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Literature Reviews |
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artUS
Foundation for International Art Criticism, $6
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As it says in its mission statement, “artUS is a nationally self-critical art review which seeks to explore America’s interior, as well as its borders.” It originates from the former magazine “Art/Text” and has much to say on the subject of art in America. The contents can be heady, with articles like, “The Experiential Paradigm” and “The Place of the Aesthetic in Postmodernism,” but the ideas put forth constitute a substantial and refreshing addition to the discourse of art criticism in the US.
The majority of the magazine is composed of half-page reviews of shows around the country that are straight-forward in description and thankfully lacking in the murky academic jargon and masturbatory tangents that typically cloud art reviews. The essays aren’t light, but the fearless reader will reap the reward of viewpoints such as Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe’s: “The regime of boyish seriousness that insisted that Picasso was the main man before Pollock might be slowly giving way to a realization that Matisse was the important one all along….” Agree or disagree, it’s an entertaining and informative read. —Kristopher Monroe
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Boob Jubilee
Ed. Thomas Frank & “Diamonds” Dave Mulcahey, Norton, $15.95
“Boob Jubilee: The Cultural Politics of the New Economy” picks up where the excellent “Commodify Your Dissent” left off, reprinting the best essays from issues 9 through 15 of “The Baffler.” This is cultural criticism—not to be confused with its weaker inbred cousin cultural studies—at its scathing finest. Inside you’ll find articles by Dan Raeburn, Doug Henwood, Chris Lehmann, Thomas Frank, and Dave Mulcahey. Plus you get Mike O’Flaherty’s heartbreaking punk eulogy “Rockerdämmerung.” —Brad Beshaw
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Beautiful/Decay
Feral Children Productions, $5, beautifuldecay.com
This full-sized, full color magazine (and its online counterpart), still in its relative infancy, consistently showcases the best, brightest and most cutting edge talents in the worlds of graffiti writing, graphic design, guerrilla postering and billboard art. The current issue, “Punk & Disorderly,” highlights artwork from Barf Comics and early-80s punk rock flyers, as well as the distinctive style of street artist L’Atlas who uses an adapted form of Arabic calligraphy in his murals and billboard pieces. It’s heavy on graphics and light on text, making it perfect for browsing… again and again and again. —Kristopher Monroe |
Hi-Horse Omnibus, Vol.1
Alternative Comics, $11.95
I like compilations. They give you a smorgasbord of artists and you, as a reader, get a chance to sample some of their works. Sometimes you get a great story and sometimes you get a stinker. The Hi-Horse Omnibus collection offers more tasty goodness than rotten fruits. My personal favorite has to be the three mini-comics that Howard Jay Arey has produced. “How Dare You” is a comic that deals with flatulence and its aftermath. Arey has a style and story-telling that reminds me of R. Crumb, while Cole Johnson’s “Brenda Sather” piece is poignant and beautifully rendered, recalling the works of Adrian Tomine. A great collection from some very promising comic artists. —De Kwok
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Sweatshop 1-6
Peter Bagge, et. al. DC Comics, $2.95
Pete Bagge focused the majority of his 2003 creative efforts on the six-issue DC Comics series “Sweatshop,” something he characterizes as “very time consuming.” The series is a workplace humor-and-satire title, setting the hi-jinks in the mythical sweatshop of cartoonist Mel Bowling. Bowling and crew produce the daily newspaper strip “Freddy Ferret,” and Bagge presents caricatures that mix office-worker and comic-world stereotypes.
It’s not a bad premise for Bagge to work with, but the inspired, incisive lunacy of “Hate” at its sharpest never emerges. At first, the characters simply react to the introduction of talk-radio stereotypes, leaving me, at least, unmoved and unsympathetic instead of chuckling in recognition. Near the end of the run, however, the family-based, character-driven material that Bagge excels at takes the upper hand.
By the sixth and last issue it seems likely that Bagge (and his team of artists, including Johnny Ryan and Jim Blanchard) had found his footing. Naturally, DC cancelled it. I found the whole run in Chicago, and I assume that it’s still on shelves on the Left Coast. I suspect that the series marks an important learning experience in Bagge’s career, who clearly has the drive and inventiveness to deliver a mass-market comics property as well as the character-development chops to make it worth reading. Could he be considering how to become the next Mel Bowling? —Mike Whybark
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On the Road with the Ramones
Monte Melnick & Frank Meyer, Sanctuary Publishing, $15.95
Monte Melnick spent 22 years (!) of his life as the Ramones’ tour manager, so if anybody is going to put together the essential history of America’s favorite rock band, it’s him. And thanks to his wise decision to employ an all-interview format (think “Please Kill Me” and “We’ve Got the Neutron Bomb”), he does just that. Full of hysterical and heartbreaking anecdotes by fans, bandmates, lovers (and ex-lovers), roadies and contemporary musicians—not to mention an entire chapter on Joey’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder—“On the Road” leaves you scratching your head in awe of a band who by all rights shouldn’t have lasted a week together, let alone over two decades. —Brad Beshaw |
Headless
Benjamin Weissman, Akashic Books
Excruciatingly disturbing and often amusing are the short stories in Benjamin Weissman’s latest collection. At times it’s like watching a gruesome train wreck, where mangled bodies (or, in this case, icky human emotions) bubble to the surface. His style of writing verges on the surreal—yet he has a hankering for the reality of outrageous and deviant human behavior, giving us a unique look into a world most of us would rather ignore. —Karla Esquivel
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