Internationally recognized Colombian artist Daniel Liévano uses visual notations to explore philosophical ideas in Gravity & Other Substances, a picture book for teens and adults.
Through various media, artist Daniel Liévano has dedicated himself to exploring the relationship between abstraction and storytelling. Here, he takes up happiness, truth, memories, reality, dreams, and gravity. In many ways, these concepts shape the rhythms, experiences, and facts of human life. Conceiving of them as substances, Liévano explores them as if they were tangible, solid presences in our lives. In doing so, he makes happiness subject to gravity and memory both molecular and embodied.
The exploration that makes up Gravity & Other Substances is published under Unruly, Enchanted Lion's imprint of category-defying picture books for teens and adults.
Praise
“This book is an artist’s philosophical contemplation on happiness and dreams and gravity. It’s visual notation for thinking through these concepts in both word and image. Think of it as an existential title with appeal to teens. It’s about how to be a person in the world, presented with a fascinating approach to philosophical thinking through representation.”-Librarian Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production (A School Library Journal blog)
—A Fuse #8 Production (A School Library Journal blog), Librarian Betsy Bird
"A striking fusion of surrealist influences, architectural unease, and playful abstraction permeates the artwork, evoking an elegant yet energetic vibe. ... this immersive, stylish telling begs multiple reads. It all adds up to an arresting meditation on the intangible forces that shape human experience."-Publishers Weekly
—Publishers Weekly
? STARRED REVIEW! “The elusiveness of happiness, the incompleteness of our memories and even the gravity holding us to earth are beautifully explored in Gravity and Other Substances. ... Each page is beautiful to witness, mesmerizing as we glimpse the abstracted terrains, analyzing the movement of each drawing to see where it will take us. Gravity and Other Substances can be pulled off the shelf every time a reader needs to feel lighter about the weighty world around us.”-Jessica Oden, BookPage
—BookPage, Jessica Oden
