A few new books on our shelves celebrating some radically different approaches to the visual arts.
Sea of dreams : the lure of Port Phillip Bay 1830-1914
![Sea of dreams Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, 2011](https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Sea-of-dreams.jpg)
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, 2011
This catalogue from the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery is a lovely souvenir of a very fine exhibition which celebrated the inspiration artists of all persuasions have drawn from our own Port Phillip Bay. Geoffrey Blainey, in a charming introduction, sets the scene beautifully: “Port Phillip Bay is rarely if ever celebrated in this way. After all, Melbourne, for valid reasons, is less exuberant about its harbour than is Sydney; and yet this wide expanse of Bay stands high in the imagination and affection of generations of Victorians.”
Illustration now! Portraits edited by Julius Wiedemann
![Portraits Taschen, 2011](https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Portraits.jpg)
Taschen, 2011
I’m always fascinated by the distinction made between illustration and “art”, very often seemingly dictated by nothing less wobbly than a disdain for pictorial material created for purely commercial purposes. This terrific volume from Taschen brings together a vast array of contemporary portraits created by some of the world’s leading illustrators, ranging from the hyper realistic to the playfully comic to the full-on caricature. All of them challenge the usefulness of these odd distinctions.
Spectrum 18: the best in contemporary fantastic art edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner
![Spectrum 18 Underwood Books, 1994 -](https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Spectrum-18.jpg)
Underwood Books, 1994 -
Speaking of challenges, these annual volumes bringing together some of the most notable imagery from the realms of science-fiction, fantasy, comics and gaming are a sure-fire way to stretch your visual art sensibilities!
Surreal objects : three dimensional works from Dalí to Man Ray edited by Ingrid Pfeiffer and Max Hollein
![Surreal Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2011](../files/2012/03/Surreal.jpg)
- Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2011
- Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2011
We have become used to the bizarre juxtaposition of unlikely objects, images, sounds and even thoughts in this ultra post-modern world of ours, but even so some of these three dimensional creations from the crucible of the Surrealist movement can take you by surprise. I suppose the question is, what do you do for an encore?