Map Art

The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography

As seen in O: The Oprah Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, USA Today, Cool Hunting, and countless other media outlets, The Map as Art is available now in a paperback edition. This volume by Katharine Harmon, author of our best-selling book You Are Here, extends that book's celebration of mapmaking to the world of artists' maps.

It is little surprise that in an era of globalized politics, culture, and ecology contemporary artists are drawn to maps to express their visions. Using paint, salt, souvenir tea towels, or their own bodies, map artists explore a world free of geographical constraints. In The Map as Art, Harmon collects 360 colorful, map-related artistic visions by well-known artists—such as Ed Ruscha, Julian Schnabel, Olafur Eliasson, William Kentridge, and Vik Muniz—and many more less-familiar artists for whom maps are the inspiration for creating art. Essays by Gayle Clemans bring an in-depth look into the artists' maps of Joyce Kozloff, Landon Mackenzie, Ingrid Calame, Guillermo Kuitca, and Maya Lin. Together, the beautiful reproductions and telling commentary make this an essential volume for anyone open to exploring new paths.

Rating: (out of 7 reviews)

List Price: $ 29.95
Price: $ 19.88

The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography Reviews

Review by Christine A. Stickler:

As a great fan of Katherine Harmon's previous book: You are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination, I looked forward to the release of this second book with a focus on maps. I doubted that I could be as taken with it as I was with her first but in fact believe that she has surpassed herself in creating a rich and layered exploration of maps as seen through the lens and reflections of artists. I love how she has divided the book into sections such as Conflict and Sorrow, Personal Terrain, Global Reckoning and Inner Visions which allow for an imaginative journey through the book.

The design and layout by Jane Jeszeck is stellar; clear and uncluttered allowing each image to have its showing.

You most definitely do not need to be a "map person" to love and appreciate this book!

Review by Stephen F. Roth:

I find myself looking through this book again and again, always finding new things. The choice of artworks is spectacular, the production values are gorgeous, and the commentary and essays are interesting, illuminating, and fun to read. I can't even imagine the amount of work that went into putting this book together (look inside). I'm just delighted that she did all that work so we can enjoy it.

Buy The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography now for only $ 19.88!

You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination

Mapmaking fulfills one of our most ancient and deepseated desires: understanding the world around us and our place in it. But maps need not just show continents and oceans: there are maps to heaven and hell; to happiness and despair; maps of moods, matrimony, and mythological places. There are maps to popular culture, from Gulliver's Island to Gilligan's Island. There are speculative maps of the world before it was known, and maps to secret places known only to the mapmaker. Artists' maps show another kind of uncharted realm: the imagination. What all these maps have in common is their creators' willingness to venture beyond the boundaries of geography or convention.
You Are Here is a wide-ranging collection of such superbly inventive maps. These are charts of places you're not expected to find, but a voyage you take in your mind: an exploration of the ideal country estate from a dog's perspective; a guide to buried treasure on Skeleton Island; a trip down the road to success; or the world as imagined by an inmate of a mental institution. With over 100 maps from artists, cartographers, and explorers, You are Here gives the reader a breath-taking view of worlds, both real and imaginary.

Rating: (out of 14 reviews)

List Price: $ 24.95
Price: $ 11.98

You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination Reviews

Review by JAL:

Trying to describe this book is difficult, so I'll just start by saying it is WONDERFUL. It's imaginative, thought-provoking, whimsical, intense and unique; if you're hesitating about buying it, be assured that it is well worth the money. On a practical level, it's just packed with fascinating drawings, a full color "map" on most pages, and many double-page color spreads. They range from ancient carvings to wild modern art by people like Adolf Wolfli to computer-generated maps of air routes across Great Britain (which look a bit like Jackson Pollock paintings!) Each map is worth an afternoon of contemplation: maps of heaven and hell, maps of Gilligan's Island, maps of the world seen through the eyes of a New Yorker (or a Californian), two maps (one for a woman's heart, one for a man's) with "Obstacles and Entrances Clearly Marked." Maps of the digestive system and of phrenology systems, roadmaps to success or despair, missionary maps from the 19th century, and lots of maps from famous books such as Gulliver's Travels. Just think of the word "map" as a metaphor for our desire to "locate" ourselves in an interior as well as an exterior way and you'll get the gist of this book. It's really delightful, and you can go back to it again and again. You'll see new details and find new things to think about each time you do.

Review by D. R. Pitts:

The material is extremely interesting; but the format of the book is too small to really appreciate the material, many of the images are split across the page and impossible to see in detail, and the reproduction of some is poor (Fuzzy, out of focus). Needs to be executed in a larger format with illustrations one per page

Buy You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination now for only $ 11.98!

Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art

Maps are often as much a visual art form as they are a practical tool for navigation. Of particular visual interest are display maps—maps that often used size and beauty to convey messages of regional and social status and power. Despite their historical significance, many of these display maps have been lost and destroyed over time. Magnificent Maps brings together the best surviving examples in order to illustrate their role in early modern Europe and describe the settings in which they were displayed.             Most of the maps collected in Magnificent Maps date from the period 1450 to 1800, the heyday of this approach to mapping. During their time, these maps were displayed in a range of settings, from palaces to schoolrooms to bedchambers, and Peter Barber and Tom Harper here offer vivid descriptions of their original settings and examine their dual roles as propaganda and art. Drawn from one of the greatest collections in the world at the British Library, many of these maps will be completely new even to experts. The unusual aspect of cartography presented in Magnificent Maps will appeal to collectors, historians, mapmakers and users, as well as anyone curious about the many ways we have come to illustrate and define our world.

