Joel Perlman: A Sculptor's Journey

This handsomely illustrated book is the first monograph devoted to the work of Joel Perlman (b. 1943), an acclaimed sculptor in steel and bronze, whose works are represented in the permanent collections of AmericaGÇÖs top museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. PerlmanGÇÖs best works from the 1970s to the present day — from the austerely abstract Chevy Short (For Jeannie Day), shown at the 1973 Whitney Biennial, to the lyrical Sky Spirit, a monumental commission completed in 2004 — are depicted in here in stunning full-page photographs, most in full color. All readers with an interest in contemporary sculpture will appreciate not only the bookGÇÖs striking illustrations but also its thoughtfully written text, which relates PerlmanGÇÖs art to his life. Author Philip F. Palmedo, drawing on extensive interviews with his subject and his subjectGÇÖs colleagues, engagingly describes how each chapter of PerlmanGÇÖs life — from his early days of teaching alongside Kenneth Noland and Jules Olitski in the Bennington College art department to his struggle, ultimately very successful, to establish himself in SoHoGÇÖs vibrant 1970s art scene — served to strengthen his commitment to his own abstract, Modernist aesthetic. This thoughtful narrative, which seamlessly synthesizes PerlmanGÇÖs intimate art-world anecdotes and PalmedoGÇÖs own keen critical observations, is beautifully complemented by an insightful foreword by renowned art dealer Andr+¬ Emmerich, whose gallery represented Perlman for twenty years.