William Morris: Man Adorned - Hardcover

Edgar, Blake; Yood, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0295981849 ISBN 13: 9780295981840

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 2001

Synopsis

For thousands of years humans have adorned themselves. Adornment figures among the constellation of traits that signify the arrival of modern human behavior in the archaeological record. Werever they ventured, wherever they lived, people have made art and adorments to accompany them in life and death. In this book, artist William Morris celebrates this ancient and universal human quality and continues his exploration of the themes of origin and myth that permeate all his work. At first glance, these glass sculptures signal a striking departure from Morris's oeuvre of canopic jars, animal vessels, assorted artifacts, and imaginative burial installations. Here Morris depicts the people only imagined before. He has put flesh on the bones, and covered the bodies with costumes, jewelry, headdresses, and tattoos. These figures spring forth full of vibrant life in the present, rather than recalling a distant past. The faces and artifacts evoke and sometimes blend elements of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas, tracing the global migrations of distant ancestors. Morris aims less for realism than for an essence of ethnicity. For more than 20 years, in a career that has brought Morris to the forefront of the modern Studio Glass movement, he has perfected a repertoire of techniques that virtually no other American glass artist can equal.

About this title

About the Author:

Blake Edgar, an editor at the University of California Press, writes about science and culture. James Yood teaches contemporary art theory and criticism at Northwestern University and is a contributing editor to Glass magazine.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0295981849
• ISBN 13: 9780295981840
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 152