The Personal Website of Writer | Filmmaker | Paul Gardner

BIOGRAPHY

FILM


	BOOKS



LOUISE BOURGEOIS



Louise Bourgeois by Paul Gardner. Universe/Rizzoli, 1994.

Louise Bourgeois, now considered one of America's most important artists, received national recognition in 1982 through a retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art, N. Y., at the age of 70. She was chosen to represent the US at the 1993 Venice Biennale. In 2008 a second retrospective, which was seen in Paris and London, was presented at the Guggenheim Museum, N.Y. She uses what she believes to be her most powerful tools -- instinct and stream-of-consciousness. The result, says Paul Gardner in "Louise Bourgeois," reveals a body of work reflecting the qualities of many traditions -- Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism and Post-Minimalism. Article citations: "The Houses That Louise Built." A lifetime of symbolism dwells in artist Louise Bourgeois's domestic imagery. By Paul Gardner, HG October, 1992 "Louise Bourgeois: A Femme du Monde in Paper." By Paul Gardner, On Paper, The Journal of Prints, Drawings, and Photography. Sept.--Oct. 199

VIEW

Paul Gardner's study of the artist, Louise Bourgeois, is composed entirely of facets, like a cubist portrait, or one of those intricate compositions by David Hockney compiled of overlapping photographs. Each facet shows the artist in her entirety, but does not prepare the reader for other facets, each of which is a revelation. So in the end we feel we know her intimately, and not at all. It is thus altogether true to life.

Arthur C. Danto, The Nation



Paul Gardner is unique in the uncanny sympathy and almost cinematic liveliness he brings to his portrait of this great and enigmatic artist. When is the last time you smiled a lot while reading art criticism? Thomas McEvilley, ARTforum




Louise Bourgeois by Paul Gardner (Excerpt) Louise Bourgeois lives among poetic fragments -- fragments of work to be completed, fragments of sealed memories as recent as yesterday, of relationships to be resolved, and fragments of love that are always perilous. The things she dreams about are more beautiful, blasphemous, and perhaps more satisfying than the reality that lies behind the real.



LYNN SEYMOUR




Lynn, the autobiography of Lynn Seymour with Paul Gardner. Granada, UK. 1984 This is the story of a passionate and courageous woman whose boldly independent way of life often made headlines. It is also the story of the greatest dramatic dancer of her day who, despite childbearing, illness, injury and emotional crises, remained a star of the Royal Ballet for twenty years. The book takes the reader from Covent Garden to opera houses in Berlin, Paris, New York and Munich. But the dominating figure, centre stage is Lynn Seymour herself -- an irresistibly zesty, liberated rebel.



Reviews/ Excerpts "The Lost Ballerina," by Jann Parry. The Observer of London, April 29, 1984 The ballet proms at Covent Garden over Easter weekend were full of people devouring Lynn Seymour's autobiography. It gives a vivid picture of a vulnerable woman who has paid a heavy price for her outstanding gifts. "Lynn Returns," by John Thaxter. The Times of London, May 4, 1984 An honest view of her achievements and disasters; joy and despair share the same page. It should be read by everyone interested in dance. "Star Danced," by Clement Crisp. The Financial Times, April 21, 1984 The apparent dichotomy between the Lynn Seymour who caught the press and public through the unconventionalities of her private life, and the Lynn Seymour who is a superb dance actress, is in a curious way reconciled in this disarmingly immediate book.


BROOKLYN: PEOPLE & PLACES, PAST & PRESENT




Brooklyn: People & Places, Past & Present By Grace Glueck and Paul Gardner. Abrams, 1991 The New York Times Book Review, March 1, 1992. Reviewed by Norman Rosten (Excerpt) A book, attractively and intelligently put together, can reconstitute an era and that is what "Brooklyn" does. From a string of small colonial towns, Brooklyn struggled to become a city. Through political upheavals, corruption and burgeoning industry, its pride and history grew. Once on its way, bustling, brawling Brooklyn never looked back. That's the story Grace Glueck and Paul Gardner tell. It's all here if you want to visit.

City Across the River. "Brooklyn: People and Places" review
by Leslie Hanscom, Newsday, Nov. 12, 1991.

As a beginning reporter, I found Brooklyn so infinite in variety and fascination as to cause me to plagiarize by adaptation Samuel Johnson's dictum that "The man who is tired of London is tired of Life." The best thing I can say about this wrap-up of a great city within a city is that it brought back that old feeling.