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samarov's review against another edition
Eric Fischl was one of the art stars of the '80s. Along with Julian Schnabel and David Salle, he brought big, personal, and messy feelings back to painting after the austere solipsism of much of the artwork done in the '60s and '70s. His rise coincided with the ugly materialism championed and celebrated in the Reagan era and documented it as well, in its own way. The group of artists he was lumped in with were dubbed the Neo-Expressionists, a label Fischl rails against understandably; no creative person likes being put in a box. I was always intrigued by the subject-matter of his work, if underwhelmed at times by its execution. Fischl was in art school at a time when skills like drawing were sneered at and it shows. He spent years teaching himself the rudiments his teachers thought it unnecessary to bother with.
In painting, style and substance are related simultaneously, so when one of the two is lacking the communication can become staticky and unclear. What Fischl shows: masturbating boys, rich white people sunning themselves, and tourist's views of other cultures all resonate because they come from lived moments. They reflect suburban, buttoned-up and repressed America's hopes and fears a bit like David Lynch's films do. They both reach for the nightmares inherent inside all dreams.
Fischl is not a natural writer and has a co-author, Michael Stone, to help tell his story. He has also asked many of his famous and important friends to contribute testimonials. It's odd to be told over and over again what a master storyteller and wicked wit he is when there's so little evidence of either in this book. I'm glad Fischl gets to be best friends with Steve Martin but don't really need Martin's words added to emphasize what a terrific guy Fischl is. I'm reading his book which means I find him fascinating enough to want to know more about. No celebrity infomercials necessary.
The best parts of the book are those in which he straightforwardly relates what it was like to be in art school in the late-'60s and at the center of the absurd art boom of the '80s. I can't recall a book that used I and me and my quite as many times as this one does. It's difficult to avoid those words in a first-person narrative, of course, but I found myself actually counting them up while stumbling over his three-hundred-page minefield. After a time a memoir's source and point of view should be implicit, shouldn't it?
zachwerb's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 An interesting book for those who like art and biographies. A little to much name dropping and holding the esteem of other rich peoples opinions for me, but also a look into a world many us are not in. His take on art is interesting and helps me understand some of the art history of the 80s forward where a class may invariably end. Who wouldn't want to sell a painting for six figures though?
lmc_sf's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. Well written, good mix of autobiography, stories of the art world, thoughts on art.
The first time I saw Eric Fischl's work was in a gallery in LA in probably 1983. His work was part of a group show; I went to see another artist I no longer remember.
Probably 15 years passed before I saw his work again at MOCA in Chicago, then another decade before his work showed up at MOMA in San Francisco.
That he named one of his best-known paintings and book Bad Boy reminds me of how I perceived him back then - the kind of charming but harmless bad boy that I find endearing.
A good read for anyone; especially for those who followed art in the 80's.
The first time I saw Eric Fischl's work was in a gallery in LA in probably 1983. His work was part of a group show; I went to see another artist I no longer remember.
Probably 15 years passed before I saw his work again at MOCA in Chicago, then another decade before his work showed up at MOMA in San Francisco.
That he named one of his best-known paintings and book Bad Boy reminds me of how I perceived him back then - the kind of charming but harmless bad boy that I find endearing.
A good read for anyone; especially for those who followed art in the 80's.
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