Vitamin D2: New Perspectives In Drawing

Vitamin D2: New Perspectives In Drawing  351 pages, 2013


    The second installment in the Vitamin D series (and there is also a Vitamin P for Painting), this is an excellent selection of contemporary drawing.  The layout and images of the work are clear, and there are short essays accompanying each artist's work that is featured.  When I was in graduate school, the first volume was invaluable to my research and studio practice, and this second volume should be no different for anyone interested in looking at a serious monograph that presents a wide array of what people are drawing now, and how they are drawing.
   Drawing as a medium is a serious endeavor these days, and this book gives the reader an idea of just how versatile drawing can be. Vitamin D2 is a book for anyone interested in contemporary drawing, at any level.  There are some really lovely images and exciting ways that artists are approaching the medium.

Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg by Catherine Craft, 145 pages 2013

      One of the things I love about being a floater on the second floor is that I get to spend a lot of time in the fine arts room, and get to check out new art books as they come in.  This slim new book on Rauschenberg is an elegant introduction to an important American modern artist.  The writing is clear, and to the point; Craft does not complicate the text by littering it with art jargon.  The page where she describes Rauschenberg's famous piece Erased de Kooning  is one the best examples of writing I have ever seen concerning that specific project. She follows the different phases of his prolific career, summarizing each phase with relative ease.   The photographic reproductions of his work rivals that of more expensive, expansive fine art monographs. Usually when the book is cheaper and shorter, the reader is offered a mediocre viewing experience, here, Phaidon does not disappoint.