Click a book or video within a section to read about or buy it at Amazon.com
This section is devoted to contemporary marvelous art.
A related metagallery of web links and resources is here
The rating system used is as follows:
5 Melted Elephants: Mind-bogglingly excellent. All that will remain of your elephant will be a bubbling grey liquid.
4 Melted Elephants: Truly remarkable. The eyes looking out from the seething mass which was your elephant will alarm small children.
3 Melted Elephants: Interesting and worthwhile. Your elephant's features will swirl as though the world were the reflection in a glassy lake.
2 Melted Elephants: Has redeeming features. Your elephant will be sticky to the touch.
1 Melted Elephant: Not up to snuff. If you even attempt to test the consistency of your elephant it may trample you or turn away in disgust.
The machine gods are apparently not very wholesome.
These three large-format books are expensive but recommended to appreciate the detail in Giger's wonderful, horrible work.
H.R.
Giger's Necronomicon
by H. R. Giger, Clive Barker (Introduction)
5 Melted Elephants
H.R.
Giger's Necronomicon II
by H. R. Giger
5 Melted Elephants
H.R.
Giger's Biomechanics
by H. R. Giger, Clara H. Frame (Translator)
5 Melted Elephants
These 3 are smaller format, less expensive retrospectives
Hr
Giger's Retrospective : 1964-1984
by H. R. Giger, Kathi Christen, Adrienne Theimer, Ernst Fuchs
5 Melted Elephants
Www
Hr Giger Com
by H. R. Giger
5 Melted Elephants
.Giger
foreword by T. Leary
5 Melted Elephants
Finally, for the true Giger fanatic, some books relating to films he worked with
Giger's
Alien
by H. R. Giger
3 Melted Elephants
H.R.
Giger's Film Design
by H. R. Giger, Ridley Scott (Illustrator)
3 Melted Elephants
Neurotica : The Darkest Art of J.K. Potter
by J.K. Potter
5 Melted Elephants
Potter subverts photographs, discarding their superficial objectivity like bloody wrapping paper .
Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey
by Alex Grey, Ken Wilber, Carlo McCormick (Contributor), Alexander Grey
5 Melted Elephants
The human body as psychedelic mandala
Joe Coleman's portrait style is beyond warts and all, and nears the realm of all wart. Detailed life stories, neatly laid out according to his unique visual system.
Cosmic
Retribution : The Infernal Art of Joe Coleman
by Joe Coleman
4 Melted Elephants
Original
Sin : The Visionary Art of Joe Coleman
by Joe Coleman
4 Melted Elephants
One Source - Sacred Journeys : A Celebration of Spirit & Art
by Gary Markowitz (Editor), Ernst Fuchs, Ramon Kubicek
2 Melted Elephants
High points of this uneven anthology are inclusion of extraordinary work by Ernst Fuchs and Bob Venosa.
The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss
by Theodor Seuss Geisel, Maurice Sendak (Introduction), Audrey Geisel
3 Melted Elephants
Remarkable drawings, paintings and sculpures by the noted author of children's books, including mounted heads of the Semi-Normal Green-Lidded Faun and of the Tufted Gustard.
Heavy Light : A Journey of Transformation Through the Art of De Es
: Selected Images from 1962-1991
by De Es Schwertberger, Dees Schwertberger
3 Melted Elephants
A man turned to stone, hand almost grasping an incorporeal light.
M.C. Escher : His Life and Complete Graphic Work
by M. C. Escher, J.L. Locher (Editor), F. Bool
5 Melted Elephants
Eidetic imagery of Pythagorus
The White Rabbit and Other Delights : East Totem West : A Hippie Company, 1967-1969
by Alan Bisbort
4 Melted Elephants
Visually revolutioary psychedelic posters from 1967-8
Lowbrow Art of Robert Williams
by Robert Williams
4 Melted Elephants
My favorite of all Robert Williams' always interesting books, including the beautiful "In the Land of Retinal Delights"