|
Centre Daily Times:
"Block’s Response Still Relevant in Today’s Politics"
(State College, PA, October 3, 2008)
"...'The Machiavellian attitude toward politics is a politics of power, where the end goal is just the accrual of power,' Block said. 'But there are other manners of having democracy, and a lot of these paintings are based in the sayings of social thinkers who tried to look at the accrual of power as a means, the end being the betterment of society.'..."
Sephardic Heritage News
"The Levantine Option"
(New York, NY, July 23, 2008)
"Given the antipathy in many unenlightened quarters to the idea of 'The Levantine Option' - that Jews and Muslims shared a common culture over many centuries in the Middle East, and it is this culture that will act as the salve through which the two peoples will be able to reconcile - it is of the utmost significance to find anyone who will support the matter publicly...."
Frederick News-Post:
"No measly easels for big ideas"
(Frederick, MD, May 15, 2008)
"'Into the Singularity' is the first of three pieces that explores the idea of this new spirituality. The painting represents Block's meditation on the mistake of classical mysticism, a flawed system, he thinks, because of its lack of community involvement...."
Fayetteville Morning News:
"Into the Realm of Social Impact"
(Fayetteville, AR, April 10, 2008)
"In 2002, Maryland artist Tom Block set out to 'take my art out of the gallery and into the realm of real social impact.' His Human Rights Painting Project has been exhibited 25 times in the ensuing six years, and 24 of the portraits - which he says 'capture the range of emotions experienced in this battle' - will be on show beginning Monday at the Anne Kittrell Gallery on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville...."
Manhattan Magazine
(New York, NY, Spring 2008)
"The 27 colorful, richly textured canvases of artist Tom Block's series Human Rights Painting Project sent a strong and timely message to the Jasper community at an opening reception in February...."
Madison Courier:
"Artist uses skills to call attention to human rights"
(Madison, IN, January 12, 2008)
"Tom Block, whose vibrant, but sometimes disturbing paintings which illustrate the struggle for human rights, considers himself an activist first. An artist, second...."
Gazette Newspapers:
"A Voting Arts 'Block' to Highlight Human Rights"
(Silver Spring, MD, August 1, 2007)
"When local artist Tom Block was commissioned in June to install a public art piece along the entrance wall to the Kennett Street parking lot, he wanted to bring back the "public" into public art...."
Gazette Newspapers:
"Give Salaam, Shalom and Peace a Chance"
(Silver Spring, MD, February 28, 2007)
"'Convergences: Towards a Jewish/Muslim Renewal,' with artwork by Karim
Chaibi and Tom Block, who are Muslim and Jewish, respectively, 'explores
the positive aspects of the Jewish/Muslim liaison,' insists Heliport’s
curator David Fogel...."
PeaceTalks FM (radio interview)
http://peacetalks.fm/lounge.php
(scroll to the bottom of the page)
(Calgary, Canada, February 12,
2007
CoffeeHouse
TV (television interview)
http://www.archive.org/stream/coffeehouse_Convergence1/Convergence1.mp4
(Takoma
Park, MD, February 9, 2007
Gazette Newspapers:
"Art helps religions converge, emerge enlightened"
(Silver Spring, MD, January 31, 2007)
"Two artists, one Jewish and one Muslim, examine their faiths’ common
ground in upcoming exhibit. Through their art, Tom Block and Karim Chaibi
hope people can see more of the similarities between the Jewish and Muslim
religions
and less of the misunderstandings...."
Washington Jewish Week:
"Art overcoming politics"
(Washington D.C., January 25, 2007)
"...Much of the current enmity between Jews and Muslims is based on history,
but there is "a whole positive history that is ignored," says
Block, also 43, pointing to the period between the seventh and 15th centuries
when
Arabs and Jews lived together in the Middle East in amity...."
Gazette Newspapers:
"Tom
Block's 'Cousins' Mixes Abstraction, Philosophy"
(Silver Spring, MD, August 31 2005)
"A group of small acrylic paintings on paper, combining areas of color,
line drawings and bits of text, is on view at Space 7:10. Located inside
the
Kefa Café on Bonifant Street in downtown Silver Spring, this new art
venue is just the sort of place where artist Tom Block prefers to exhibit
his provocative
work...."
Greensboro News-Record:
"Tom
Block: The Human Rights Painting Project"
(Greensboro, NC, July 28, 2005)
"....Thickly painted expressionist
portraits of the survivors line the white gallery walls. Grim reality is balanced
by rich color giving the work emotional vibrancy. Each work is accompanied
by a brief written description of the travails of these victims. Many have
overcome their personal anguishes to become champions for justice...."
Baltimore Sun:
"Growth,
Struggles Reflected in Exhibit"
(Baltimore, MD, July 15, 2005)
"...Tom Block of Silver Spring makes large, boldly colored portraits
that depict individuals involved in the struggle for human rights around
the world.
Jessica
Damen of Baltimore paints colorful, textured works focused on children
and the experiences of growing up...."
Winston-Salem Journal:
"In the Struggle"
(Winston-Salem, NC, July 3, 2005)
"Tom Block began his professional life as a writer, but over the past 15 years
he has developed a parallel career as a visual artist. Since the late 1990s
he has focused his artistic energies largely on the creation of serial artworks
that explore social, political and philosophical issues, he said in a recent
telephone interview from his home on the outskirts of Washington...."
Washington Jewish Week:
"Art
in the Service of Politics"
(Washington DC, September 9, 2004)
"Tom Block is an artist with an activist bent. Art has traditionally 'been
prophetic and inspirational,' says
the Silver Spring painter, whose works are on exhibit at two local venues,
with
two more shows set to open next month...."
Style Weekly: "Activism
on Display"
(Richmond, VA, July 14, 2004)
Style Weekly: "Activision"
(Richmond, VA,
June 30, 2004)
Washington Post:
"Painter Mixes Art, Philosophy and Activism"
(Washington DC, April 29, 2004)
Gazette Newspapers: "Portraits
of Pain"
(Montgomery County, MD, July 30, 2003)
Metro Times: "Three
Detroit Galleries Make a Commitment to Understanding"
(Detroit, MI,
November 27, 2002)
The Detroiter: "Tom
Block: Cousins"
(Detroit, MI, November 2002)
Detroit Jewish News: "A
Shared Spiritual History"
(detroit, MI, October 4, 2002)
Sojourners Magazine: "Stirring the Imagination: Tom Block's
Human Rights Painting Project"
(Washington DC, July-August 2002)
Gazette Newspapers: "Silver
Spring Artist puts Human Face on Suffering"
(Montgomery County, MD, April 3, 2002)
Human Rights Painting Project Catalogue
(New York City, 2002)
Detroit Jewish News: "Spiritual
Abstractions"
(Detroit, December 14, 2001)
Link 6: "Maryland
Art Place Critic's Residency"
(Baltimore, MD, Summer 2001)
Link 6: "The
Tales We Tell: The Work of Tom Block"
(Baltimore, MD, Summer 2001)
Washington Times: "An
Artist's Enigmatic 'Friends'"
(Washington DC, February 8, 1997)
Diario ABC: "Young
Artists Group Show"
(Madrid, Spain, September 29, 1995)
Diario Hoy: "The
Purpose of Painting is to Reflect the
Spiritual, the Ineffable"
(Caceres, Spain, November 17, 1993) |
