Product Description

Featuring art, poetry, interviews, short stories and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1961258 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-18
• Binding: Paperback
• 134 pages

Customer Reviews

The Second Volume for the Quarterly Arts Review: O & S
It is not often for a new publication about the arts to succeed to the extent that O & S (formerly known a Oranges & Sardines) has, passing the one-year mark with a Volume 2 Issue 2 now available. Especially when the publication is free of commercial advertising and is not widely available on newsstands. But word of mouth and blogsites plus other internet methods of promotion are helping to carry this very worthy combination of the visual arts, poetry and short story into the public eye. Those fortunate enough to have purchased a single copy are doubtless committed patrons by now.

Volume 2 Issue 2 may not be as edgy as previous issues but the content is solid and the fact that editor in chief/publisher Didi Menendez is open to more traditional work is to her credit. The creative director for this publication is I.M. Bess, a fine artist in her own right who not only manages to make the magazine cohesive in design elements, but also formats the articles in a most sophisticated way.

But on to content. The cover artist Lane Timothy is honored by a lengthy Portfolio with just enough commentary to allow the reader to understand the choices of his photorealistic, hotly colored paintings. In contrast to the sharp focus, steely edged portraits of Timothy there is an article on the work of young Mexican Baroque surrealist painter Jose Parra whose tales in paint transport the viewer to another type of realism and adventure. The contrast is exceptionally well paired as are the classic male and female nudes of the highly regarded Wade Reynolds with the narrative paintings of Jeff Danley an the luminous still lifes of Karen Hollingsworth.

The always excellent Kirk Curnutt shares another of his inimitable short stories, and as an interesting twist the poet Michelle McEwen (whose very fine poetry is featured!) is mirrored by her twin sister Melissa McEwen who reviews the work of poet Rebecca Foust. There are numerous fine poems within the covers of this volume as well as reviews of poetry and art that set a high standard for contemporary writing. That is one of the many joys of reading O&S: this is a magazine about artists written and designed and published by artists and the flavor from cover to cover is one of discovery and conversations with those who are making art in every form today. It is as fresh, invigorating, and satisfying an arts publication as any available. Recommended. Grady Harp, April 09