A little more than a year ago, I wrote an article titled “Fernando Botero Paints Abu Ghraib.” The piece was about what I referred to as the Columbian artist’s “masterwork, a suite of 50 large oil paintings depicting the horrors perpetrated by Americans at Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison.” Readers of this web log are by now most likely familiar…
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…
On Sunday, October 1st, 2006, twenty museums across Los Angeles will participate in the second annual Museums Free-For-All, by opening their doors to the public absolutely free of charge. The Free-For-All concept is a refreshing change from the worrying drift towards rising admission prices for national art museums, and while the day provides relief – it is clearly not enough….
Who could have imagined that a Hollywood movie prop would find a permanent home in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, one of America’s finest art museums? The theatrical property in question is an 8-foot tall bronze statue – arms raised in victory – depicting Rocky Balboa, the fictional boxer played by Sylvester Stallone. On September 7th, 2006, to…
“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.
In July of 2005, I wrote about Myth of Tomorrow, a long lost but rediscovered mural by famed Japanese artist, Taro Okamoto. This article was updated on April 9, 2016 to reflect recent developments regarding Mr. Okamoto’s monumental mural. The video above shows the mural in situ at the Shibuya railway station in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Painted in Mexico between 1968…
On August 2nd, 2006, after spending my entire adult life reading about América Tropical, the internationally famous mural painted in Los Angeles by Mexican Muralist master, David Alfaro Siqueiros, there I was, for the very first time – barely inches from the huge masterwork. Just the day before I had received a telephone call from friend and associate, Luis Garza,…
