But then this book has a lot of bells and whistles. First of all, it weighs just over 46 lbs as it is covered in a scale reproduction of one of Michelangelo’s earliest works — a marble relief known as the Madonna of the Stairs. It is printed on paper made specifically for the book and is handmade all the way, from typesetting and printing to binding and covering. It includes the already mentioned Amendola black and white photos as well as removable handmade folios of Michelangelo’s drawings (reproductions, of course). It also comes with a 500-year guarantee.

The book was published by Gruppo FMR, an arts publishing house specializing in art, culture and luxury goods. And apparently the Michelangelo book is only the first in what FMR is calling its “Book Wonderful” series. But with a limited print run of 99 and a 6-month wait to get the book (as it is handcrafted upon order), the Michelangelo copies are sure to absolutely fly off the shelves. So reserve your copy today. But don’t try Amazon. I already checked.

It’s always a carnivalesque affair when a piece of art is slandered as pornography. Artists, critics, moralists—all have an opinion and are none too shy about sharing. But the reactions of the past week or so, after one of Nan Goldin’s photographs was seized from a British gallery where it was being shown, were noteworthy.

The usual heated indignation and strident protests about such effrontery were nowhere to be found. In fact, a couple commentators seemed to assert that the charges wouldn’t have been made in the first place if the artwork had been better.

I don’t claim any expertise about pornography. But I do know what art is, and Nan Goldin’s work more than qualifies.

Her snapshot aesthetic has invigorated documentary photography, and her use of slide projections as an art form is nothing short of groundbreaking. The inclusion of her work in innovative exhibitions like “SlideShow” at the Baltimore Museum of Art and “East Village USA” at the New Museum of Contemporary Art is proof. As a 20th-century artist, she stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Smithson, Basquiat, Haring and Koons.

Her mid-career retrospective at the Whitney in 1997 showed work devoted to subject matters—AIDS victims, the 1970s and 80s drug culture, transgender relationships, domestic abuse—that society wouldn’t even discuss, let alone see as art. Coupled with an incredible formal ability, it is really no surprise that Goldin was the 2007 recipient of the Hasselblad Award in photography.

Even a quick glance at Goldin’s accomplishments is enough to show how much she has done for photography as a genre. That’s why it is so disconcerting to see members of the art community casting aspersions at one of their own. Insinuating that an artist’s skill is a mitigating factor in the “what is art” controversy is imprudent, but forgetting that the power and purpose of artists is forever tied to free expression, not ability, borders on self-annihilation.

Although born in Omaha, Nebraska, Ed Ruscha began his artistic career in Oklahoma. Literally. In 1956, at the age of 19, Ruscha set out on Route 66 from Oklahoma City (where he had lived for 15 formative years) to Los Angeles. It was the first in a series of drives that took him past the sites that would form the basis of his 1962 book Twentysix Gasoline Stations (above, middle) and reappear in his later images of hotels, parking lots, swimming pools and the grizzled glamour of the Sunset Strip.

An exhibition opening today at the Price Tower Arts Center proves that Oklahoma’s significance in the contemporary art world goes far beyond that tidbit of Ruschian trivia. The state has also bred and/or trained such artists as David Salle, Joe Goode, Larry Clark, Joe Andoe and Carolyn Brady. “Out of Oklahoma: Contemporary Artists From Ruscha to Andoe” features about 35 of these artists’ paintings (including Ruscha’s “Black Hollywood” [1984]), sculpture, photographs and works on paper in an exhibition that ranges from Pop Art, abstraction and minimalism to photorealism and new figurative painting.

According to Richard P. Townsend, who curated the exhibition, the show “reveals a little known-and little suspected-aspect of later 20th-century American art” while spotlighting Oklahoma’s “innovative spirit and pioneer attitude.” It’s a fitting way to celebrate the state’s centennial.
The Price Tower (above, right) is a perfect venue for a show that could be subtitled “Who knew?” It is the only skyscraper ever designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright, best known for his low-slung “Prairie Houses” and the seashell swirls of New York’s Guggenheim Museum. Commissioned by oil and gas pipeline developer Harold C. Price, the 19-story, 221-foot tower was completed in 1956. Wright called it “the tree that had escaped the crowded forest.” It was named a national historic landmark earlier this year.

Visitors to the museum are invited to “Spend the night with Frank Lloyd Wright”—in one of the 21 rooms at the Inn at Price Tower. Hotel guests gain a unique appreciation of Wright’s abiding love of triangles, which makes for a particularly interesting bathroom experience. As Ed Ruscha once said, “Art has to be something that makes you scratch your head.”

“Out of Oklahoma” is on view at the Price Tower Arts Center through September 16. It then travels to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at University of Oklahoma from September 29 through January 6, 2008.