Facing Sculpture:
A Portfolio of Portraits, Sculpture and Related Ideas
This award winning photography book presents sixty remarkable portraits of contemporary sculptors. Each one is paired with an image of the sculptor’s work and a concise text. Both established and emerging artists are represented, among them: Marisol, George Segal, and Magdalena Abaknowicz. Curator Nick Capasso’s 2400-word introduction addresses these portraits in the context of the contemporary sculpture. Photographer/writer Ricardo Barros recounts several of the portrait-making experiences and traces the development of his personal vision in a 5000-word Photographer’s Afterword.
For a copy, please call or email Ricardo Barros directly.
Reviews
Each of these portraits has clearly been thought through differently – composed differently, lighted differently – reflecting the collaborative nature of his work with the sculptors Mr. Barros has chosen to portray. … He seems to know that a certain degree of critical tension will give liveliness and complexity to his images, but he lets the tension remain a nuance. … Like a good critic who draws you deeper into the art – who, by making you feel the limits of mere criticism, renews your appetite for the art itself – Mr. Barros succeeds in raising curiosity about these sculptors and their work.
Barry Schwabsky,
The New York Times
(1999 SCULPTORS Exhibition)
“[Facing Sculpture is] an extended inquiry into creation, the portraits reveal an artist looking at art and other artists and creating his own art – one free of an imprint, style, a defining signature … The book’s great strength is Barros’ ability to make art and artist one, each expressing the other.”
Chris Ringwald,
Photo District News
“This work builds and extends upon the environmental portraiture of Arnold Newman.”
Larry Fink,
Photographer
“I can’t think of another book that responds to contemporary sculpture and sculptors with such insight.”
Glenn Harper,
Editor, Sculpture Magazine
“Never seen before this rare combination, seldom, too, such a remarkable idea actually fulfilling its notions”
Mary Bowron,
Ceramist
“This book is a must-read for anyone who seeks a deeper understanding of a contemporary sculptor’s vision. As seen through the lens and voice of a gifted photographer-writer, each photographic portrait with its deeply personal narrative text is a gem! Ricardo Barros’ photographs reflect a passion for getting inside each artist’s personal vision and celebrating the individuality, innovation and humanity of each of his subjects.”
Carol Sterling,
International Sculpture Center
“Ricardo Barros’ magical images and insightful words take us on an exciting journey into the minds and the work of carefully selected contemporary sculptors. Evoking a remarkable sense of ‘being there,’ Facing Sculpture gives us a deeper perception of artists and their creations. This superbly produced book deserves to become a classic along with Brian Lanker’s I Dream a World, and Arnold Newman’s One Mind’s Eye.”
Jon Naar,
Author, Design for a Livable Planet
These photographs by Ricardo Barros, combined with an articulate commentary, are a fine set of portraits – imaginative, nonrepetitive, and informed with the sense and shape of sculpture.
Naomi Savage
Photographer
“What a superb, unusual book! What a significant work of art that speaks to us about the numerous realities of creators … you are in it guiding the dance. But you are also the collector … Thank you for this work beyond categories”
Magdalena Abakanowicz,
Sculptor
“How the original dream of the book necessarily changed over time and Barros embraced the new challenges that faced him; how he took on more and more of the roles involved with publishing the book because he fully believed in it; how he turned potential negatives into positives through networking and learning new skills — and just plain putting in time; how he motivated a cadre of volunteers. All of that speaks to other photographers, sculptors (and yes, writers!) determined to succeed.”
Pat Summers,
Arts Writer
“Facing Sculpture is a loving and humanistic apologia for art, creativity, and risk. In a rich and interpretive dialect, Ricardo’s photographs address and enmesh two layers of human expressive endeavor: sculpture and photography. They also insistently reveal the human presence behind the work of art”.
Nick Capasso, Curator
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park