Gus Van Sant: Icons - (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From Drugstore Cowboy to Sea of Trees, Van Sant is both indie auteur and Hollywood subversive

Gus Van Sant: Icons offers insight into the world of filmmaker Gus Van Sant, published on the occasion of a major exhibition at the Cinémathèque française in Paris. This comprehensive monograph surveys the full range of Van Sant's artistry from photography and painting to music, filtered through the perspective of his films. The exhibition and catalogue are a thoroughly original take on a distinctive filmmaker, bringing together all facets of his work for the first time and offering a fresh vision of his iconic filmmaking.

The heart of Gus Van Sant: Icons is a previously unpublished interview with Van Sant conducted in Portland in June 2015 by Matthieu Orléans, the exhibition's curator. In a wide-ranging conversation, the two men discuss the whole scope of Van Sant's work and inspirations. Van Sant connects himself to a lineage of other artists, citing William Burroughs, William Eggleston, Harmony Korine and Ed Ruscha as influences. The filmmaker offers firsthand anecdotes and in-depth appraisals of the production processes of each of his movies, from the experimental shorts of the 1970s to his most recent film, Sea of Trees, presented at the Cannes Festival in May 2015.

Review Quotes

Coffee-table tome Gus Van Sant: Icons surveys the Oscar nominated filmmaker's wide body of work, from photography (of, say, his To Die For leading lady Nicole Kidman) to watercolor and charcoal portraits.-- "Elle Magazine"

Presents a welcome opportunity to step inside Van Sant's mind courtesy of expansive interviews, influential artworks, visually arresting moodboards, diagrams plotting out scenes, on-set photographs, and perhaps best of all, the many Polaroids the director took early in his career to document the stars who passed through his studio, which acted as a key casting tool in the days before digital photography.-- "Another Magazine"

The book is a gold mine of images, artwork, essays, portraits, sketches, interviews, and first-person accounts, that offer insight into the inner workings of the iconic American filmmaker.--Eileen Kinsella "Artnet"

Van Sant never shied away from queering the moviegoing experience. Here, portraits of his muses past and present, including Matt Dillon, Keanu Reeves, and the late River Phoenix, and rare behind-the-scenes shots shed new light on the filmmaker's career--Julien Sauvalle "OUT Magazine"

About the Author

American filmmaker, photographer and visual artist Gus Van Sant (born 1952) has been lauded for his experimental, independent projects and mainstream productions alike--from the acclaimed Drugstore Cowboy (1989) and My Own Private Idaho (1991) to Oscar-winning films such as Good Will Hunting (1997) and Milk (2008).