Books: Tibor Kalman: Perverse Optimist

In a perfect world, a review of Kalman’s collected designs would consist of some single image, possibly offensive, definitely shocking, arguably beautiful. The founder of the quintessentially ’80s design firm M&Co. and the editor of Benetton’s Colors magazine, Kalman has created visuals that, whether pretentious or prophetic, snatch and hold the attention. Witness his “photos” of a black Queen Elizabeth II and of Ronald Reagan with AIDS. The only downside to this provocative catalog is that little in it is new, and Kalman’s work relies on surprise. But there are worse ways to spend time than to dip into the mind of a self-professed “creative-lunatic.”

–By Belinda Luscombe