Two years after the US “liberated” Iraq, artists in that beleaguered nation are barely hanging on. Having survived the long night of Saddam and the “shock and awe” blitzkrieg of the Americans, Iraqi artists today are fighting a losing battle against occupation, terrorism, and the rising threat of Islamic fundamentalism. Back in July of 2004, the artists of Iraq were…
When I was a teenager in the late 1960’s, I found an art book in my local library titled, Ecco Homo (Behold the Man). As my first real introduction to German Expressionist art, it was an encounter that profoundly altered my life as an artist. Ecco Homo was a portfolio of prints created by artist, George Grosz, in 1923. That…
August 6th, 2005, marks the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Japan. August 9th, marks the bombing of Nagasaki. Those who survived the blasts became known as hibakusha (Atom Bomb Survivors), and in 1974 the hibakusha began contributing artworks to an unusual project that would preserve for the world their memories of atomic fire. The Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK…
Virtually unknown in the west, the Hiroshima Panels are as profound an antiwar work as Pablo Picasso’s famous mural, Guernica. The creation of Japanese artists, Iri and Toshi Maruki (both now deceased), the panels depict the atomic holocaust wrought upon Japan when the U.S. dropped nuclear bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The monumental panels, which are actually…
Though it may not show in my work, I’ve always been interested in the points of view and politics of the Surrealist movement. So naturally I took great delight in learning that a new museum dedicated to one of my favorite surrealist painters, René Magritte, will open in Brussels sometime in early 2007. The collection will include around 150 works…
American conceptual artist, Wayne Hill, had his artwork stolen and drunk. His art – a clear plastic bottle filled with water and situated on a pedestal, was priced at $69,700 (£40,000). Shown at an arts festival in Devon, England, the work was apparently misidentified by some thirsty person as being… a clear plastic bottle filled with water situated on pedestal….
Long before his famous antenna moustache, Salvador Dalí antagonized those around him by sporting a Mohawk haircut, or so I thought. My “discovery” was made in the early 1980’s when I found a photo of the young surrealist artist published in an obscure punk rock fanzine. While I don’t remember the name of the diminutive self-published zine, I never forgot…
An anti-Bush painting in a California group show is causing a firestorm of protest, but for all the wrong reasons. The California Arts Council along with California Lawyers for the Arts and State Attorney General Bill Lockyer, have sparked controversy with a show they’ve sponsored at California’s Department of Justice in the state capital of Sacramento. The exhibit, A Creative…
