Sublime spaces & visionary worlds : built environments of vernacular artists / Leslie Umberger ; with contributions by Erika Doss [and others].
"The need to personalize our surroundings is a defining human characteristic. For some this need becomes a compulsion to transform their personal surroundings into works of art. The John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, has undertaken the mission to preserve these environment...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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New York : Sheboygan, Wis. :
Princeton Architectural Press ; John Michael Kohler Arts Center,
[2007]
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| Edition: | First edition. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Contributor biographical information |
| Summary: | "The need to personalize our surroundings is a defining human characteristic. For some this need becomes a compulsion to transform their personal surroundings into works of art. The John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, has undertaken the mission to preserve these environments, which are presented for the first time in Sublime Spaces and Visionary Worlds. This colorful and inspiring book features the work of twenty-two vernacular artists whose locales, personal histories, and reasons for art-making vary widely but who all share a powerful connection to the home as art. Featured projects range from art environments that remain intact, such as Simon Rodia's Watts Towers in California, to sites lost over the years such as Emery Blagdon's six hundred elaborate "Healing Machines," made of copper, aluminum, tinfoil, magnets, ribbons, farm-machinery parts, painted light bulbs, beads, coffee-can lids, and more. Sublime Spaces and Visionary Worlds is the first book to explore these spectacularly offbeat spaces in detail. From "Original Rhinestone Cowboy" Loy Bowlin's wall-to-wall glitter-and-foil living room to the concrete bestiary of "witch of Fox Point" Mary Nohl, each artist and project is described in detail through a wealth of visuals and text. Sublime Spaces and Visionary Worlds reminds us that our decorative choices tell the world not just what we like but who we are."--Publisher description. |
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| Item Description: | Published on the occasion of an exhibitions presented at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, June 2007-Jan. 2008. |
| Physical Description: | 427 pages : illustrations (chiefly colour) ; 32 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 416-421) and index. |
| ISBN: | 1568987285 9781568987286 0971070350 9780971070356 |