Howard Ben Tré /

This monograph of a major touring exhibition from the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art surveys 16 years of work by sculptor Ben Tre, documenting 30 large sculptures, 11 works on paper, and four proposals for public artworks created from the mid-1980s to the present. The artist (MFA, Rhode Island School of Design, 1980) has a distinguished record of commissions, exhibitions, grants, and awards. A pioneer in large-scale glass casting, Ben Tre's sculpture benefits from the sensuous luminosity of his medium. The inherently appealing quality of his materials is enhanced by his use of simple, reductive form influenced by a modernist's love of industrial artifacts and ancient art. His work is subtle but authoritative, addressing ambiguities between opposites: the industrial and the spiritual, the old and the new, the external and the internal. The catalog includes articulate, intelligent, and insightful essays by noted critic Danto, who provides a philosophical commentary connecting the use of glass to the artist's political values; Sims offers an exquisitely edited interview with Ben Tre that brings the person behind the work to life. Jacob's essay effectively places the artist in his biocritical context. A handsome, well-designed, large-format book, lavishly illustrated with 45 excellent full-color plates and 60-plus figures. A most comprehensive publication. General readers; undergraduate and graduate students; professionals. J. A. Day; University of South Dakota