Tom Sachs

by Malcolm Gladwell (Contributor), Germano Celant

This comprehensive survey of the work of the young and influential American sculptor Tom Sachs is the first of its kind, and long overdue. Sachs appropriates elements from American popular culture, including fast food, skateboarding and hip-hop music, and mixes them with overt references to luxury fashion labels, as well as icons of Modernist art and design. Even as Sachs's work maintains an overt antagonism toward consumerism and globalization, it reveals an inherent idealism, championing transparency of production and homespun craftsmanship. Produced on the occasion of the artist's solo exhibition at the Fondazione Prada, Milan, this book illustrates the prolific and innovative nature of Sachs's career, highlighting his fascination with weapons, conformity, cultural imperialism and craft.

Genres: Art

196 pages, Hardcover

First published July 15, 2006

About the author

Malcolm Timothy Gladwell is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He has published seven books. He is also the host of the podcast Revisionist History and co-founder of the podcast company Pushkin Industries.
Gladwell's writings often deal with the unexpected implications of research in the social sciences, such as sociology and psychology, and make frequent and extended use of academic work. Gladwell was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2011.

Reviews

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

a pretty solid catalogue, the interview with sachs and the couple of essays are solid too, though there are a couple of points of assertion sachs makes that don't seem so obviously right, couldn't figure out if that was what he thought or what was part of his public persona.

[bryan boyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The print quality of some images is disappointingly low, but overall this is a fantastic survey.

[Aaron the Pink Donut · Rating 4 out of 5]

really fantastic complied retrospective of his work. If you have to get one book of his work this would be it.