Eva Hesse : studiowork /

Artists often explore new techniques and materials on a small scale before venturing into large-scale sculptures. This was no less true for Eva Hesse, the iconic 1960s artist who died an untimely death in 1970. This book is a catalogue for the exhibition of the same name that premiered in Edinburgh, Scotland, with plans to travel to London, Spain, Canada, and finally the UC Berkeley Art Museum, where many of the works are archived. Fer (University College London) argues for the viewer to go beyond accepting these objects as mere technical explorations or small sculptures and, rather, to think of them as "studioworks," the name she assigns them. Fer manages to elevate these often-simple pieces to the level of art and ties them directly to Hesse's larger sculptures convincingly. The argument gets a bit repetitive in the middle of the book, yet overall, the opportunity to see work rarely or never exhibited in such a cohesive manner makes this a definitive book for followers of Hesse. The book is beautiful designed and generously illustrated. A complete list of all the studioworks is included to make this an important record of the artist's life work. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. A. Calluori Holcombe University of Florida

Eva Hesse was an innovative sculptor, active in the 1960s, whose work has been much collected by museums. Until her untimely death in 1970, Hesse produced sculptures out of such experimental materials as string, paper, metal screen, resin, latex, and cheesecloth. This book presents all of Hesse's known test pieces, which Fer (art history, Univ. Coll., London) describes as small, experimental things that she made as part of her working process but which do not quite amount to being works in their own right. Thinking about these objects, Fer constructs five chapters, each a substantial essay on questions raised by the exhibition of such works, such as their purpose for Hesse, their meaning for museumgoers today, and their place in Hesse's final body of work. Numerous color photographs show the studio works, other Hesse sculptures, and relevant comparison works by other artists. Verdict A meaty and theory-filled book for readers who want to think more deeply about meaning in sculpture and Hesse's work in particular.-Kathryn Wekselman, MLn, Cincinnati (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.