mixed media

From Our

Library In Flux: American Jewelry and the Counterculture By Susan Cummins, Damian Skinner, and Cindi Strauss Arnoldsche Art Publishers, $50

The 1960s were a time of upheaval and transformation as Americans grappled with the Vietnam war, high-profile assas- sinations, and widespread social and political changes. Artists experienced this fluctuating landscape up close or in the news headlines every day, and much of the art of the time, Ï ´ including jewelry, reflects and responds to this turbulence. In Quiltfolk Life: Volume One quiltfolk.com, $47 Flux: American Jewelry and the Counterculture brings together The editors of the visually luxe academic essays and lively pic- quarterly magazine Quiltfolk tures to explore the messages have pulled together an equally and aesthetics of wearable art stunning coffee table book – during this era. The book also their first – that will delight takes a close look at how studio enthusiasts and quilt nov- art provided an alternative to ices alike. Quiltfolk Life is filled the industrial production and with crisp, brightly colored pho- consumerism of the Mad Men tos from the Quiltfolk team’s ethos of the late ’50s and ’60s, four years of travel across the introducing readers to counter- , during which culture jewelers, offering expo- they uncovered the stories of sition on funk jewelry, and quilters in pictures. For the highlighting the political motifs book, the team pored over their that appeared on pins, pendants, archive of more than 40,000 and belt buckles. Readers will photos to bring together their walk away with a more nuanced favorite shots – those that tell a understanding of the ’60s and powerful visual story of quilting the wearable art it produced.

and quilters from across the Ó country. The images are printed on high-quality, coated art paper with a special UV treatment that enhances each photo’s crispness. And while some pho- tos are reader favorites, others have never been published before. The book is a perfect source of inspiration – and simple, vibrant beauty – for quilters and anyone interested in fabric arts. Book photos: Robin Lietz

24 american dec/jan 21 The Object in Its Place: Ted Cohen and the Art of Exhibition Design By Signe S. Mayfield Mingei International Museum (and Fine Arts Press) in association with the Oakland Museum of and Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco, $32 Masterclass: Creative Techniques of 100 Great Artists “The power the guy has who By Louisa Taylor Frances Lincoln, $30 does the installation!” wrote René d’Harnoncourt, the direc- For more than 10,000 years, tor of the Museum of Modern humans have used clay to make Art from 1949 to 1968. The everyday objects, utilitarian Object in Its Place explores the items, and exquisite works of art of installation design ´ art. In Ceramics Masterclass, through the work of collector Modern Fabric: Twenty-Five ceramist Louisa Taylor walks and museum exhibition design- Designers on Their Inspiration readers through the work of 100 er Ted Cohen, the first museum and Craft innovative ceramists, both past exhibition designer to be named By Abby Gilchrist and Amelia Poole Princeton Architectural Press, $40 and present. Each artist’s profile an Honorary Fellow by the is accompanied by a description ´ . At 92, When editor Jan Hartman vis- of techniques they used and a Cohen has designed more than ited Fiddlehead Artisan Supply discussion of their inspiration Do Make: The Power of Your 800 art exhibitions and come in Belfast, Maine, she told pro- and process. The profiles are Own Two Hands out of retirement more than By James Otter prietor Abby Gilchrist that she arranged thematically, with The Do Book Company, $14.95 once. As a collector, he believes should write a book about the chapters on vessels, decorative in the maxim of “more is more,” fabulous modern fabric she car- pieces, function, figurative James Otter designs and makes and his 925-square-foot home ried in her shop. Gilchrist works, conceptual pieces, and surfboards out of , and his contains his vast collection of reached out to Amelia Poole to installations. The book opens new book is an inspirational arts and . The book out- collaborate on the project, and with a general section on mate- guide for every type of crafts- lines Cohen’s background and the result is this beautiful and rials, tools, and basic techniques person: longtime makers who then dives into his philosophy brightly written behind-the- and then takes a close-up look at want to rediscover the inherent on exhibition design. It is filled scenes look at the lives and key figures in the history of joy in making; hobbyists who with practical advice on design work of 25 contemporary art- art, including Toshiko are looking for a little encour- for art spaces, and includes a ists who create surface designs Takaezu, Bernard Palissy, Wal- agement; and anyone, however section on design for private on fabric. Each artist profile ter Keeler, Ikuko Iwamoto, and much of a novice, who has ever collections with photos from includes how each person dis- Phoebe Cummings. With gor- been curious about learning a Cohen’s own apartment and an covered fabric art, started creat- geous photos of artists’ seminal craft or making something with essay by Cohen. This book is ing, and evolved their business. pieces, as well as photo illustra- their hands. In fact, Otter for anyone interested in the Readers get insights on every tions of tools and techniques, insists that we are all makers negative space between objects aspect of fabric design, from an this book has something for already. If you’ve ever folded a and how that space influences artist’s inspiration and creative students, amateurs, and profes- paper airplane or taken care to and affects what viewers see. process to how they set up their sionals alike. brew the perfect pot of tea, you Ó studio for the most efficient know the pleasures of making flow. The book also includes Ó – and you’ll find rich rewards by bright, compelling photos of making it an even bigger part of the artists’ work and of them at your life. Do Make is divided work in their studio spaces. into three parts: preparation, which guides readers on what to make; process, which offers advice on getting started; and power, which helps readers build confidence in their abili- ties. Illustrated with pictures from Otter’s life as a maker, Do Make reminds us that “making and creating are fundamental to us all.”

