Published July 30. 2004 7:30AM Brenda Flynn Point Click
I feel compelled to write about subjects that come across my mind and touch a personal nerve ending. I used to call them rants.
This particular rant is about the misconception that the computer and software programs used on computers are not valid tools in creating art.
Let's go back to the dawn of time. Cave artists used burnt wood and limestone and God knows what else to create marvelous depictions of what they saw in their primitive world. The limestone and burnt wood were tools to convey that art.
Let's jump ahead a little bit. Da Vinci and Michaelangelo, both of whom created some really classy pieces of work, used, among other things, paints made from egg and the basic dime store chisel and hammer. What made them artists were not the ways by which these artworks were created, but the persons wielding the tools.
The tools we artists use to create - whatever it is we create - are what we have access to. Just as many bush aborigines in Australia still use dried muds and berries to decorate fabrics and faces, artists in New York use oils and acrylics and gesso and pre-stretched canvas. The photographer, once limited to flash bulbs, film and a dark room, can now use digital cameras and download images directly to the computer. Computer artists use computer brushes and digitalized colors in software programs to image their works.
I've often heard from other artists that computerized art is easy, requires no talent, just the push of a few buttons. The computer does all the work.
Not so, my friends. The computer is a tool, just as burnt wood was to the cave artists, and just as oils and brushes are to conventional painters. An artist is a person who sees a divine, creative vision on a blank canvas - and that blank canvas can be a computer screen - and reproduces their vision for others to see.
Artists who use the tools of technology to create on computers are every bit as valid as those who use the tools of a brush and paint. Just as it takes some people years to develop their artistic talents in using a brush and paint, it takes years to develop the know-how to effectively create imagery on a computer screen.
For a book on using the computer as an artists' tool, check out the title, "Creative Computer Tools for Artists: Using Software to Develop Drawings and Paintings," by Jann Lawrence Pollard and Jerry James Little, available through Amazon.com.
For one of many computer-generated artist sites, check out The Art of Doug Leblang, http://dougleblangartist.com . The computer art he creates, as well as the art he creates via conventional methods, will convince you of the validity of the statement that a true artist can create art out of sand and spit just as well as paint and canvas.
Also check out The Worldwide Art Gallery, www.theartgallery.com.au . And for a history of digital art, and images that may change your perspective of art created on the computer, visit the Digital Art Museum at www.dam.org .
Carl MacGowen
August 15, 2004
What: "Jazz," at Queens Hospital Center, Jamaica.
Why: Art and music sometimes are the best medicine. Or so goes the thinking behind this exhibit of work by 19 local artists.
Paintings and other pieces inspired by the rich history of jazz in New York City are on display in the hospital's lobby. Designed with the help of the Queens Council on the Arts, Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center, and the Health and Hospitals Corporation Art Collection, the exhibit is meant to draw attention to the therapeutic value of art, even in an age of magnetic resonance imaging and arthroscopic surgery.
Among the works on display are abstract paintings, photographs of musicians, portraits and scenes from everyday life. Similar exhibits have been staged at Elmhurst Hospital, said Remy Shaber, program director for Queens Council on the Arts. The current exhibit is the first at Queens Hospital Center, but likely not the last, she said.
"These works inspire, they bring joy and they heal," Queens Hospital Center executive director Antonio Martin said in a statement. " ... It is especially meaningful that these very talented artists reside in Queens. Our hospital has been transformed into a gallery with the contribution of these extraordinary individuals."
The artists include Candida Alvarez, Barbara Arnstien, [CORRECTION: "Jazz," an exhibit at Queens Hospital Center in Jamaica through Aug. 26, includes work by the artist Barbara Arnstein. Her name was misspelled in a listing Sunday in the City Life section. Pg. A08 C 8/16/04] Rikki Asher, Trang Bui, Edwin Cadiz, Lia Chang, Michael Cummings, Lisa Gardener, Norma Greenwood, Mikhail Gubin, Alex Harsley, Greta Jaklitsch, Doug Leblang, Michael Lorenzini, Agnes Martinez, Valerie Phillips, John Romanski, Constanta Varadeanu and James VanDerzee.
When and where: Through Aug. 26, at Queens Hospital Center, 82-68 164th St., Jamaica. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
How much: Free.
Getting there: From the Grand Central Parkway, take Exit 16 eastbound or Exit 17 westbound and follow Parsons Boulevard or 164th Street north to the hospital.
More questions: Call 718-883-3000.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
Doug Leblang, who has lived in the neighborhood for most of his life, has accurately chronicled the 20th century Middle Village experience in his works.
Doug's family settled in Middle Village in 1912. His father, David, who was very involved in the community, owned Leblang's Pharmacy at the corner of 78th Street and 68th Avenue for fifty years .
Doug majored in art history at Boston University and found inspiration in the works of such artists as Edgar Dégas, Edward Hopper and Johannes Vermeer.
He then received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts. He was a successful commercial illustrator, designer and art director in corporate America for thirty years and is now a full-time fine artist.
A firm believer in the healing power of the arts, Doug has used his talent to help people in institutional environments. Among his many community art projects, he has worked with groups in a Queens psychiatric institution, a Manhattan homeless shelter, a Bronx nursing home and a Harlem day care center. In the 2004, the New York City Health and Hospital Art Collection selected two of Doug's images for its is exhibit "Jazz and the Visual Arts" at the Queens Hospital Center.
In addition to being a visual artist, Doug is a popular singer and musician, having entertained at city senior centers and at the 92nd St "Y." He also performs as a volunteer in soup kitchens, hospitals and nursing homes. Doug has always had a fascination with the simple beauty of everyday life in Middle Village. Since the early 1950's he has featured his hometown in his paintings. His most recent exhibits, entitled "Middle Village of Old" and "Metropolitan Avenue and Beyond," were showcased at the Middle Village Public Library in 2005, and brought back happy memories of times gone by, while also providing a valuable history lesson.
His works are also featured on the website, Forgotten-NY.com to familiarize the reader with Queens treasures that have been lost over time. Please visit Doug's website, dougleblangartist.com, to view the rest of his collection.
