We’re happy if our previous roundup of feature films about artists inspired or rejuvenated any of your artistic or bohemian impulses. That said, pull up a chair. Let’s get real. Here you will find some of our favorite documentaries about artists, many of them current and some even freshly made. Dig out the heart of Louise Bourgeois’ gigantic spiders. Go behind Pablo Picasso’s brushstrokes. Wonder eternally if Banksy’s fooling you. Rebels, superstars, activists, eccentrics, con artists — they’re all here and they’re ready to tell you their story.
“An artist should avoid falling in love with another artist, an artist should avoid falling in love with another artist, an artist should avoid falling in love with another artist…” reads Marina Abramović‘s artist manifesto. Cynical? Live with another performance artist in a van for a decade, and then decide.
Ah, artist couples. Their love is fraught with temperamental tension and lubricated by each others’ creative juices. How does it work? Let’s look at some famed artist romances that are still smearing their mark all over art history.
If we had a nickel for every superhero comic tattoo we saw, we’d be set for life. So, while DC and Marvel are great and all, it’s always much more exciting to spot an arm adorned with images inspired by an indie or web comic artist we love. After the jump, we’ve rounded up ten of our favorites, from Daniel Clowes and Adrian Tomine to Frank Miller and R. Crumb.
If you’re a reader, you know the dilemma. You may love to give and get books, but you’ve got at least a few friends or family members who just aren’t into what you’ve hand-picked and lovingly gift-wrapped for them. Never fear! We present our handy list of eye-candy books for even the toughest crowd.
More doodler than draftsman, R. Crumb’s off-kilter drawings of madmen, loose women, alienation, and domestic strife are not your average Sunday comics. His cult status, further cemented with the 1994 release of the documentary Crumb, has evolved into the realm of “fine art”: he’s represented by uber-gallery David Zwirner, his rendition of the entire Book of Genesis is currently exhibited at LA’s Hammer Museum, and his work is included in 1969, a major modern retrospective at PS1. All the more interesting that Crumb — an artist occasionally censured for his “sexist” depictions of women and “racist” stereotyping — was tapped by W magazine for a commissioned feature in the November issue. Click through for excerpts.
Basil Wolverton‘s drawings are a visually witty mishmash of human organs: glands, blistering skin, distended proboscises, eyes swinging from their sockets, and barnacle teeth pointed in every direction. A new show of his original drawings at New York’s Gladstone Gallery spans his career and range of style, from his first comic strip drawing to his late post-apocalyptic visions. Read More »
Are we the only ones who wish the last panel of this series (which can be seen in Terry Zwigoff‘s 1994 film Crumb) contained some Jetsons-inspired flying cars?
Speaking of R. Crumb, while the legendary illustrator’s highly-anticipated comic adaptation of The Book of Genesis doesn’t come out until October, you can already check out a panel of it here. (If you’re a New Yorker subscriber, an 11-page excerpt ran in the Fiction Issue early last month.) Read More »
of The Book of Genesis doesn’t come out until October, you can already check out a panel of it 
