I was looking for a survey of contemporary ceramic sculpture and I thought any book claiming to have 500 images of them should be able to cover all the bases pretty well. Not so.

After buying the book and reading the fine print I learned that it's a compilation of photos from a juried competition (i.e. only those who submitted photos were considered and, of those, only the ones selected by the single, idiosyncratic juror made it into the book). Forget comprehensiveness here. Although there is some good work shown, I found more representation of the "icky/creepy" school of ceramics than I needed.

And where are the bright lights of the ceramic sculpture world? Where is Betty Woodman, Sueharu Fukami, Andrew Lord, Ken Price, Viola Frey, Wouter Dam, Ruth Duckworth, etc., etc.? Not in this book.

If you're looking for a wider, more comprehensive view of this subject I'd recommend Postmodern Ceramics by Mark Del Vecchio or Color and Fire by Jo Lauria.

As with all of the Lark 500 series, this book won't disappoint! The images are wonderful and show such a huge variety of ideas and techniques. If you have enjoyed the other books in the series, you should also enjoy this one.

I love the Lark books- the pictures are always wonderful and the books very well done- this book was a classic lark- but not for me- most of the ceramic pieces pictured are abstract in nature and not in a pleasing -to my taste way- if you are looking for a book with wierd depressing works of clay- this one is for you- but if you are looking for something "pretty" and inspirational I would stay away- I'll keep this book in my art classroom for those students who enjoy the more morbid side of art.
Me, I like to fill my life with feel good,, colorful art which makes me smile.