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The Flogging of Mehdi Yarrahi
In 2023 the singer Mehdi Yarrahi was arrested in Iran for releasing a song inspiring women to take off their hijabs. In the Islamic Republic of Iran wearing a hijab is compulsory for women. Yarrahi spent a year in prison for his “crime.” On Mar. 6, 2025 he was given 74 lashes by his tormentors. On his X account (@yarrahimehdi)…
Drawing the Line: My Early Sketches
In 2005 I rediscovered a number of my old sketchbooks that had been packed away for decades. These sketchbooks contain hundreds of pencil and pen drawings created by me during my high school years. Most of the artworks were created in 1970 when I was only sixteen years old. The drawings were largely of my classmates and friends, and some…

Exhibition: Man’s Inhumanity to Man
I exhibited a suite of four black and white drawings at Man’s Inhumanity to Man: Journey out of Darkness, an exhibition that took place at the Brand Library Art Gallery & Art Center in Glendale, California, from April to May, 2009. Forty four artists participated in the group show, which examined human rights violations that have occurred around the globe;…

Happy Birthday Vincent von Gogh
On this day, March 30, 1890, Vincent van Gogh was born in Zundert, Netherlands. He once wrote: “What am I in the eyes of most people… a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person, somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. All right, then… even if that were absolutely…
Artist’s Forum on Art & Politics
[ Dozens of people packed Avenue 50 Studio for a slide show and lecture on the subject of art, religion, and politics ] It was a standing room only crowd at the Artist’s Forum on Art & Politics, held at L.A.’s Avenue 50 Studio. Part of its Don’t Talk About Religion or Politics exhibit, the event took place on January…
WITHERED Arts Journalism in LA?
On March 24, 2005, a public forum titled Whither Arts Journalism in LA? was held on Olvera street in downtown Los Angeles on the topic of arts journalism in LA. Moderated by Adolfo Guzman Lopez, the panelists included art critics Christopher Knight (LA Times), Peter Frank (LA Weekly), Malik Gaines (artUS magazine), and Caryn Colemen (art.blogging.la). The event attracted an…