Song of the Earth: European Artists and the Landscape - Tapa dura

Song of the Earth showcases the work of five important contemporary artists who work in the landscape and make use of the materials and processes of nature. Their methods favour observation, collecting and forms of manipulation that are more reflective than intrusive, setting them firmly apart from artists of the American Land Art movement working over the same period. Herman de Vries, Chris Drury, Nikolaus Lang, Richard Long and Giuseppe Penone do not belong to a particular school, but they are united by their empathy for nature and their decision to work outside the urban contexts of much modernist art. Interviews with the artists reveal both widely differing motivation in their approaches to their work and striking similiarities in their underlying concerns, and, sometimes, in their methods of working. The introductory essay by Mel Gooding places these artists in both historical and contemporary contexts, as well as discussing other artists including Joseph Beuys, Sjoerd Buisman, Hamish Fulton, Andy Goldsworthy and David Nash. This richly illustrated book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary European art and will delight all those who are drawn to the natural environment.

Mel Gooding is an art historian, writer and curator. He has taught at Edinburgh and Wimbledon Schools of Art, among others, and contributes regularly to the art press.