Arts Design

10 NEW BOOKS ON BEAUTIFUL MARKINGS NOW

Courtesy of Rizzoli. Dustin Yellin: Heavy Water.

We begin our weeklong look at Beautiful Markings with a curated collection of beautiful new books, featuring a variety of artworks that focus on different kinds of graphic markings, from graffiti, to tattoos, to 3D markings, and more. Enjoy!

1. DUSTIN YELLIN: HEAVY WATER

Contemporary artist Dustin Yellin makes marks that appear to be suspended in water, each with its own specific gravity, to form a 3D array. His sculptures, giant transparent monoliths, are filled with symbolism, randomness, and and whimsy.

Dustin Yellin: Heavy Water, a new book by Alanna Heiss and Kenneth Goldsmith, is the first comprehensive survey of Yellin’s work, showcasing his surreal glass sculptures.

In what is essentially dimensional collage, Yellin encases bizarre found objects, eclectic magazine and book clippings, paint drippings, and bits and pieces that mark his creative path.

This gorgeous book includes a sixteen-page acetate insert, illustrating a cross section of one of the glass sculptures.

Rizzoli (2015)

2. SOLAR CALENDAR, AND OTHER WAYS OF MARKING TIME

Solar Calendar, and Other Ways of Marking Time, by Jeremy David Bendik-Keymer, is a philosophy book that explores six oddities: a family portrait, a parody-essay, a time-capsule poem, an exploded essay, a poetic record of an act, and an aphorism journal for a year.

“How to be philosophical, how to be good and ethical and interconnected. How to be responsible, how to be free. Through his intrepid hybrid of critical essay, poetry, and memoir, Jeremy Bendik-Keymer has plumbed every part of himself to answer these questions. The result, Solar Calendar, is a truly holistic work, suffused with intelligence, honesty, beauty, and care.”

-- Alex Shakar, author of Luminarium

Fritz Books (2015)

3. THE PENCIL PLAYBOOK: 44 EXERCISES FOR MESMERIZING, MARKING, AND MAKING MAGICAL ART WITH YOUR PENCIL

Make your own mark! This is a cool book that leads you down some doodle paths. Part sketchbook, part guide, The Pencil Playbook: 44 Exercises for Mesmerizing, Marking, and Making Magical Art with Your Pencil, by leading illustrator Ana Montiel, is all about the beautiful marks that pencils can make.

From charcoal to colored pencils, Montiel gives you exercise and inspiration. The exercises explore mark making, patterns, geometrics, simple drawings, texture, and composition.

The Pencil Playbook is printed on high-quality, uncoated paper, so you can make your mark right on its pages.

Quarry Books (2015)

4. WYNWOOD: STREET ART OF MIAMI

Wynwood, by David Bethune, is an homage to the incredible murals of Miami's Wynwood district. It is the largest collection of street art in the United States.

Bethune creates double exposures of pairs of graffiti images, turning these urban marks into ethereal works of art.

The Bethune Company(2015)

5. GRAFFBOOK: THE GRAFFITI SKETCHBOOK

Here’s another beautiful place to make your own mark. Whether you are an armchair graffiti artist or planning your next urban installation, you can sketch out your vision in Graffbook: The Graffiti Sketchbook. Let loose on 168 pages of fresh clean “walls,” with a mix of uncoated and matte coated art paper.

Carpet Bombing Culture ( 2014)

6. UNDER THE BRIDGE: THE EAST 238TH STREET HALL OF FAME

Under the Bridge: The East 238th Street Hall Of Fame, by Paul "Cavs" Cavalieri, is a documentary of graffiti life, as it has flourished under the East 238th Street bridge, in the Bronx, New York.

From the late 1950s to the 1990s, graffiti artists hung out and expressed themselves under this bridge, which became known as the Graffiti Hall of Fame.

Schiffer Publishing (2014)

7. TATTOO MASTERS FLASH COLLECTION: SELECTED STYLES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Tattoo Masters Flash Collection: Selected Styles Around the World, by Edgar Hoill and Matthias Reuss, is an extravagant two volume set of thrilling tattoo-flash books. It will add some edge to your coffee table.

Check out the detailed interview with tattoo legend Don Ed Hardy. Learn about the history of modern tattooing. And enjoy the fanciful illustrations, from renowned tattoo artists, that ink the heavy paper pages.

Editions Reuss (2015)

8. GARYOU TENSEI: 108 JAPANESE TATTOO SLEEVE DESIGNS

Garyou Tensei: 108 Japanese Tattoo Sleeve Designs, by Yushi 'Horikichi' Takei, contains 108 hand-painted interpretations of traditional Japanese short-sleeve tattoo designs. Garyou Tensei refers to the final dot of ink that the Japanese believe brings life to a drawing.

University of Washington Press (2015)

9. TATTOO

Like an encyclopedia of tattooing, Tattoo, by Pascal Bagot, Joe Cummings, Anna Felicity Friedman, and Sébastien Galliot, offers an extensive history of the art, from 3000 BC, when a mummy was discovered covered with 57 tattoos, right up to today.

The book looks at tattoos as spiritual practice, as a form of cataloging prisoners, as personal expression, and as fashion.

Musée du Quai Branly/Actes Sud (2014)

10. DETROIT GRAFFITI

Graffiti, once considered a scourge, an urban blight, is now seen as a city’s savior.

Detroit Graffiti, by photographer Chris Freitag, shows the positive transformation that began to happen when the bankrupt automotive city’s street artists began to take over the crumbling urban landscape.

Detroit is experiencing an artistic renaissance. And the book documents the beginning of its evolution, with more than a dozen neighborhoods now proud to bear these beautiful markings.

Schiffer Publishing, Ltd (2014)

Read more about Beautiful Markings, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact.

Do you have amazing photos? Enter them in this week’s BN Photo Competition. We run new creative competitions every week!

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IMAGE CREDITS:

Image: Courtesy of Rizzoli. Dustin Yellin: Heavy Water.
Image: Courtesy of Rizzoli. Dustin Yellin: Heavy Water.
Image: Courtesy of Fritz Books.Solar Calendar, and Other Ways of Marking Time.
Image: Courtesy of Quarry Books. The Pencil Playbook: 44 Exercises for Mesmerizing, Marking, and Making Magical Art with Your Pencil.
Image: Courtesy of The Bethune Company. Wynwood: Street Art of Miami.
Image: Courtesy of Carpet Bombing Culture. Graffbook: The Graffiti Sketchbook.
Image: Courtesy of Schiffer Publishing. Under the Bridge: The East 238th Street Hall Of Fame.
Image: Courtesy of Editions Reuss. Tattoo Masters Flash Collection: Selected Styles Around the World.
Image: Courtesy of University of Washington Press. Garyou Tensei: 108 Japanese Tattoo Sleeve Designs.
Image: Courtesy of Musée du Quai Branly/Actes Sud. Tattoo.
Image: Courtesy of Schiffer Publishing. Detroit Graffiti.
Image: by Chris Freitag. Courtesy of Pieces of Detroit. Detroit Graffiti.
Image: by Chris Freitag. Courtesy of Pieces of Detroit. Detroit Graffiti.
Image: by Chris Freitag. Courtesy of Pieces of Detroit. Detroit Graffiti