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Skull Sourcebook: Over 500 Skulls in Art & Culture by Adele Nozedar
Dig deep into the ancient secrets of the skull and how the timeless icon affects the world today.
Skulls are one of the oldest symbols of our world, rich with cultural resonance and significance. You see them everywhere, representing death, mortality, or consciousness.
From the origins of Aztec skull art and the Jolly Roger that was hoisted on pirate flags, to the sugar skull for Mexico's Day of the Dead, there is a wealth of history and culture behind the skull. And, of course, a long artistic tradition.
Skull Sourcebook is the first deep look at one of art’s most iconic symbols: the human skull. Author Adele Nozedar explores its ancient meanings and symbolism with over 288 pages and 500 color photos of incredible artwork throughout history.
Discover the stories, lore, and cultural significance behind the skull and ponder dozens of artistic examples of skulls in art, tattoos, music, literature, and fashion. Skull Sourcebook features the work of contemporary artists, like Damien Hirst (Beautiful Inside My Head Forever) and George Ioannou (The Dead Famous Collection), the Skull Sourcebook is a varied and eclectic collection of one of the world's most-recognized symbols.
Skulls are one of the oldest symbols of our world, rich with cultural resonance and significance. You see them everywhere, representing death, mortality, or consciousness.
From the origins of Aztec skull art and the Jolly Roger that was hoisted on pirate flags, to the sugar skull for Mexico's Day of the Dead, there is a wealth of history and culture behind the skull. And, of course, a long artistic tradition.
Skull Sourcebook is the first deep look at one of art’s most iconic symbols: the human skull. Author Adele Nozedar explores its ancient meanings and symbolism with over 288 pages and 500 color photos of incredible artwork throughout history.
Discover the stories, lore, and cultural significance behind the skull and ponder dozens of artistic examples of skulls in art, tattoos, music, literature, and fashion. Skull Sourcebook features the work of contemporary artists, like Damien Hirst (Beautiful Inside My Head Forever) and George Ioannou (The Dead Famous Collection), the Skull Sourcebook is a varied and eclectic collection of one of the world's most-recognized symbols.
Unknown Binding
First published September 15, 2015
245 people want to read
About the author
Adele Nozedar
25 books35 followersAdele Nozedar has enjoyed a varied career, spanning TV presentation, being in a cult indie band, running highly-successful record labels (both independent and major) and a PR company, exhibiting her photography, writing soundtracks, and being owner/manager of a remote residential recording studio.
But the thread which underscores all these facets is an interest in matters occult and arcane; this might be as a result of having self-professed ‘wise women’ on both sides of the family.
Adele’s particular awakening to the language of birds, and their healing powers, came during her recovery from an operation, when a small hawk called a merlin appeared, which surprisingly allowed itself to be handled; although the bird disappeared after her recovery, it reappears from time to time. It was this incident which sparked a sudden realisation that birds can be the conduits to a ‘higher’ form of communication, a window to a world without words, particularly appropriate since she was deaf until the age of 7 and believes that this phase of her life has had a profound effect upon the rest of it.
Adele belongs to the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and is a healer and colour therapist. She is the author of the Illustrated Signs & Symbols Sourcebook.
But the thread which underscores all these facets is an interest in matters occult and arcane; this might be as a result of having self-professed ‘wise women’ on both sides of the family.
Adele’s particular awakening to the language of birds, and their healing powers, came during her recovery from an operation, when a small hawk called a merlin appeared, which surprisingly allowed itself to be handled; although the bird disappeared after her recovery, it reappears from time to time. It was this incident which sparked a sudden realisation that birds can be the conduits to a ‘higher’ form of communication, a window to a world without words, particularly appropriate since she was deaf until the age of 7 and believes that this phase of her life has had a profound effect upon the rest of it.
Adele belongs to the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and is a healer and colour therapist. She is the author of the Illustrated Signs & Symbols Sourcebook.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 25, 2017
A few weeks ago my mom and I did a Weekend of Art out in the Berkshires, where we went to the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Clark Art Institute, and Mass MoCA. I tried not to go too bananas at any of the museum gift shops (I have a severe weakness for museum gift shops, so this was hard for me), but I simply couldn't resist when I found Skull Sourcebook: Over 500 Skulls in Art & Culture at Mass MoCA.
