Alex Katz by Iwona Blazwick, Carter Ratcliffe and Robert Storr is the most up-to-date survey of the New York-based artists oeuvre. Katz, who started out at the height of Abstract Expressionism, before the emergence of Pop art, is best known for his clean, precise portraits of strong women. But although Katz's female portraiture is what immediately comes to mind, his works do cover a range of subjects including landscapes and florals. This survey is a tidy introduction or reference work to the style of Alex Katz.

Paperback, 256 pages, Phaidon Press, $31.47 at Amazon.

+Alex Katz at Amazon

Desire for Normality Normality is a sculptural road show of works linked by a theme of psychosocial development by six artists from the Phoenix area.

Tom Judd’s ‘once-a-day’ project, involving a new drawing every day, has been compiled into a book. What next? Why, ‘once-a-week', of course.
Via Fosfor.se

Corrugated cardboard is the medium of choice for Paul Ahern and the x-acto knife his most important tool. Precision work over at Cardboardistry.

Exhibiting at Colette in Paris from May 2nd is tattoo and graffiti artist Mike Giant. Visions of Strength and Beauty is a series of black ink designs of Giant’s imaginary heroines.

Jörg Sasse is, simply, a master of beautiful photography. However, he is not necessarily the original photographer behind all of his works. Sasse chooses pictures and compositional elements from his vast collection of photos (some of them by strangers and amateurs) before manipulating them digitally into tableaux that display a new reality. The original photos are scanned into his computer and then Sasse proceeds to play with size, colour and lighting. Elements are removed or added, shifted and cleaned up until the artist is pleased with a final creation or rendition. The results are compelling scenes and sections of artistry.

Artist: Jörg Sasse
+ c42.de

Based all over the world (Bulgaria, Sao Paulo, Miami), it is no surprise that Edgar Gomez should work in mixed media and collage, creating works made up of a variety of elements, and styles. At times his message is urban, at others very pop, but always vibrant and expressive. Evident in Gomez’s work is a sense of humour and an affinity for a retro esthetic (not to mention leanings towards the burlesque), all of which combine in some very contemporary offerings.

Artist: Edgar Gomez
+ gomezvisual.com

Shiny and colourful, ceramic animals are a trademark of Franco Dellerba whether on parade or forming a pyramid of pigs. The farmyard mingles with the jungle, the zoo meets the forest – Dellerba’s menagerie is a veritable peaceable kingdom where the animals parade trunk to tail. Interspersed throughout a typical installation are equally bright ceramic tiles, Dellerba’s San Pietrini.

Artist: Franco Dellerba
+ bonomogallery.com

Subjects ranging from household still lifes to bondage are covered in the large-scale pen and ink drawings of Joan Linder. The artist’s recent work has been life size representations of the subjects – no easy feat when one remembers the fine point of a quill pen. Linder finds the scale of one to one lends an intimacy to the art, and that the “sleight, or sloppiness, of hand” can heighten this aspect. Also particularly interesting are Linder’s rope series of coloured inks on paper which make amazing use of negative space.

Artist: Joan Linder
+ mixedgreens.com

Nina Levy’s hyper-realist works touch the theme of family, as displayed by her recent exhibition at Metaphor Contemporary Art in Brooklyn. Family Resemblance included Toss, a sculptural installation created for the space that included a five-foot baby head, modeled after the artist’s son, being tossed between two headless parents. Husband and Son is a lifelike sculpture that includes everything but the dad’s head, suggesting the importance of the child in the new dynamic. Some photographs were also part of the exhibition – and here it is important to note that Levy does not digitally manipulate her photos to achieve the desired effect, but works with plaster pieces she creates for the narrative.

Artist: Nina Levy
+ ninalevy.com

The Saddest Place on Earth: The Art of Camille Rose Garcia is an excellent resource for fans of the LA artist who creates murky underworlds and disturbing distopias. In this book Garcia�s work deals with the decadence of society and its subsequent destruction. The Saddest Place on Earth is a gem of a ballroom where the masses are sedated by luxury, disguising the ever-present undercurrent of malaise. The Saddest Place on Earth continues themes examined in Garcia�s latest collection of gallery works, Subterranean Death Clash.

Hardcover, 128 pages, $26.37 at Amazon, published by Last Gasp Press.

+The Saddest Place on Earth: The Art of Camille Rose Garcia

Some wry observations about the art world over at Carte Blanche, along with their Pill-o.

Co-op Magazine grew out of Dublin’s creative community and now has contributors from all over the world. Not for profit, no advertising – all proceeds go right back into the production of the next issues.

Paul Matosic's current installation at the Context Gallery in Londonderry uses colourful reclaimed materials.

This weekend is the last chance to catch Caitlin Masley's installation at 511 Gallery, NYC.

This series, Melting Ice Pops, by photographer Meredith Allen is meant to put a smile on your face, despite the stickiness. Over a five-year period, Allen snapped shots of slowly dripping ice lollies of familiar licensed cartoon characters set against a clear blue sky in various beach locales. Silly and simple, or obsessive compulsive? As it is Friday, we’re going with the free and easy explanation of the former. After all, the latter involves too much hand washing.

Artist: Meredith Allen
+ meredithallen.com

Serbian artist Bozidar Djokic creates interesting juxtapositions using digital photography. The results are always delicate, in spite of the occasional entrance made by a tongue or pursed lips. The fragility of a dandelion is balanced by the stability of a china saucer, paper is set in contrast to cheese. Some of the diptychs are more expected, like that of sky and grass, but the onion/grater pairing against the mouth and flute comes more as a surprise.

Artist: Bozidar Djokic
+ ww1.infosky.net