Jesus; matadors; panthers; bandits; Indians; movie stars; waifs; and; of course; Elvis are recognized icons of the oft-despised; uber-kitsch art form of black velvet painting. In Black Velvet Art author Eric A. Eliason and photographer Scott Squire present a comprehensive overview of this covertly-loved and overtly-reviled tradition.In cooperation with a network of artists; collectors; importers; and gallery owners in Tijuana; Los Angeles; Seattle; and Calgary; this book draws from the largest survey of velvet painting ever undertaken. The book traces velvets historical development as a folk art shaped by both indigenous traditions as well as Western consumer expectations in such markets as the South Pacific; Southeast Asia; and particularly the U.S./Mexico border and the black velvet capital of Tijuana. In black velvet; class and taste challenge art as a consumer phenomenon; democratic spirit faces down elitism; reproduction questions originality; and sexuality seduces and provokes religiosity.What is most significant about black velvet art to many Americans is its signaling of the nadir of bad taste. Black velvet is the "anti-art" in many ways. Eliason seeks to explore how and why black velvet serves this function and to examine ways it deserves a glowing redemption.
#4207826 in eBooks 2000-04-19 2000-04-19File Name: B00671J8MM
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Book contains false statementBy MichaelIn this book the author makes unflattering and unfair comments about my father. the late internationally syndicated cartoonist Foxo Reardon. Although. like many great artists. Foxo Reardon had an on and off problem with alcohol. I never once saw him in the condition described by Art Wood in this book. and I certainly knew him far better than Art Wood. My own book. Whistling Down the Halls. contains some eight hundred cartoons by my father. The book is available at and other Internet sites and contains a biography of the real man that Foxo Reardon was.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Interesting stories but some are fictionBy kerw416Interesting book. but it should be noted that some of the stories are fiction. I.e.. there is a reference to Foxo Reardon in 1957. It would have been difficult for him to run into Foxo Reardon considering he passed away in 1955. If he ever saw him. it must have been his ghost.