Skull Sourcebook is literally just a big ol' coffee table book full of art with skulls in, which basically makes it the best art book ever, as far as I'm concerned. It is organized into sections like "Skulls in Music" and "Skull Tattoos," and there's also a "Skulls in Art" section for skull art that doesn't fit into any of the more specific categories. The "Skulls in Music" section kicks off with a multi-page Grateful Dead spread, which I appreciated. There's a bit of introductory text at the beginning of each section, about a page or two of it, and this is where my only real issue with the book comes in: This book badly needed an additional round of proofreading. I am incapable of not noticing these things.
All the same, it was excellent bedtime readingA few weeks ago my mom and I did a Weekend of Art out in the Berkshires, where we went to the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Clark Art Institute, and Mass MoCA. I tried not to go too bananas at any of the museum gift shops (I have a severe weakness for museum gift shops, so this was hard for me), but I simply couldn't resist when I found Skull Sourcebook: Over 500 Skulls in Art & Culture at Mass MoCA.
Skull Sourcebook is literally just a big ol' coffee table book full of art with skulls in, which basically makes it the best art book ever, as far as I'm concerned. It is organized into sections like "Skulls in Music" and "Skull Tattoos," and there's also a "Skulls in Art" section for skull art that doesn't fit into any of the more specific categories. The "Skulls in Music" section kicks off with a multi-page Grateful Dead spread, which I appreciated. There's a bit of introductory text at the beginning of each section, about a page or two of it, and this is where my only real issue with the book comes in: This book badly needed an additional round of proofreading. I am incapable of not noticing these things.
All the same, it was excellent bedtime reading—pretty, mildly informative, lacking any sort of plot or story to get all caught up in until next thing you know it's 2 a.m. and you have to get up in four hours, far less upsetting than politics. I'm glad I bought it, and I'm looking forward to keeping it around the house for years so I can periodically look at random skull art.
Originally posted at Inside you is a skeleton just waiting to get out.
Skull Sourcebook is literally just a big ol' coffee table book full of art with skulls in, which basically makes it the best art book ever, as far as I'm concerned. It is organized into sections like "Skulls in Music" and "Skull Tattoos," and there's also a "Skulls in Art" section for skull art that doesn't fit into any of the more specific categories. The "Skulls in Music" section kicks off with a multi-page Grateful Dead spread, which I appreciated. There's a bit of introductory text at the beginning of each section, about a page or two of it, and this is where my only real issue with the book comes in: This book badly needed an additional round of proofreading. I am incapable of not noticing these things.
All the same, it was excellent bedtime readingA few weeks ago my mom and I did a Weekend of Art out in the Berkshires, where we went to the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Clark Art Institute, and Mass MoCA. I tried not to go too bananas at any of the museum gift shops (I have a severe weakness for museum gift shops, so this was hard for me), but I simply couldn't resist when I found Skull Sourcebook: Over 500 Skulls in Art & Culture at Mass MoCA.
Skull Sourcebook is literally just a big ol' coffee table book full of art with skulls in, which basically makes it the best art book ever, as far as I'm concerned. It is organized into sections like "Skulls in Music" and "Skull Tattoos," and there's also a "Skulls in Art" section for skull art that doesn't fit into any of the more specific categories. The "Skulls in Music" section kicks off with a multi-page Grateful Dead spread, which I appreciated. There's a bit of introductory text at the beginning of each section, about a page or two of it, and this is where my only real issue with the book comes in: This book badly needed an additional round of proofreading. I am incapable of not noticing these things.
All the same, it was excellent bedtime reading—pretty, mildly informative, lacking any sort of plot or story to get all caught up in until next thing you know it's 2 a.m. and you have to get up in four hours, far less upsetting than politics. I'm glad I bought it, and I'm looking forward to keeping it around the house for years so I can periodically look at random skull art.
Originally posted at Inside you is a skeleton just waiting to get out.
May 22, 2017
3.5. A range of art, some of it quite good, some of it good fun, and some of it mundane (metal and tattoo skull art is stuck in a rut in my opinion). The big annoyance here is that for a book with very little text there are typos galore. Did no one edit this thing?
Worth a look though.
Worth a look though.
February 7, 2021
I feel my skull-based art needs are thoroughly met with this book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews