VCU Libraries: Inside The Collection

Look, learn and create: The Art Browsery, a dedicated book display on the fourth floor, James Branch Cabell Library, offers new, beautiful books that can inform your creativity.

“When you are caught up in the creative process of making art, sometimes you need to take a break and find added inspiration,” says Carla-Mae Crookendale, VCU Libraries’ visual arts librarian. She and arts collection librarian Emily Davis Winthrop identify titles that are right for The Browsery and showcase new titles there before moving them into the general collection, usually with the other oversized books on the fourth floor.

Browsery books are visually rich tomes on art, craft and design topics. They are marked with colorful bookstrap labels and they are available for checkout. There is a self-checkout station a few steps away from the display.

The Art Browsery will be refreshed as new titles arrive, so come by now and find some inspiring new materials, and come again to find more in the future.

Here is a brief list, compiled by Crookendale, of some of the new titles you’ll find in The Browsery.

Tiny Creatures: the world of microbes by Nicola Davies. Illustrated by Emily Sutton, 2014. A beautifully illustrated look at the world of the microscopic organisms, fusing art and learning for kids of all ages.

The Gay 90’s by Mark Ryden, 2013. Features the latest work by painter Mark Ryden who blends pop culture references with a painting style reminiscent of Jacques Louis David or Ingres. The results are whimsical, surreal – and just a bit twisted.

Tokyo Adorned by Thomas C. Card, 2014. Photographer Card captures the wildly over-the-top personalities and style of the kawaii Lolita street fashion subculture in Tokyo.

Dancescapes: a photographic journey by Shobha Deepak Singh, 2014. An exploration of the history of dance in modern India, this book features dreamlike vignettes of flowing bodies and costumes caught in dramatic motion.

Charles James: Beyond Fashion by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014. A comprehensive overview of the work of Charles James, known as “America’s First Couturier.” Features photos of his intricately structured ball gowns as well as archival items about his design and production process.

Ai Weiwei: Evidence, edited by Gereon Sievernich, 2014. Illustrations and texts by and scholarly essays on the recent work of the acclaimed Chinese artist and activist featured in an exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Baus museum in Berlin.

Landscape Installation Art, edited by Ifengspace, 2013. Photographs and analysis of immersive and interactive sculptural experiences created in range of media and settings.

Work of Art: Folk Artists in the 21st Century by Carmella Padilla and John Bigelow Taylor, 2013. A celebration of the richness and diversity of traditional art making all over the world, including painting, sculpture, decorative arts, clothing and jewelry.

Myths and Mysteries: Symbolism and Swiss Artists, edited by Valentina Anker & Pierre Rosenburg, 2013. Spirituality, psychology and the occult as expressed through the Symbolist movement in the arts of the 19th century.

Mariette Pathy Allen: TransCuba, by Mariela Castro, Allen Frame & Wendy Watriss, 2014. A photo-documentary exploration of the transgender community in Cuba, including interviews and analysis of its evolving role in Cuban culture.