As many teen and tween boys discovered in a famed mid-'70s issue of Dynamite
magazine, Farrah Fawcett (then Farrah Fawcett Majors), in addition to being the Charlie's Angels
starring actress, is an artist. Edmier was one of those boys, and as he developed into an artist himself, he has incorporated the odd eros of pop celebrity into his work—including a specific investigation of the iconic 1977 poster of Farrah in a red bathing suit. This book chronicles the two artists' collaboration, at Edmier's instigation, over two years beginning in 2000, resulting in several works documented here—most spectacularly two life-size sculptures of Edmier and Fawcett as Pygmalion and his statue. An essay by Zelevansky, curator and department head of modern and contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, explains the Pygmalion myth and gives an overview of Edmier and Fawcett's careers, as well as detailing the development of the project, for which both artists modeled. Edmier is shown in sinewy, full-frontal nude, while Fawcett reclines alluringly, but not quite revealingly. There is a particularly fetching shot of Farrah relaxing in a Korn tank top, and a photo of a nude female torso that may or may not be the actress. Readers will feel dared to try to label the undertaking lurid, and despite the essay's attempts to give it weight, the whole finally comes off as little more than an Edmier fetish. (Nov.)
