Art, Word and Image: 2,000 Years of Visual/Textual Interaction

by Michael Corris, John Dixon Hunt, David Lomas

What does it mean to say that a painting has been “invaded” by language? Art, Word and Image answers this question by exploring how visual images and writing can work in dialogue in an artwork. Whether the picture frame is encroached upon by doodlings, as with Adolf Wolfli’s seemingly irrational scribbles, or a plea to spirituality is blazoned across a vast canvas, as in the moving images of Colin McCahon, we can be sure that words here have a special meaning, one beyond everyday communication.

 

Art, Word and Image , one of the first books to examine the use of language in art, is constructed around three major chronological essays by renowned scholars John Dixon Hunt, David Lomas, and Michael Corris. Their essays chart the use and significance of words in art—from Classical Greece through the Middle Ages and Renaissance to modern digital media.

 

Genres: Art

410 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2009

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely study on the interaction of visual image and text. Considers a wide range of examples, from medieval book illustrations through William Blake to the "text art" of the late 20th century (like the work of Ed Ruscha).

[Frances King · Rating 3 out of 5]

was ok