Back to the Boho with Janet Morgan

By Ann Japenga. This review was originally posted on California Desert Art.

The early desert artists were punks at heart. They made stuff all the time (DIY), even though there was little money, social status or fame to be gained here. That has changed considerably in recent years as “California desert” is now a hot marketing term and “desert artist” is a marketable brand even if you live in Tulsa. Janet Morgan’s new book What Art Can Do steers us back toward the original boho values. Of the mainstream art world with its glamorous “art stars” she says: “It’s really hard to get in and … do you really want to?”

Morgan is a Brooklyn-based artist who, along with her husband Greg Frux, served as artist-in- residence at Death Valley in 2005. Their book Welcome to Death Valley was featured on this website. In her recent book available on Amazon—done in conversation with Heather Sanderson—Janet explores the necessity for artists to make mistakes in public. “I’m quite willing to make a fool of myself,” she writes, giving as an example the fact that she and Greg send out nude Holiday cards. The book will appeal to anyone who yearns for less glitz and more time resting on a sand dune with Carl Eytel.

Explore the work of Janet Morgan and Greg Frux as seen on California Desert Art.

Buy the Book:

Size: 8.5 x 11″

Paperback available:

Amazon: US, CA, UK, DE, FR, ES, IT, JP, AU, NL, SE, PL
Barnes & Noble (US)
Booksamillion (US)
Bookshop.org (US)
McNally Robinson (CA)
Powell’s Books (US)
Waterstones (UK)