“A Life Among Fishes: The Art of Gyotaku” Christopher M. Dewees
By Christopher M. Dewees. Chris’s book, “A Life Among Fishes” is a full color, hard cover, 180 page synopsis of Chris’s life and work. Printed in 2017 by Goff Books.
Book includes 100+ color fish prints, descriptions of how to do the art, poems, short stories, descriptions of unique printing experiences. Finalist for the best independent art and natural history book of 2017.
Shipping: Free via Media Mail.Summary and reviews:
Review
A Life Among Fishes, by Christopher Dewees, is a little treasure for the eye and mind. First, it is an autobiographical excursion by a well-known marine biologist sporting a text filled with humor and emotion. However, it is also a discourse and meditation on the history of fish printing and the author’s love affair with this puissant art form. Filled with gorgeously reproduced examples of Dr. Dewees’ work, this is a truly unique contribution to both science and art. -- Milton Love
Review
Gyotaku, imprints of fishes, found its roots in a Japanese tradition born in the middle of the 19th century. It consists in inking the catch of the fisherman, applying it to a piece of cloth or paper before even mentioning the name of the fish, its size, the place, the date and who caught it. These black and white Gyotaku still adorn the windows of fishing supplies stores. The magnificent book of C.M. Dewees, which describes this method, called “direct,” retraced the history of Gyotakus, the evolution of the techniques and the methods as well as the impact of this tradition in the West, giving us a look at the magnificent works of the author. This Californian became a master and an international reference just like the great Japanese masters. Each picture of the works of Chris Dewees comes with an anecdote which allows us to travel from Chile to New Zealand, from California to Japan for the last 50 years. The poems of the author enrich this book and open the doors of a novel universe where the memories feed the imaginary world. Scientist? Painter? Poet? Christopher Dewees is all of them at once and the reading of his book, which will quickly be a reference, is to be put in the hands of the scholar as well as the children…of all ages. Dr Daniel Pardo CNRS ( Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) MNHN ( Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle) -- Dr. Daniel Pardo
A Life Among Fishes explores the lifelong passion of fisheries by scientist and artist Christopher M. Dewees. The book features over 100 of his Japanese fish prints since 1969. Many of these are linked to stories about the journey, and history and information about the art form are also described within. The book presents Dewees? half-century of printing fish and shellfish to full color. We follow his evolution from being exposed and fascinated to gyotaku as a graduate student to his status now as an internationally recognized master in the field. He documents his journey and growth by sharing fifty years of experiences and adventures. In recent years Dewees has focused more on writing stories and poems that are linked to his art.