Artist Statement:
At first my work re-imagined discarded and archival photographs of poor and working class Americans taken before, during and after the Great Depression. While at once cautionary, my images attempted to celebrate both the individual dignity and group solidarity of my subjects. Furthermore drawn to the tension between the stoic formality of the age—as expressed through uniforms, suits, dresses, hats, machines, architecture, etc.—and the piercing drama of facial expression, I sought to create images that are as humanistic as abstract. Working in acrylic, oil, and rust, I pay homage to the hard lines of comic artist Bob Kane (Batman) and the work of Grant Wood (with an urban bent) and Francis Bacon, in giving new life to the vibrant deteriorating photographs of a past, but all too prescient era.
In 2009 I started working from my own photographs, maintaining the stark composition from the photographs of times gone by, yet introducing more seemingly light-hearted themes.
In 2010 the Freedom Riders took ahold of me. Mug shots that had preserved the reciprocity of confrontation - being confronted by injustice whilst confronting it for its injustice drew me in. Intuitively I added collage to convey a feeling for the time and the severity of the moment these images were taken, creating a context of noise and music.
What now? A great question.
Shows:
- 2011 June 18 Threads of a Story, History Inspiring Art, Downtown Public Library, Nashville TN, 82 Canvases celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides
- 2011 Mountain Film Festival: Exhibit of 3 portraits based on Tim De Christopher, an environmental activist awaiting sentencing in July 2011, on who's life and work was documented in a film: Bidder 70, which was premiered at the festival
- 2011 Awarded A Portrait Commission by the Long Island Spy Museum
- 2010 Mountain Film Festival: Solo Exhibit at the School of Art on Freedom Riders, which was also a documentary premiered and the same time at the festival
- 2010 January 26th - March 26th: Solo Show at President's Gallery of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City: "Freedom Riders And Bus Boycotters"
- 2009 October 9 - November 7th: Solo Show at NYSG Gallery, New York City: "Can't Live the Commonest Way, On Six Bits a Day"
- 2009 August 8-31. 2009: Solo Show at Boltax Gallery, Shelter Island, Long Island, New York: "Inappropriately Dressed"
- 2009 Participating with Bridge Art Fair, New York, March 5-8
- 2009 Winner of the Great American Slide Show at NYSG gallery, winning a solo show at NYSG gallery in fall 2009
- 2008 Solo Show at Bread, New York, NY
- 2008 Solo Show at Gloria Kennedy Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
- 2008 Impromptu Solo Show at Gloria Kennedy Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
- 2007 Art London participant with Simon Sieff gallery, London
- 2007 participant in group show, Stragapede Perini Gallery, Milano
- 2006 participant in group show, East West Gallery, Milano
- 2003 'Culture Salon', art fair participant, Commerce Center Shanghai, Shanghai
- 2002 'Cocoa Cultures', solo show and auction, Central Park Boathouse, NYC
- 2001 'The Secret of Three Butterpillars' , published a never-ending tumbling book with Workman Publishing, NYC Studio, NYC 2000' 'Anyway lets Dance …' solo show, Paris NY Studio, NYC
- 1999 'Carnavores, Kitchen Cowboys & Dirty Dishes', solo show, Paris NY
- 1998 'Bitch Icons, Freak Fables & Lucid two faced smiles', solo show, Paris NY Studio, NYC
- 1996 'Sailors, Drunkards & Prostitutes', solo show, Bell Café, NYC
- 1995 solo show, La Voile Rouge, Miami Beach, Florida
- 1994 'Miami Twilight Zone, Warming up the Atmosphere', Miami Beach, Florida
- 1992 'Big Foot in Blue Door', solo show, Artist Incubator, Tokyo
Bio:
I was born in Maine to German parents living in America under the Marshall plan. 1973 my family moved to Iran, which we fled during the revolution in 1979. Back in Germany, I studied painting at the University of Arts in Berlin from 1986-1989. I dropped out and travelled the world as a street musician and performance artist. 1991 I picked up my brushes again and started organising art shows wherever I travelled. 1995 I moved to New York. 2000 I opened a restaurant to showcase my work in Brooklyn. In 2005 I started to narrow down my color spectrum to teal, white, black and rust. In 2009 I reintroduced collage and this element created a real conversation, that keeps evolving.