Point Omega

this is my review for the italy daily IL SOLE 24 ORE to be published on april 10th in the literary suplement DOMENICA (in italian and below in english) - i've written many times in these pages about noma bar's work. Israelian artist (born 1973), Nome Bar has reunited some of his works into two marvellous book (Negative Sapace and Guess Who, both published for Mark Batty Publisher, a good publisher based in New York). Bar is nowadays a true star in the world of illustration and his style is unmistakable. He strikes back again with these work for Picador, that gave him the mission to rielaborate all the covers for the great american novelist Don De Lillo. This time we can clearly see that the illustrator has well read the books (in general i think that the work of the illustrator is better done not having read the book, and sometimes reading the book is a damage for the cover art): Nome Bar take the whole aspect of the book with a single image. For those ones that have not read the book, the cover is a strong image: full of power, black and coloured, a truly icon rendering of the novel. But for the many people that have already read the single novel (or for the newcomer, after reading), we have, coming back to the cover, a coup de theatre. And we found that Noma Bar's interpretation of the novel is perfectly fit for De Lillo's book. And, more: it's not enough to see the cover-image only one time. It needs ever and ever other views, at last two. Because it reveal any time a particula not seen the watch before. They say, in literature, that this happens when you read a classic book. Isn't it? stefano salis Ho segnalato più volte su queste pagine i lavori di Noma Bar. Artista israeliano (1973), all’attivo due libri splendidi (Negative Space e Guess Who, entrambi per il bravissimo Mark Batty Publisher), è una star internazionale ormai dell’illustrazione. E il suo stile è inconfondibile. Colpisce ancora una volta con la riedizione delle copertine che gli ha commissionato l’editore Picador per i libri di Don De Lillo. Siamo di fronte a un illustratore che i libri se li è letti eccome (in genere, io penso che non sia necessario, e spesso dannoso). Coglie di ciascuno dei romanzi, un aspetto forte della narrazione e, con una sola immagine, è capace di sviscerarne i contenuti. A chi non ha letto il libro resta un’icona forte, potente, piena, nera e colorata. A lettura completata (o per chi ha già letto), l’interpretazione è incredibilmente pertinente ed è un colpo di teatro visivo rafforzato dai contenuti del libro. In più, come tutte le sue immagini, il significato è sempre molteplice, per lo meno doppio: non basta guardare una sola volta. Lo sguardo successivo svela sempre dell’altro. Rara, rarissima, capacità. Come dicono facciano i classici in letteratura, no? — S. Sa.

Well...The Body artist is a fine example of semiotics in play at its best. The negative space reflects three dimensional objects which have been created from a 2D illustrative perspective. This simple but effective use of illusion is why It belongs on our wall. Such a masterpiece deserves to sit along side our Sir Peter Blake, Audrey Kawasaki, James Jean and other genius prints. Awaiting anxiously with an empty frame:)

love the black and the visual puns

I think it's just a tad bold to say an image can tell the whole story of any of these absolutely peerless novels--especially "Underworld," which I'm continually struggling to explain to friends--but each is perfectly fitting. The simplicity and starkness, too, seem very befitting America's preeminent prose stylist.

Underworld was my next choice

Didn't think anyone could make Underworld even more classic. I was wrong