The Nancy Book by Joe Brainard
When I was in my twenties I carried around like a talisman an old Art News Annual which dealt with the notion of the avante-garde. It was also a conversation starter in that people would ask what Nancy the cartoon character was doing popping in and out of masterpieces of modern art on the book’s cover. The creator of those irreverent but somehow serious collages was Joe Brainard, the author of I Remember which inspired Georges Perec to write Je me souviens. Those Art News Annual collages plus many even more playful have been collected lovingly by siglio press. This book includes Brainard’s collabourations on the Nancy theme with poets Ted Berrigan, Bill Berkson, Robert Creeley, Frank O’Hara and Ron Padgett as well as essays by Ann Lauterbach and Ron Padgett. Some of these images are horrifying, but horrifyingly funny. Siglio, $43.50
– Charlie
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