Alexis Rockman: A Fable for Tomorrow

Author: Joanna Marsh, Kevin Avery, and Thomas Lovejoy
Copublisher: D. Giles Ltd.
Publication Date: 2010
Museum: SAAM
Pages: 176 pp.: Ill. (110 color, 6 black-and-white)
ISBN (Hardcover): 978-1-904832-86-7
ISBN (Softcover): 978-0-979067-88-4

Inspired by nineteenth-century landscape painting, science-fiction film, and firsthand study, Rockman’s paintings proffer a vision of the natural world that is equal parts fantasy and empirical fact. Alexis Rockman: A Fable for Tomorrow is the first major survey of the artist’s work and features forty-seven artworks that trace his career from Pond’s Edge (1986) to The Reef (2009), with its timely reminder of the fragile ecosystems that lie just out of sight but never out of danger. This vividly illustrated volume highlights the artist’s unique synthesis of art and science, along with a meticulous attention to detail and striking use of color. The compelling mix of realism, scientific detail, and environmental polemic results in art that is both a demand for action and an elegy for what has been lost.