american craft dec/jan 21 25 mixed media

The Grotta Home by Richard Meier: Flower Art A Marriage of and Craft By Makoto Azuma Edited by Tom Grotta, with contribu- Thames & Hudson, $50 tions by Glenn Adamson, et al. Arnoldsche Art Publishers, $85 Japanese flower artist Makoto Azuma is known for his extraor- If you’ve ever wondered what it dinary botanical sculptures, is like to live in a museum or to which he has installed in beauti- turn a museum into a “vessel for ful and unlikely places – includ- living,” you’ll delight in The ing ocean floors, frozen tundras, Grotta Home, an elegant, infor- golden deserts, and atop the mative, and inspirational paean heads of celebrity clients such to Sandra and Louis Grotta’s as Rihanna – during the past 20 ´ private residence. Designed by ´ years. Flower Art is a compre- the well-known architect Rich- Documents on Contemporary hensive visual showcase of ard Meier, the austere, modern Glassworks: The Art of Crafts 1 – 5 Frederick Birkhill more than 60 of Azuma’s large- Edited by André Gali and house serves as both a living Introduction by Samantha De Tillio, scale works. Readers get a Hege Henriksen space and a display for the Grot- Norwegian Crafts and Arnoldsche with contributions from Dedo von close-up view of his elaborate tas’ craft collection. The Grot- Kerssenbrock-Krosigk, et al. Art Publishers, $110 The Artist Book Foundation, $75 floral arrangements, whether tas are among America’s he’s launched them into space In 2012, Norwegian Crafts premier collectors of contempo- artist Frederick Birkhill or sunk them deep into the sea. sensed an increasing apprecia- rary craft, with many works by creates pieces of complex and The book includes photos of his tion for handmade items and the ceramic artist Toshiko Takaezu, dazzling beauty. Throughout Shiki 1 series, for which he sus- skills and materials required to ceramic artist Karen Karnes, his life, he has explored the pended miniature pine trees make them and wanted to con- and fiber artist Dorothy Gill intricacies of working with inside steel frames and installed tribute thought leadership to Barnes, to name just a few. This glass, and his pieces showcase them in inhospitable locations – the moment. The result is a comprehensive book covers his technical expertise, expan- one suspended pine tree sits series of five short books that both the collection and the sive knowledge of and precariously in a glacial fissure, cover a range of topics in con- home in pictures and essays – glassmaking traditions, and another rests at the base of a temporary craft. Each book several from artists whose work sheer command of the craft. waterfall, and a third sits in a was more successful than antici- the Grottas collect. With pho- Presented by The Artist Book red desert canyon. Filled with pated, so this year Norwegian tos by their son Tom Grotta, Foundation, a nonprofit that luxe pictures, Flower Art high- Crafts, in partnership with this book gives readers a greater celebrates the lives and work of lights Azuma’s inventiveness Arnoldsche Art Publishers, sense of what it means to live contemporary and historic art- and creativity, while also shin- issued all five books as a box set – with and around craft. ists, this book honors Birkhill ing a light on delicate and not as a culmination of the proj- Ó with lavish photos by Henry endangered ecosystems around ect, but as a celebration of how Leutwyler. It also gives readers the world. eagerly contemporary craft a chance to examine the artist’s theory has been embraced by Ó work in scholarly essays, which both craftspeople and craft explore the time Birkhill spent theorists. Beautifully designed, in pre-reunification East Ger- the set includes: Museum for many studying scientific glass Skills, which focuses on the con- production as well as his tenure cept of “skills” as inseparable at the studio of stained-glass from “craft”; Materiality Matters, artist Patrick Reyntiens. An which focuses on materiality introduction by Samantha De and artistic quality; Crafting Tillio, a curator at the Museum Exhibitions, which explores the of Arts and Design in New craft of staging an exhibition; York, sets the stage for explor- On Collecting, which focuses on ing the rest of this visually stun- the influences of collectors, ning book. collections, and the concept of collectability; and Material Per- ceptions, which focuses on how contemporary craft objects are perceived. Book photos: Robin Lietz

26 american craft dec/jan 21