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One of the phenomena which seems to be unique to the modern period is what we can call "urban alienation": not the isolation of a hermit far from society, but the alienation of human beings surrounded by their kind. One might suppose that it is a condition that has always existed, only to be "discovered" with the advent of psychoanalysis and its related sciences. However, it is more likely that it is born of the conditions of modern existence, and may in fact have contributed significantly to the development of the psychological sciences by its pervasive presence… Continue reading… 0 comments

Artists Books on Display at Odyssey, July 2010, Boston. One of the highlights of any lettering conference or gathering is the hand made books on display. Each unique in their content, construction, palette, and scale; books draw us in to a secret place, where the turn of a page is a magic revelation. Annie Cicalie__™s book within a book entitled ___Focus___ is rich with layers upon layers of color and form. Books within books, it was displayed to be handled, which is a quite a treat since most books are keep under glass. ___Focus___ was displayed, standing almost as if it were a sculpture whose entire surface could be viewed at once.… Continue reading… 6 comments

I realize that I have not posted to my blog for far too long, but I have a good excuse. For two years, I and other volunteers from Masscribes the calligraphy guild based in Boston Massachusetts, have been planning Odyssey 2010 . The week of July 24 __" 30, 2010 marks the 30th international gathering of lettering artists, at Stonehill College, just south of Boston.… Continue reading… 2 comments

Renowned Sculptor, Manuel Velastegui exhibits at Union City Art Gallery at City Hall. On Wednesday, May 12, 2010 I had the great honor of attending the Sculpture exhibition of the world famous sculptor Manuel Velastegui. To the right is a picture of Jaime Andrade Gallery Associate of Knoedler & Company with the Sculptor Manuel Velastegui. Manuel Velastegui has been creating sculptures for over 40 years he is a master artist and his works are of the highest quality. The beauty of his marble sculptures is breathtaking as the forms give off a sense of movement. Manuel Velastegui metal sculptures are created of found objects and are more whimsical but still have that sense of movement and a few actually do move… Continue reading… 0 comments

TRIBUTE TO PUERTO RICAN ARTIST JOSE CARABALLO Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico in 1930, Jose Caraballo moved to New York with his parents at the age of 14. In 1947 Jose studied graphics and sculpture in a Greenwich Village workshop. That same year he had the good fortune to meet the great Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo at the Rufino Tamayo Studio at the Brooklyn Museum of Art where Rufino Tamayo was teaching art. Jose Caraballo exhibited paintings in 1950 in Chicago. He then exhibited at the Oller-Campeche-Gallery in Puerto Rico, Galleria II, Galleria Tito, Allen Rich Galleries, Duncan Galleries in Paris France, and many other Galleries throughout New York… Continue reading… 4 comments

Thanks for watching ArtId's first YouTube video! It may be goofy, but there is a method to our madness. ArtId now has a YouTube account… Continue reading… 2 comments

If you read my last post, you will see Ron English's Abraham Obama , an image that blends the faces of Senator Obama and Abraham Lincoln. In response, artist and featured ArtId blogger Michael Mize asked which United States president could we blend McCain with. My answer was Bush. Here's his rendition of what I call John McBush! Thanks Michael. I think this is so appropriate… Continue reading… 0 comments

It seems appropriate to show you the latest work by artist Ron English, "Abraham Obama". I don't know where to begin except to say I like the piece alot. This artwork brings up so many questions that I suggest you buy a couple of bottles of wine and get together with your friends and talk about it. Loudly. But, here a few quick thoughts that come to my mind: 1.The American divide on moral issues is akin to the divide which caused the civil war. (that's a biggy) 2. American needs to gain back its freedom from a tyranical administration. 3.Obama and Lincoln make a good couple. 4.Will Obama's role in the future of our nation be anywhere as important as Lincoln's was? 5. What does Andy Warhol have to do with it? 6. Love public art. 7… Continue reading… 4 comments

I'll admit it - I love my competition reality TV shows, especially the ones where people have to demonstrate some skill and creative talent to win. I especially love Last Comic Standing because comics are often not funny when they're hanging around the house - the first season they were downright curmudgeons and I loved them for it because once they hit the stage they transformed into hilarious likeable beings. Genius! I also am addicted to Project Runway where the competition is difficult and the designers have to really "work it" to avoid elimination. Sometimes I daydream about what kind of garment I would have made if I had been on the show..… Continue reading… 6 comments

A few months ago I received an email about a public art project that fiber artist Sarah Haskell was weaving together. I was so intrigued by the concept that I just had to get involved. As a lettering artist the project hit home as a way to combine art, text, prayer and community. Calligraphers in every culture have a long history of writing on, and infusing into paper messages that are not intended to rest in a gallery, a book, or on someone__™s wall, but rather sent out as ___weathergrams___ fiber by fiber, into the wind. Sarah is taking this concept a step further to include thousands of messages interwoven into a unified whole… Continue reading… 4 comments

There__™s quite an amazing installation on display at Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA. Jenny Holzer__™s Projections casts poems by Nobel laureate Wisława Szymborska across a darkened room the length of a football field. Walking through these projected words is at first like half-listening: I caught fragments of words but could not put them together, dimly aware of trees, pens and paper, bodies and discomfort. When I stood at the end of the hall, I could read each word clearly as it appeared. The lines arrived more slowly than the time it took to read them, which allowed each line to fully register: ___Nothing has changed. / The body is a reservoir of pain ...___ Reading a few poems in this unconventional way is one thing__"but that is only part of the exhibit… Continue reading… 3 comments

!IMAGE164 !It__™s not often that I have difficulty justifying to myself my own reaction to a piece of art, but I have come upon this dilemma recently when I saw The Full Body Project by Leonard Nimoy at the Michelson Gallery" in Northampton, MA. The Full Body Project is a collection of black and white photographs depicting a group of morbidly obese women in various poses and dance shots, nude and sometimes in skimpy outfits. The women, in real life, are members of a burlesque dance troupe called the Full-Bottom Revue which challenges audiences to understand what Nimoy calls ___fat liberation___… Continue reading… 2 comments

Augusta, GA is home to non-profit organization, Children__™s Art-Walk , founded by fellow member artist Bruce Klassen and his wife Deborah. A recently retired businessman, a painter, and a former Pacific Region Board member of the Boys And Girls Clubs of America, Bruce draws upon his unique perspective as artist, businessman and community activist to serve part of Augusta__™s community through art. Though ___birthed___ in Augusta, Children__™s Art-Walk has the inevitable potential and scalability to reach hundreds, even thousand of communities in the United States and even around the globe. … Continue reading…