LAURIE ANDERSON

Born in Chicago in 1947, downtown Manhattan avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson first came to the attention of a broader public in 1983 with the international success of the song "O Superman," from her milestone performance art show, UNITED STATES. The culmination of a decade's work, the piece's combination of music, visuals, text, and political and social comment broke new ground with its imaginative presentation and special effects. But, as Rose Lee Goldberg, author and compiler of the sumptuously illustrated LAURIE ANDERSON, demonstrates, the artist's work in the previous decade both during and after her time at New York's Columbia College was already innovative and technically accomplished. Illustrations of early Anderson etchings like "Flying Geese," and her document of objects stolen in an apartment robbery, "Light in August," display remarkable expertise, wit, and a lively intellectual curiosity. Covering three decades of the artist's work, Goldberg explores the origins of Anderson's distinctive worldview, while the book's wonderfully detailed depictions of the artist's installations and techniques are invaluable both for their portrayal of her playful yet fundamentally serious oeuvre. With a detailed biographical section and many comments from Anderson herself, LAURIE ANDERSON is a remarkable study of this modern artistic and commercial phenomenon.