At a little heralded press conference held at the White House on Monday, September 25th, 2006, first lady Laura Bush announced the formation of the U.S. State Department’s “Global Cultural Initiative.” With world public opinion of the United States and the Bush administration slumping to dramatic record lows, the initiative is a scheme designed to improve America’s image abroad through…
“There is nothing more contemptible than an idle citizen who can combine his laziness with wealth and, consequently, with honors. The humblest artisan, is more worthy of appreciation and, I think, of real honor, than the most illustrious, the most honored, and the richest gentleman if he is at the same time lazy and useless.” [ From an essay printed…
My oil painting, Man on Fire, is both a metaphor for our times and an artwork based upon real world events. The blazing man could be said to represent suffering humanity engulfed by war and conflict—alluding to the current catastrophes in the Middle East and beyond.
On Monday July 17, 2006, Agence France Presse reported: “US Ambassador John Bolton said there was no moral equivalence between the civilian casualties from the Israeli raids in Lebanon and those killed in Israel from ‘malicious terrorist acts.’” A poem written in 1982 by Israeli playwright and poet, Chanoch Levin. ______________________________________________________ Beirut is in flames. Beirut is burning And this…
As a longtime art critic, and as the Senior Curator for the Riverside Art Museum, one would assume Peter Frank would know the difference between “Social Realism” and “Socialist Realism,” they may sound alike to those unfamiliar with art history, but Frank should know better. In his June 28th LA Weekly review of an exhibit of paintings by Armenian artist,…
At Work: The Art of California Labor, is a major exhibit to take place at the Pico House Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. Opening on June 13th, 2006, the exhibit displays the works of artists past and present who’ve documented the dignity and struggle of California’s labor movements, from the chaotic 20th century to the present. I’m honored that four…
The posters on the street instantly caught my eye with their bright colors and arresting visuals of zombies, sheep and robots. As I drove by the corner where the broadsides were posted, I could just make out the stabbing headline on the red poster portraying a forlorn looking simian… “Are You A Chimp?” The stomach-turning green poster depicting zombies had…
China’s most famous portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong is to be auctioned off by the country’s state-controlled auction house in Beijing. Commissioned in 1950 to celebrate the first anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang Zhenshi’s oil painting of Mao became a world famous image. The portrait of the communist leader was published in poster form, with untold millions…
