Mosaic Art and Style: Designs for Living Environments
Mosaic Art and Style celebrates the integration of mosaics into the landscape of our daily lives. Not content to create fine art mosaics that hang on a wall in respectful silence, artists are creating architectural installations, sculpture and furniture that enliven our living environments. The ancient Greek and Romans knew 3,000 years ago that mosaics were the perfect melding of functionality, durability and beauty. Artists throughout the world are now redefining ancient traditions and transforming environments with individual fragments known as tesserae.
So begins JoAnn Locktov's Mosaic Art and Style, a curated exhibit of contemporary mosaic art in book form. Mosaic Art and Style is a world survey of mosaic installations featuring the work of 75 artists who carry this ancient art form from back splashes to back yards, from gardens to guest rooms and from floors to furniture. The work in Locktov's book encompasses and embraces the wide range of mosaic art as it's practiced today. These works are alternately compelling and whimsical, sometimes contemplative and always dynamic.
Judi Brennan
Mosaic Room: OverviewConcrete block, cement, netting,
ceramic tile. 36' x 21'
photograph courtesy of the artist
Judi Brennan
Mosaic Room: sofa, wall and lamp detailConcrete block,
netting, ceramic tile
photograph courtesy of the artist
Judi Brennan
Mosaic Room: wall with window detail concrete block,
cement, netting, ceramic tile
photograph courtesy of the artist
Locktov's e-book is cut up into parts. The first half of includes in-intensity profiles of the work of 17 unique artists. She suggests their work in page after page of superbly shot images with generous breaks to delve into the innovative procedures behind the work pictured.
Richard Moss
Cityscape, New York City marble, granite, smalti, ceramic. 34" x 22"
photo courtesy of John Polak Photography
Richard Moss
Ostian Sea (detail) semiprecious stone, marble, granite,
ebonized cherry wood. 34" diameter
photo courtesy of John Polak Photography
Richard Moss
Ostian Sea (in situ) semiprecious stone, marble, granite,
ebonized cherry wood. 34" diameter
photo courtesy of John Polak Photography
The second phase is a gallery of each public and personal areas. In the gallery, Locktov showcases the work of fifty eight artists. Just as with the first section, those works are included into existence and into actual environments. Whether they are in a faculty, a eating place, a hospital or a park, the paintings profiled within the gallery task and satisfaction in equal degree.
Mosaic Art and Styl e is filled with more than 350 photographs of some great art and it's intended to be an inspirational resource for artists, designers, homeowners and anyone who's looking for some insight into what's possible.
Karen Thompson
Kitchen --Private Residence 50 square feet
photograph courtesy of Russel MacMasters
JoAnn Locktov is a public relations consultant to mosaic artists, tile companies and designers. She's also a passionate admirer and tireless enthusiast for mosaic art. Her fervor is contagious and every page of Mosaic Art and Style is imbued with it. Mosaic Art and Style is a welcome and treasured addition to my library, so much so that it's taken up residence on the end of my sofa. All the better to page through it when the mood strikes. Get a copy.