Believing that artistic expression "can and does" play an important role in changing the way we perceive our relation to the world we live in, art critic John Grande takes an in-depth look at the work of some very unusual environmental artists in the United States, Canada, and -Europe.

Dealing with everything from materials to the politics of curatorship, from the permanence of art works to the artist's role as cultural critic, "Balance Art and Nature" takes theory into action as it critically examines the works of Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Armand Vaillancourt, Bill Reid, Carl Beam, Kevin Kelly, Ana Mendieta, James Carl, Patrick Dougherty, Keith Haring, and others. What emerges is a viable socio-environmental framework for evaluating contemporary art and insights into art's actual and potential roles.

"Grande's commentaries represent an important contribution to the theory of art."--Claude Levi-Strauss

"A call to reawaken creativity in this time of alienation."--Antony Gormley

"Encourages us to rethink what it means to be an artist in a time of global eco-crisis."--Suzi Gablik, "The Re-enchantment of Art"

"Makes unexpected connections giving new insights into contemporary art."--"Public Art Review"

"Grande's book contains a lot of ideas, all of which are thought-provoking."--"Globe and Mail"

"Details makes this book convincing."--"Books In Canada"

"Grande's ideas and style are fresh, sincere, intuitive, lively and compelling."--"Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics"

"Offers interesting parallels between different aspects of public art."--"Espace Sculptur"

Writer and art critic John Grande's reviews and feature -articles have been published in art magazines and catalogues internationally. He is author of "Intertwining: Landscape, Technology, Issues, Artists" (Black Rose Books), "Nils-Udo: Art with Nature" (Wienand Verlag), and "Art Nature Dialogues" (SUNY Press).