Barnaby Furnas /

This is the first monographic catalog of an exciting Brooklyn-based painter who knowingly plays with the modernist conventions of both representational and abstract art. Furnas's powerful canvases weave together both narrative and nonfigurative conventions. For example, Hamburger Hill (2002) is a painting that depicts both images of bloody warfare and abstract patches of startling formal grace. Soldiers fire on one another, and the resulting wounds explode on the canvas in exquisite bursts and bubbly clouds of highly saturated color. Furnas is a master of composition, and his brushwork (or, more precisely, his pouring of paint over the canvas) reworks expressionistic techniques with new power. Along with a competent interpretative essay and an interview with the artist, the text includes over 100 luscious plates. An important and fairly priced purchase for all libraries because it introduces readers to an emerging artist whose work exemplifies significant trends in contemporary painting. Highly recommended.-Katherine Adams, Bowdoin Coll. Lib., Brunswick, ME (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.