From Classroom to Professional: 50 Alumni Artists – 64 Years of Artwork on Exhibit at Art and Design’s “Then and Now” Art Show September 6th through September 28th

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 5, 2006 – Fifty alumni artists of the High School of Art and Design (formerly the School of Industrial Art) will be exhibiting a work of art done when they were students at the school with a work of art done as professionals, in an art show aptly titled “Then and Now”.

The collection, which covers more than 60 years of work – from 1943 to the present – will be on display at the school’s Kenny Gallery, from Friday, September 7th through Friday, September 28th. It will be open to the public from 9am to 4pm, Mondays through Fridays. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, September 6th, from 5pm to 8pm. The High School of Art and Design is located at 1075 Second Avenue, between 56th and 57th Streets, in New York City. Among the artists who will have their "Then and Now" artwork included in the exhibition is renowned ad-venture/fantasy illustrator Joe Jusko (A&D 1977), whose work in the comic book industry has included covers and trading cards of Tarzan, Conan, Captain America, Vampirella and Lara Croft - Tomb Raider, among others. Joe also spent his early years as a New York City policeman and was moved to create a lithograph of Captain America saluting our fallen Police and Firefighter Heroes of September 11. Signed prints – and the original – were auctioned off to benefit the New York City Police and Fire Department Widow and Children's Fund. The poster will be added to the show to honor this year’s anniversary of the tragic event. Another exhibiting artist of interest is Sandra Fabara (A&D 1982), better known as the legendary Lady Pink – a graffiti writer, artist and muralist. Her bold canvasses and prints have graced the walls of numer-ous museums (The Museum of the City of New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the MET and the Whitney Museum of American Art) and won international acclaim in shows from London to Tokyo. “Pink” orga-nized the first graffiti show at Art & Design in November 1981, and will exhibit two giclee prints of sub-ways (whole cars) painted in 1982, each approximately 13" high by 44" long.

The late fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez (SIA 1960) – who was known worldwide simply as Antonio – will also be represented with a color illustration done for an Yves Saint Laurent magazine ad in 1984 and a pencil sketch created for a Bloomingdale’s newspaper ad in the early1980’s.

The oldest participant is Annamay Olsen, from the School of Industrial Art, Class of 1945 – whose school sketchbook from 1943 will be on display along with her professional work. The youngest is Abigail Mon-tes, from Art and Design’s Class of 1999, exhibiting her photography. Additionally, a pair of mother and daughter graduates will be displaying their work together: Aurora Downer (A&D 1985) and her mother, Jeanne Tatem Downer (SIA 1949), will both have their paintings and school work in the show. For added interest, a copy of the January 1949 SIA Highlights newsletter and the 1985 issue of the A&D Palette, containing an article by Aurora about both schools, will be included in the exhibition. And five of the school’s art teachers, who are also alumni of the school, will have their work on display

The High School of Art and Design is a Career and Technical Education school, founded in 1936 as the School of Industrial Art. Among its notable alumni are Paul Winchell, Tony Bennett, Eva Hesse, Calvin Klein, Antonio Lopez, Art Spiegelman, Eric Carr, Harvey Fierstein and Marc Jacobs. Among the school’s renowned faculty were Sculpture teacher Frank Eliscu (the designer of the Heisman Trophy), Poet Daisy Aldan and Pop Artist Tom Wesselmann