List Price: $ 45.00
Price: $ 26.24

The Natures of Maps: Cartographic Constructions of the Natural World

Cartographers have known for decades that maps are far from objective representations of the world; rather, every map reflects the agendas and intentions of its creators. Yet that understanding has had almost no effect on the way maps are viewed and used by the general public. In The Natures of Maps, cartographers Denis Wood and John Fels present a compelling exploration of a wide range of maps to answer the question of, as they put it, why maps have “gotten away with it.”
            To answer that question, the authors turn to a category of maps with a particularly strong reputation for objectivity: maps of nature. From depictions of species habitats and bird migrations to portrayals of the wilds of the Grand Canyon and the reaches of the Milky Way, such maps are usually presumed—even by users who should know better—to be strictly scientific. Yet by drawing our attention to every aspect of these maps’ self-presentation, from place names to titles and legends, the authors reveal the way that each piece of information collaborates in a disguised effort to mount an argument about reality. Without our realizing it, those arguments can then come to define our very relationship to the natural world—determining whether we see ourselves as humble hikers or rampaging despoilers, participants or observers, consumers or stewards.
            Richly illustrated, and crafted in vivid and witty prose, The Natures of Maps will enlighten and entertain map aficionados, scholars, and armchair navigators alike. You’ll never be able to look at Google Maps quite the same way again.

Rating: (out of 2 reviews)

List Price: $ 49.00
Price: $ 32.63

The Natures of Maps: Cartographic Constructions of the Natural World Reviews

Review by Rebecca Redelsheimer:

This is not a book about maps! This is a book about the philosophy of communications and how maps are used to influence our view of the world stage. "Maps are not pictures, they are arguments". When read this way, I would rate this presentation in the highest category along with "Laws of Form", "Chaos", and "Godel, Escher, Bach".

Buy The Natures of Maps: Cartographic Constructions of the Natural World now for only $ 32.63!

From Here to There: A Curious Collection from the Hand Drawn Map Association

It's a situation we are all acquainted with: planning to visit friends in an unfamiliar part of the city, you draw yourself a rudimentary map with detailed directions. In March 2008, graphic designer Kris Harzinski founded the Hand Drawn Map Association in order to collect just such drawings of the everyday. Fascinated by these accidental records of a moment in time, he soon amassed a wide variety of maps, ranging from simple directions to fictional maps, to maps of unusual places, including examples drawn by well-known historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Ernest Shackleton, and Alexander Calder.

From Here to There celebrates these ephemeral documents usually forgotten or tossed aside after having served their purpose giving them their due as artifacts representing stories from people's lives around the world. There is the young woman suffering from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis who created maps of the Humira injections on her stomach and thighs to help her remember the sites, and give them time to heal. Or the young boy who imagined a whole country for ants and put it to paper. Lucas from Australia drew an obsessively detailed map of his local traffic island, and a teenage girl contributed a map of her high school locker. Two American tourists got lost in the Bulgarian mountains following the hand drawn map of a local, and Britanny from Denmark drew directions to an animal rights protest in Copenhagen. The maps featured in From Here to There are as varied and touching as the stories they tell.

List Price: $ 17.50
Price: $ 10.65

Cartography: Thematic Map Design

This introductory textbook introduces students to the different types of map projections, map design, and map production. Cartography is generally for a sophomore or junior level course for geography majors and many professors are beginning to introduce computer cartography throughout the course.

Rating: (out of 6 reviews)

Price: $ 114.49

Cartography: Thematic Map Design Reviews

Review by Scooter McGee:

I had to use this book in two classes for my Land Use/GIS degree. The book's layout is rather confusing, and the information is not laid out in a logical manner. Headings and sub-headings are not apparent and do not follow a natural progression. Seems like the book was put together with a cut-and-paste method! The text is about as dry as a well-done pot roast. Good bedtime reading!
The primary purpose of map making is to guide the reader's eye to areas of importance, and to get the information across to the reader in a concise, interesting, and elegant manner. This book does none of these well.
The breadth of information, however, is quite good, hence the two stars. This is probably why it is used frequently by faculty.

Review by Clyn:

I think it's kind of ironic that this cartography book isn't in color. There's a whole chapter on color and it's in black and white. There's a few pages in the middle of the book with maps in color, but it seems kind of silly. For >0, I want some color pictures.

Buy Cartography: Thematic Map Design now for only $ 114.49!

Art Maps - How to Paint Watercolors Filled with Bright Color

The main obstacle many artists face? How to get started. With the 15 Art Maps series, this problem will become a dilemma of the past. In each of the books in this breakthrough series, painters will find the hands-on tools they need to start a piece of work and finish it--with gorgeous results. Each book shares 15 exceptional projects that include: * Art maps--numbered and referenced grids readers can scale onto paper to transfer a drawing--taking the guesswork out of getting started * Classic art techniques presented through manageable bite-sized chunks, helping painters further their skills and develop their confidence * A wide range of subjects, accompanied by pull outs, hints, and a palette of color and supplies From the best artists working in the field today, the Art Map Series will revolutionize the way readers learn to paint.

List Price: $ 19.99
Price: $ 0.88

Arts Therapies: A Research-based Map of the Field

The book explores the disciplines of art therapy, music therapy, dramatherapy and dance movement therapy. It is the first book to offer a comprehensive mapping of the field of arts therapies including common and unique features of practice. It incorporates both qualitative and quantitative results presented in tables, diagrams and clinical vignettes. Written in a style which is relevant to readers from a variety of backgrounds Illustrated with clinical vignettes and practical examples to show how the therapies work in practice Tables and diagrams are used to present some simple descriptive statistics about the field Illustrations offer examples of the type of work undertaken in the arts therapies field that cannot be easily described with words Addresses the needs of those studying for general courses in the practice of arts therapies and suitable as an introductory textbook for the specialist courses in specific therapies.

List Price: $ 61.95
Price: $ 57.95