Bike Art, by Kiriakos Iosifidis
by fmk on Feb 26, 2012 3:43 PM EST
in Cafe Bookshelf
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Title: Bike Art: Bicycles In Art Around The World
Author: Kiriakos Iosifidis (Editor)
Publisher: Publikat
Year: 2011
Pages: 256
Order: Stylefile Mail Order
What it is: A collection of art works inspired by the bicycle.
Strengths: Beautifully produced, wonderfully diverse.
Weaknesses: Could have done with a wee bit more text about the individual contributors. Also: no photography.
Bike Art is one of those books that falls somewhere between pro-bike propaganda and bicycle pornography. With contributions from more that 250 contemporary artists the book showcases the way a host of different people, drawn from around the world, view the bicycle today. The mix is eclectic, ranging from street graffiti artists though to international design studios, with time and space for tattoo artists, cartoonists, performance artists, sculptors, illustrators and painters.
It would be relatively easy for me to waffle on for a couple of thousand words about some of the individual contributors, telling you what's so good about them. Some people have made whole careers out of waffling on about art, it ain't all that hard to do once you master a few tricks of the trade. But Bike Art is one of those books which should be allowed speak for itself.
What follows then is a selection of some of the contributions to the book, along with a few page layout shots to give you a clue as to what the book itself looks like. To save having to blather on about any of the contributors for this peek inside Bike Art's covers I've included links to the artists' websites, where I could find them.
The selection here is pretty much personal, the sort of stuff that fires my fuse, but with so many contributors - this selection covers just twenty-four of the contributors, not even one in ten - it's a safe bet that there's something in Bike Art to satisfy most tastes. Unless you're into crayon-based cycling art, which is totally ignored. I guess Podium Café have cornered the market in that.
| URBAN ART | |
 Mart (c) |
|
| PAINTINGS | |
 Alison Gayne (c) |
|
 Page layout example: pages 50-51 |
|
 James Straffon (c) |
 Jeff Parr (c) |
 Steve Dennis (c) |
|
 Page layout example: pages 84-85 |
|
 Page layout example: pages 86-87 |
|
| ILLUSTRATIONS - DRAWINGS | |
 Andy Singer (c) |
 Blanca Gomez (c) |
 Chris Piascik (c) |
|
|
 Mads Berg (c) |
 Riccardo Guasco (c) |
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| TATTOOS | |
 ABT Tattoo (c) |
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| SCULPTURES | |
 David Gerstein (c) |
|
 David Kinzett (c) |
|
 Page layout example: pages 200-201 |
|
 Page layout example: pages 202-203 |
|
| TYPES | |
 Page layout example: pages 214-215 |
|
 Fretsche (c) |
|
 Page layout example: pages 238-239 |
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| EXTRA | |
 Bicycle ballet (photograph by Ray Gibson) (c) |
|
For more details on the artists included, check out the Publikat site.
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What a great collection of images!
Thanks for this one fmk. Does the book mention why they excluded photography?
But he can't say "I believe in nozzingk" when he believes in beer - Jens (about me)
Got to say, I did grin when I saw tattoos are in, but not photography!
Thanks so much for this – those layouts look scrumptious
Aka Pigeons!
by Sarah Connolly on Feb 27, 2012 8:35 AM EST up reply actions
(heh, although of course there's TONS of photography in the book
I guess it’s that distinction some people make between photography-as-documentation and photography-as-art-in-its-own-right – and here I grin, looking at the pile of books on my floor all about that!)
Aka Pigeons!
by Sarah Connolly on Feb 27, 2012 8:42 AM EST up reply actions
Yes, most of the book is actually photography, but utilitarian (though sometimes spiffing, as in the bike ballet pic). What I meant by the abscence of photography was it as an art form in and of itself, not a means of showing other people’s work.
To answer omnevelnihil’s Q, I’d guess it’s not in as it’s well represented elsewhere.
I do love that fairy-on-a-bike tattoo though.
But he can't say "I believe in nozzingk" when he believes in beer - Jens (about me)
by omnevelnihil on Feb 27, 2012 8:52 AM EST up reply actions
I especially like the Urban Art piece
and the Illustration – Drawing selections you show here. Looks like a great book. Thanks for posting.
Despite the (probable) absence of Marcel Duchamp, Gabriel Orozco & Bas Jan Ader
of Marcel Duchamp, Gabriel Orozco & Bas Jan Ader (to name a few) I think I’d quite like this book.
As for making a career out of waffling on about art, the longer I do it, the harder it gets. Believe me.
"Frankly it's a bit depressing that year after year you see teams and riders disappearing. All the while you see the governing body regulating saddle angles and what colour overshoes you're allowed to wear." Emma Pooley on the UCI
The woman who spoke about Orozco was a very good waffler
I especially liked the bit about the O’s in Orozco.
Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...
by TheFigurehead on Feb 27, 2012 4:00 PM EST up reply actions
I confess I didn't watch it.
I will now.
"Frankly it's a bit depressing that year after year you see teams and riders disappearing. All the while you see the governing body regulating saddle angles and what colour overshoes you're allowed to wear." Emma Pooley on the UCI
The lack of the likes of Duchamp to Hopper is covered by this being a collection of contemporary stuff (can I call art ‘stuff’?) but yes, it would be good to see older, more classic representatons also collected. As for Orozco – no idea why he doesn’t fit.
As for the waffling comment – wasn’t thinking of pros like you, more the talking heads who talk and talk and talk and say so little when all they really need to do is shut up and point the camera properly. Or twats like Brian Sewell.
(The Lance-Damien monstrosity didn’t make it, did it?)
"Frankly it's a bit depressing that year after year you see teams and riders disappearing. All the while you see the governing body regulating saddle angles and what colour overshoes you're allowed to wear." Emma Pooley on the UCI
That first one reminds me of the kind of thing uni students would do after a night of drinking.
Not that I ever did any drinking while at uni myself.
But he can't say "I believe in nozzingk" when he believes in beer - Jens (about me)
by omnevelnihil on Feb 28, 2012 3:11 AM EST up reply actions
I'm befuddled by the second one
but I quite like it. :-)
"Frankly it's a bit depressing that year after year you see teams and riders disappearing. All the while you see the governing body regulating saddle angles and what colour overshoes you're allowed to wear." Emma Pooley on the UCI
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