Description
Book SynopsisA new selected writings from the Californian abstract expressionist famed for his colorful lyricism and dynamic painting This volume beautifully combines the artist's writing with his works on paper in an elegantly designed book. Focusing on principles expressed in his acclaimed Saturated Blue, this volume includes writings from Francis' journals that have never been published before. Sam Francis (1923–94) painted images with words as well as pigments. He approached art as a mediation between divine inspiration and human existence, and a guiding notion was the philosopher's stone, or Lapis Philosophorum. His writings took the form of aphorisms, poetry, dream memories and prose, each providing insight into his visual art. His publishing project, the Lapis Press, allowed Francis to pursue his love of writing and discover new ways to marry the brilliance of words with the visual. That ethos is reflected in the superb design of this collection. The production used a new seven-color print technology to create plates with added vibrancy and color density.
Trade ReviewThere’s a lyric quality to much of this writing and a deep concern with dreams and the unconscious as a way of unblocking the ‘rational mind’ in response to the ills of the world ... he had a belief in the power of art as a positive force for change in the world and his prodigious output can be seen in this light which doesn’t in any way diminish its aesthetic substance. -- Steve Spence * Litter *
For Francis words, images and symbolism were a mystery, a Japanese Zen Koan, something to uncover, discover, about himself. The exchange between writing and painting, was for him all part of the same engagement, the same enigma regarding life, the same riddle. To read his writing is to be drawn in to a vast visionary world that grapples with the mystifying problems of existence and the immensity of the imagination. -- Eléna Rivera
Colorful and abstract, his paintings and words are as meditative and meaningful to the eyes and minds of the reader as they were to Francis himself. * Belles & Rebelles *
