ICONS OF INSPIRATION

Art that Tells a Story

Joel Iskowitz

“It is especially gratifying to have my first solo show at the Atlantic Gallery, with a special shout out to a friend and peer Joan Walton. As one who favors the concept that art belongs to the people and should enjoy as wide a reach as possible, it is especially important to me that Atlantic is a gallery owned and operated by the artist membership.

It took nearly three-quarters of a century for this to happen, but I am glad to be just another 74-year-old artist, a “kid with a crazy dream” realized, as Leonard Cohen quipped to his London audience a few years ago.

I have always considered myself to be a “narrative artist”, in plain English, I tell stories with imagery.
Over the course of a fortunately long career, I have had the privilege and honor of being tasked with researching and developing images that speak to history’s most compelling adventures and chapters, focusing on the notables that shaped them.
Intergovernmental commissions in philatelic, reportage pantings for the United States Air Force Art Program, and NASA, many national and private sector mints, including our own U.S.Mint have afforded me the opportunity to pay homage to these luminaries who have blazed a path for us all. In the pre-pandemic world, these assignments often took me to locations around the globe. These encounters of a close kind, inform one’s work with an authenticity that is discernable in the final artwork

I genuinely consider myself extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn about and gain inspiration from these pathfinders who have helped create a more harmonious world through their achievements and contributions in the fields of the arts, letters, science, and the military. They have epitomized courage, character, and wisdom.

My only regret is that for this initial offering, so many of my personal heroes are not represented; Rembrandt, Leonardo, Shakespeare, John Adams, Emily Dickinson, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Joseph Kessel, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Leonard Cohen to name only a few.

Ah, but some are done and will be added soon, and with some luck, I’ll get to add some more icons going forward.

KEY:
PA-Prints Available
PNA Prints not available
OA-Original Art

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