Artist; The Creative Personality.

Artist; The Creative Personality. Jim Arkatov. Seattle: University of Washington Press (206-543-4050), 1999. Illus., softcover, 136 pp., $29.95.

A unique publication featuring close-up photographic portraits of significant American contemporary artists from the 1950s to the present. Most of the ninety artists featured look the viewer directly in the eye, often in the context of their studios with one of their artworks in the background. Most of the photos are full color, although the many black-and-white images often project the personality and character of an artist in a more effective manner. This is a book of images, not words. Apart from a brief foreword, the only other text consists of statements by each artist about his or her intentions as an artist. These epigrams are usually philosophic, even poetic, distillations of the artist's belief in the power of individual artistic expression. Having access to this book takes readers/viewers beyond the familiar names of leading contemporary artists and provides a direct human connection to Jasper Johns, Allison Saar, Richard Diebenkorn, Jenny Holzer, and eighty-six other leaders of today's art world.