of the 20th Century and continue to influence the work being produced now.
Based on this book alone, I'm not that impressed with his work. His collages seem stilted and studied, often so busy that they become incoherent, even though spontaneity was one of his guiding principles. But the collaborative way he worked with his husband, poet Robert Duncan, and other artists and writers, has a lot to recommend.
In fact, Jess did not aspire to be original, but "to reflect in a different light that which already exists." Much art being produced today, not just in the medium of collage, is cut-and-paste, which now includes the contributions of AI. In that respect he was prescient. But just putting a variety of things together doesn't mean you've made something worth looking at, reading, or listening to. Most of the work pictured in this book just did not speak to me, although I liked the two collage portraits, especially the one of Robert Creeley, and one of his early paintings, "Land of the Mangaboos".
I enjoyed Ingrid Schaffner's text as well. At one point she mentions one of Duncan's favorite words to describe the kind of art he and Jess liked and attempted to create--"polysemous"--which "refers to imagery that flows in all directions while accruing a multiplicity of meanings". An apt description for what the internet has done to our thought processes I think, and one that also highlights the basic problems inherent in this approach to creation--without some kind of structure, it's easy to get lost and end up nowhere.
"To and From the Printed Page" is worth a look and a read, if only as a reflection of the cultural and historic transformations in the arts that propelled the end of the 20th Century and continue to influence the work being produced now.
September 20, 2007
This exhibit just came to Madison -- it's spectacular. See it if it comes to your area!
June 9, 2008
My review of the exhibition can be read (by subscribers to The Nation) at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080623/schwabsky
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August 5, 2016709.2 J581s 2007
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews