Mark Weinberg

Artist Statement

Art is, to me, the most engaging stream of communication between human beings. It naturally allows one to express ideas and feelings in ways that provoke thoughts and emotions in others.  That communication is, almost always, ambiguous and many of my pieces utilize that uncertainty to provoke connections with others that I didn't even know existed. It now allows me to speak powerfully about my views on current political and social topics.  It also permits me to express my take on human beings, their nature and pursuits.

Artist Training

At the age of 45, I began studying drawing, then painting, as a private student of Phillip Ratner, renowned creator of the Ellis Island immigrant statues, sculptures of Supreme Court Justices that to this day grace The Court and First Artist in Residence of The Israel Bible Museum, Safed, Israel. For an extensive selection of his works, see The Ratner Museum

Beginning in 1992, Phillip assigned me to copy in freehand high contrast black and white photographs of famous people by Josef Karsh, then showed me how to translate the dark and light portions of my drawings into islands of color using acrylic paints. He then turned me loose to draw and paint what I chose, critiquing each effort which I brought to him for his review. Phil suggested themes worthy of exploration, giving me the freedom to create and confidence that I had things worth saying.