cover image Entrails, Heads & Tails

Entrails, Heads & Tails

Paola Oglioro. Rizzoli International Publications, $65 (1pp) ISBN 978-0-8478-1500-5

These free-form interviews with 10 contemporary artists--based on multiple visits made by Igliori, who has published articles in Artscribe and Interview --suggest that art germinates from its creator's inner conflicts, habits, responses and sense of sheer challenge in daily living. Julian Schnabel calls his own paintings ``anthropological art'' in their identification with the permutations of human behavior. Gilbert & George discuss the subversive intent of their witty pictures--to restore art to the people by taking it out of the hands of an intellectual elite. Diverse styles are represented, from Louise Bourgeois's biomorphic sculpture to Sigmar Polke's hybrids of photographic images and abstraction. Also interviewed are Cy Twombly, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente, Wolfgang Laib, James Turrell and Vito Acconci. British photographer Thain evokes the creative ferment of each artist's studio or working environment. (Dec.)