From Publishers Weekly
It's rare for an artist barely over 40 to get his or her own catalogue of "small" paintings, let alone the large ones. And that the accompanying essay is by Slums of Beverly Hills writer-director Jenkins (rather than an art historian) testifies to name recognition beyond the art world. What Yuskavage is famous for is her paintings of young white women with exaggeratedly shaped and sized breasts, in various stages and poses of self-examination. As Jenkins writes, "[i]n this strange psychosexual universe, female figures stand alone, baring their breasts in fields of peachy pink, lemon yellow or minty blue." The paintings have struck a chord in a youth, size- and celebrity-enhancement–obsessed culture comparable only to the success of grim portraitist John Currin. Many of the 140 full-color illustrations are full-size reproductions, allowing a chilling intimacy with the work's exploration of narcissism, self-doubt and blank, inarticulate desire.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
Both admired and censured for the in-your-face eroticism of her paintings of women, Lisa Yuskavage has emerged from the 1990s as one of the most important figurative artists working today. Called the "premier bad-girl artist" by The New York Times and lauded in The New Yorker as "an extravagantly deft painter," Yuskavage is known for her oil paintings, loaded with color and emotional content, featuring languid young women with outlandish body parts.
The small paintings that make up this book, the first monograph of her work, are often the place where the characters from the artist's larger works come alive. Exploratory in nature, these paintings provide us with a uniquely intimate look at Yuskavage's creative process-allowing us to see how they have been a method of working for more than 20 years. Writer and director Tamara Jenkins's introductory essay is a work of biography and psychoanalysis, offering an up-close look at the forces behind her work. At once sexist and feminist, real and surreal, unsettling and seductive-and always technically accomplished-Yuskavage's work continues to generate buzz and controversy. AUTHOR BIO: Tamara Jenkins is the writer and director of the film Slums of Beverly Hills as well as several award-winning short films. Her writing has been published in Zoetrope: ll-Story, Tin House Magazine, and the New York Press. She lives in New York City.
The small paintings that make up this book, the first monograph of her work, are often the place where the characters from the artist's larger works come alive. Exploratory in nature, these paintings provide us with a uniquely intimate look at Yuskavage's creative process-allowing us to see how they have been a method of working for more than 20 years. Writer and director Tamara Jenkins's introductory essay is a work of biography and psychoanalysis, offering an up-close look at the forces behind her work. At once sexist and feminist, real and surreal, unsettling and seductive-and always technically accomplished-Yuskavage's work continues to generate buzz and controversy. AUTHOR BIO: Tamara Jenkins is the writer and director of the film Slums of Beverly Hills as well as several award-winning short films. Her writing has been published in Zoetrope: ll-Story, Tin House Magazine, and the New York Press. She lives in New York City.
