William Wegman; Funney/Strange

This fascinating book reveals the full range of William Wegman's art. Beloved by the general public for signature photographs of his troupe of Weimaraners, Wegman is also an immensely important figure in the contemporary art world. A pioneer video-maker, conceptualist, performer, photographer, painter, draftsman, and writer, Wegman moves fluidly among various media: from conceptual works to commissioned magazine shots; from videos shown in museums to television segments made for Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live; from artist's books parodying nineteenth-century naturalist studies to children's books revealing tongue-in-cheek portraits of town and country life; from photographic "landscapes" employing his canine muses to his most recent cycle of landscapes combining found scenic souvenir postcards with drawing, collage, and painting. Underlying all his creations is the light humor of "funny" mediating the darker human comedy of "strange." Speaking to the absurdities of daily life, Wegman's work is universally appealing. William Wegman: FunneyStrangeis illustrated with some 250 images. It is the first retrospective volume to consider the artist's entire career from the 1960s to the 2000s and is an essential book for any fan of Wegman's work.

JOAN SIMON is curator-at-large for the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. She is also a contributing editor to Art in America and has worked independently for museums, foundations, and publishers in the U.S. and Europe.