Recognize 
asked by iconfess on November 14, 2006 2:40 PM
This incredible book is the first of all of Glen E. Friedman's books to not use anything from his past archives of infamous iconic images. It is based solely upon his most recent artistic studies and ambition. This new book, RECOGNIZE has far reaching implications on the world of modern art.
As quoted from the books preface and afterward:
"Glen E. Friedman's mission with RECOGNIZE is no less than 're-aligning the aesthetic' or demolishing and then re-making the rules by which we view and understand art... The re-introduction of sight into art-making and art-seeing, away from purely conceptual in-jokes and toward formal problems of light, composition and beauty. Just as Renaissance artists re-introduced the classical world's honesty and discipline to art-making, Friedman restores picture-taking to its primary and vital function: composition of the natural world, combined with a sense of wonder at the magnificence of what is all around us."
- Ian Folke Svenonius, 2005
"With access to a decent shelf of art books one could easily align Glen E. Friedman's work with a golden chain of initiatic transmission in Western art. This sublime aesthetic incorporates, say, Correggio at one end and Turner at the other; perhaps also in a sense the late Monet of the lily ponds...
These photos are more pleasurable than one might expect because they are secretly more painful. They hide an aesthetic shock behind what first appears to be more picturesque nebulosity. They sneak up on you, gradually becoming more and more sexual, more uncomfortable. It's customary nowadays to claim we "distrust beauty" because it has betrayed us. In fact the reverse is true: our culture betrays beauty and then blames it for its lack of depth. On this edge Glen's work is dancing - hence its vertiginousness, its touch of vertigo. Real beauty is always serious."
- Peter Lamborn Wilson, 2005
As quoted from the books preface and afterward:
"Glen E. Friedman's mission with RECOGNIZE is no less than 're-aligning the aesthetic' or demolishing and then re-making the rules by which we view and understand art... The re-introduction of sight into art-making and art-seeing, away from purely conceptual in-jokes and toward formal problems of light, composition and beauty. Just as Renaissance artists re-introduced the classical world's honesty and discipline to art-making, Friedman restores picture-taking to its primary and vital function: composition of the natural world, combined with a sense of wonder at the magnificence of what is all around us."
- Ian Folke Svenonius, 2005
"With access to a decent shelf of art books one could easily align Glen E. Friedman's work with a golden chain of initiatic transmission in Western art. This sublime aesthetic incorporates, say, Correggio at one end and Turner at the other; perhaps also in a sense the late Monet of the lily ponds...
These photos are more pleasurable than one might expect because they are secretly more painful. They hide an aesthetic shock behind what first appears to be more picturesque nebulosity. They sneak up on you, gradually becoming more and more sexual, more uncomfortable. It's customary nowadays to claim we "distrust beauty" because it has betrayed us. In fact the reverse is true: our culture betrays beauty and then blames it for its lack of depth. On this edge Glen's work is dancing - hence its vertiginousness, its touch of vertigo. Real beauty is always serious."
- Peter Lamborn Wilson, 2005
Reviews
0%
0%
I bought this book based on the reviews, flipped through it once, and though I thought the pictures were good, I didn't at first find them particularly remarkable.
But in the weeks following my purchase of the book, I've changed. I've gone from adding up numbers on license plates while driving to leaning out the window, gawking at clouds. I carry a digital camera with me now. Sometimes I just stand in the driveway capturing shot after shot of the light moving through the clouds. I watch the weather forecast for "Partly Cloudy" days. I surf the 'Net looking for cloud-watching sites.
Before I got this book, I didn't really notice clouds. I've never had a photography book affect me the way this one did.
But in the weeks following my purchase of the book, I've changed. I've gone from adding up numbers on license plates while driving to leaning out the window, gawking at clouds. I carry a digital camera with me now. Sometimes I just stand in the driveway capturing shot after shot of the light moving through the clouds. I watch the weather forecast for "Partly Cloudy" days. I surf the 'Net looking for cloud-watching sites.
Before I got this book, I didn't really notice clouds. I've never had a photography book affect me the way this one did.
reviewed by reviewer on November 15, 2006 1:46 PM
0%
0%
To anyone who knows the work of photographer Glen E. Friedman, best known for his F-ck You Heroes monograph on 1970s through early '90s punks, rappers and skaters, his latest book, Recognize, will come as a bit of a shocker. Recognize consists of photographs of clouds, mostly taken from the air - at cloud level - that capture in sharp detail the hues and variations of the color white. They re-create the experience of being in an airplane, of seeing amazing clouds just outside the window and feeling the near spiritual beauty of that moment. As a representative of the element air, Recognize fits nicely between Richard Misrach's aerial views of the sea and Luc Delahaye's panoramic land views of war. The approach of these photographers is that of a curious observer who is at once consciously detached and uncontrollably involved. Friedman captures the clouds with a humility and simple wonder. His photos achieve what so many others only aspire to - they show the spiritual within the physical. Thus the book's title makes profound sense. Recognize, it says, in simple, clear letters. Recognize your humility, recognize the power of nature, recognize the beauty of the world. It is rare to find a photography book like this, one that genuinely and with total directness conveys the spiritual qualities of the material world.
reviewed by officefan on November 29, 2006 12:07 PM
0%
0%
We are very pleased that Friedman should turn his attention to photographing our fluffy friends in all their respendent glory.
The shots are, pure and simple, majestic cloudscapes unsullied by any piffling little distractions like the ground.
It is fantastic.
We had not realized it was such a large format - It means that you can really see the detail. Given that clouds have a fractal quality - that's obviously a good thing.
We highly recommend it.
The shots are, pure and simple, majestic cloudscapes unsullied by any piffling little distractions like the ground.
It is fantastic.
We had not realized it was such a large format - It means that you can really see the detail. Given that clouds have a fractal quality - that's obviously a good thing.
We highly recommend it.
reviewed by avi on November 29, 2006 6:10 PM
0%
0%
Glen E. Friedman is an artist that keeps us off our heels. In RECOGNIZE, we find ourselves in a familiar place, off the busy streets, and looking head-on at what we often let pass overhead and unnoticed. We all have been there, more concerned with the destination rather than being in the moment and enjoying the window seat. So few of us have really stopped to look. Thankfully, Glen has captured fleeting moments of weightless bliss on film. Paging through RECOGNIZE is like hitting the slow-motion button on a film that we never really understood because it was going by our eyes on fast-forward. After floating through Glen's latest, you'll undoubtedly recall what you saw on your next trip to the sky. Hopefully you'll remember to slow things down and recognize the beauty this time.
reviewed by allnet on November 29, 2006 7:30 PM