Amy Sillman: Works on Paper

by Wayne Koestenbaum, Amy Sillman (Artist)

Works on Paper marks the first major publication of the work of noted New York painter Amy Sillman, whose rapidly growing reputation and increasingly recognized influence on other artists make its timing ideal. Her paintings and drawings are at once narrative and decorative, filled with quirky figures and diminutive, patterned elements. Her works on paper, which she considers particularly central to her art-making practice and her wider portfolio, are often made up of multiple components. They create the feeling of an extended and meandering sequence of events, and have been described as reminiscent of both film loops and long letters to her viewers. Works on Paper consists of four major series of Sillman's drawings, all recent and documented by brilliant full-color photographs. It also includes an essay by acclaimed writer Wayne Koestenbaum, who has long been celebrated for both his poetry and prose, and who has become one of our most innovative and influential writers on contemporary art and culture. His lavish, seductive and humorous writing style is the perfect complement to Sillman's lyrical works. This book is a delightful introduction to a rising star.

130 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2006

About the author

Wayne Koestenbaum has published five books of critical prose, including The Queen’s Throat: Opera, Homosexuality, and the Mystery of Desire, which was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist; and three books of poetry, including Ode to Anna Moffo and Other Poems. He is a Professor of English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Reviews

[Michael Vagnetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sentences for Amy Sillman."

(This is the form of Wayne Koestenbaum's contribution).

No hiding behind paragraphs!

The writer must improvise.

You must improvise.

The space between every line of his is a space for a line of yours.

Little booklets show thumbnails of the drawings.

Larger pages show almost the whole thing.

Catch up.

Prepare to love being unsettled, meandered, turned into a comic body.

Go jump on the caboose as it leaves the station, then leaves the tracks.