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July Issue 2005
Tessera Gallery in Winston-Salem, NC, Features Works by Tom Block
Winston-Salem, NC, Aartist Tom Block will bring his exhibition, Human Rights Painting Project, which benefits and celebrates the work of Amnesty International, to Tessera Gallery in Winston-Salem, from July 8 through Aug. 27, 2005.
Regarding the project, Block states, "The Human Rights Painting Project highlights the struggle for human rights the world over and the important work that Amnesty International does. Using a personal artistic voice, I interpret different aspects of the struggle for human rights. The paintings themselves capture the range of emotions exhibited in this battle. Fear, destitution, pain, hope, joy and even sanguinity form themselves in these faces. Ultimately, the paintings bring together mans best and worst impulses the heroes of the images are a counterpoint to the authorities that forced them into that role. We are left with the uncomfortable question of which group is more typical of our human race and which the exception."
The project has been exhibited at the AFL-CIO (Washington, DC), A.R.C. Gallery (Chicago, IL), Ratner Museum (Bethesda, MD), the Pearl Conard Gallery of Ohio State University (Ohio), the Eckles Gallery of George Washington University (Washington D.C.), the Olin Fine Arts Center of Washington and Jefferson College (Washington, PA), the Phillips Museum of Franklin & Marshall College (Lancaster, PA), the Puffin Room (New York, NY), ArtSpace (Richmond, VA), and Saville Gallery (Cumberland, MD).
The project has been highlighted by National Public Radio, as well as the Copley News Service, Gazette Newspaper (MD), Washington Times, Chicago Reader, WMFD TV (Mansfield, OH), Maryland Living, Cumberland Times-Union and Sojourners Magazine. The Human Rights Painting Project received a Puffin Foundation grant and a proclamation of support from the Tacoma Park City Council (MD).
Block has shown his art in museums and galleries in New York City, Chicago, Washington, and Detroit. Internationally, Block has shown in Madrid, Spain; Lisbon and Port, Portugal; and Venice and Florence, Italy. In addition to appearing on National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation, he has conducted symposiums on his art and thought at the University of Maryland, Michigan State University, American University, Vassar College and the Jewish Study Center. Mr. Block has taught art at the Longview School for the Handicapped, Dwelling Place Homeless Program, Montgomery County Alternative Program for at-risk adolescents, National Children's Center for physically and emotionally disturbed children and the Summit Art School.
Block's writing, general features, art reviews and historical work have appeared in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Boston Herald, San Diego Union, Dallas Morning News, Washington Review, Sufi Magazine, Detroit Jewish News, L.A. Jewish Times and the Denver Post. He is currently writing a book entitled Shalom/Salaam: The Untold Story of a Mystical Entanglement, detailing the little-known influence of Sufism (Islamic mysticism) on the development of Jewish spirituality.
For more information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, contact Jennifer Scott at 336/722-5220, 336/655-9575, e-mail at (art@tesseragallery.com) or at (www.tesseragallery.com).
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