AMBFAD Book Club Two-fer

'Art of Modern Rock: Mini #1 A-Z & Mini #2 Poster Girls'

I love rock. I also love posters, the alphabet and girls. If you are anything like me (God help you), i've got a pair of books that I think you'll enjoy. 'Art of Modern Rock: Mini(s)' are the impish siblings of the gargantuan 2004 coffee table collection of dynamic rock posters: 'Art of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion'. Filled with classic hits from the original volume plus loads of new material, the Mini(s) have been reformatted into a perfect bite-size package that will actually fit nicely on your bookshelf.

'A-Z' is organized into a clever, alphabetical collection ranging from themes 'Anarchy' to 'Zombie', w/ all the key poster tropes and genres getting some play. Rock poster luminaries like Derek Hess, Emek, Kozik and Scrojo (to name a few) are all well-represented w/ some of their most classic work included within. Bottom line, even in it's smaller format, this is a beefy bunch of good stuff any aficionado can enjoy.

'Poster Girls' is organized in a very similar way, except under a larger context of the female form and it's historical importance as a key muse to the art form. A bountiful bevy of rock-and-roll vixens, indie beauties, alien seductresses, ass-kicking cowgirls and punk rock babes all parade through the pages inside to beautiful results. Exploitation or tribute? I like to think it's the latter, but you can decide for yourself.

The author, Dennis King, is an internationally recognized authority on vintage/contemporary rock and roll posters, graphics and screen prints (plus, Japanese pop culture artifacts and baseball cards). He maintains one of the largest private poster collections in the world and is regularly called upon by publications, libraries, and museums worldwide for authentication and historical commentary. It's this virtual bottomless pit of material to pull from that make these books so fantastic. You can actually check out some his gallery online at D. King Gallery.

For further poster fun, I highly recommend checking out the kick-ass blog 'OMG Posters!' for up-to-date news on some of the freshest stuff popping out there and if you really want to go nuts, spend a few hours going through the cavernous collection of stuff at 'Gigposters.com'...neatly organized by everything from artist, band and venue. Links for both are over to the right and both books are available at most major booksellers right now.