I decided to write a post on Marsisol Escobar months ago and have been totally frustrated trying to get information to get a clearer perspective on her career as a whole. I was surprised to discover there is not a comprehensive retrospective book and instead found myself following crumb trails across the internet.
First I came across a 1976 book by Robert Creeley, his words, her sculpture. Then I found the recently produced Marisol Works 1960 - 2007, from the Neuhoff Edelman Gallery. And finally Marisol, from the Neuberger Museum of Art arrived this week, after three months of emails and morning calls. It is by far the most comprehensive and I recommend it. Eleanor Heartney’s essay is insightful and the color photographs chronicle work from every decade of Marisol's long career. The small black and whites give us a glimpse of her life at the center of the New York art scene. But if you decide to purchase it, take into account time zone differences and call only when the gift store is open.
The Creeley book has grainy black and white photographs of sculpture I found nowhere else: of A Portrait of Sidney Janis Selling a Portrait of Sidney Janis by Marisol by Marisol, of her lyrical 1970's fish series, and of the Father Damien maquette which I like better than the bronze. The catalog from the Neuhoff Edelman Gallery shows some early work and more of her later work.
And I still hope some day there will be a comprehensive retrospective book on Marisol.