Tag Archives: Artists

Paul Buhle : Comix Artist Spain Rodriguez (1940-2012)

Spain Rodriguez: Transforming comics. Image from CBLDF.The passing of a comix pioneer:Spain Rodriguez (1940-2012) By Paul Buhle / Dissent / December 12, 2012 In Trashman: Agent of the Sixth International, the signature saga of his early years, Rodriguez’s revolutionaries took … Continue reading

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BOOKS / C.E. McAuley : Jonah Raskin’s Bio of ‘Pedagogical Pilgrim’ James McGrath

Jonah Raskin’s biography of artist/teacher James McGrath was designed by Rag Blog art director James Retherford.Pedagogical pilgrim: Jonah Raskin’s new bio ofartist/teacher James McGrath Raskin’s new biography is no simple valentine from one teacher to another. It is an in-depth … Continue reading

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BOOKS / Doug Ireland : Iconic Artist Grant Wood Was Man of Many Closets

A man of many closets:New biography of Grant Woodopens all the doors By Doug Ireland / The Rag Blog / October 27, 2010 [Grant Wood: A Life by R. Tripp Evans (Knopf, 2010); Hardcover, 401 pp, $37.50.] Grant Wood’s “American … Continue reading

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Paul Buhle : Pekar and Kupferberg were Oblique Jewish Intellectuals

Harvey Pekar (left) in 2003, and Tuli Kupferberg in 1968. Photos from Getty Images / Forward.Harvey Pekar and Tuli Kupferberg:They looked at the world from an oblique angle By Paul Buhle / The Rag Blog / July 28, 2010 See … Continue reading

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Ramsey Wiggins : Me and Gilbert Shelton: A Memoir

Legendary underground cartoonist and comix artist Gilbert Shelton.Me and Gilbert Shelton: A Memoir By Ramsey Wiggins / The Rag Blog / March 8, 2010 Legendary underground artist Gilbert Shelton will be Thorne Dreyer’s guest on Rag Radio, Tuesday, March 9, … Continue reading

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R.I.P. Bill Narum : Legendary Artist of the Texas Counterculture

Below, cover of Space City!, June 1, 1971. Illustration and design by Bill Narum. Bill Narum was a dear friend of The Rag Blog and my personal friend and colleague for more than four decades. He was art director at … Continue reading

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Bob Simmons on Austin’s Jack Jackson : History’s Cartoonist

Jack Jackson. Painting by Scout Stormcloud / The Rag Blog. Jackson left a large body of work behind that will assure that people will be reading and looking at his handiwork for as long as we have a world that … Continue reading

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Chris Jordan : The Photographer as Agent of Environmental Change

Chris Jordan took this photo at a Florida cellphone-processing plant, which he says sorts about 50,000 phones a month. Working ones are resold; the rest are shredded and burned to recover a tiny amount of gold in each one. “Pound … Continue reading

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Cuba: Encouraging Artists to Criticize the System

Cuba’s Minister of Culture Abel Prieto in Havana during an interview he granted La Jornada. Photo: Pablo Espinosa.Cuba urges artists to be critical in order to defend the utopia, Abel Prieto saysBy Pablo Espinosa A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter … Continue reading

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Frank Shepard Fairey: Grafitti Legend Claims Arrest Before Big Show is Political

Frank Shepard Fairey / ExopolisStreet artist Frank Shepard Fairey at Institute of Contemporary Art earlier this month. Photo by David L. Ryan / Boston Globe.Police arrest Obama artist and ‘Andre the Giant’ tagger just before opening at the Institute of … Continue reading

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Frank Cieciorka’s Self-Inscribed Eulogy

Frank CieciorkaIn Memoriam: Frank CieciorkaBy Bruce Anderson / December 3, 2008 Frank Cieciorka died [at the end of November 2008] at his home in Alderpoint, Southern Humboldt County. A modest, soft-spoken man whose passing will sadden everyone who knew him, … Continue reading

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BOOKS / ‘We Lost the Vietnam War Because We Didn’t Understand That They Were Poets’

A detail of “Guerrilla Warfare: A Surprise Attack,” 1966. To see several other images from “Mekong Diaries,” click here (PDF file). Graphic: Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum.Christian Appy on ‘Mekong Diaries’By Christian G. Appy / January 16, 2009 … Continue reading

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