Deaf Artists in America: Colonial to Contemporary

Rating:
Summary: The incredible sound of silence
Review: A long overdue book. When are we finally going to appreciate the creative impetus of impaired dimensions? I am that I am. Whatever the Mind's Eye reflects onto the genius of Art, that is the corner of Infinite Ecstasy for the beholder!
I have personally known a NY deaf artist, who is well mentioned in this excellent book (Wildbank), and I found him extraordinary in all aspects with his sense of color, re-visualization, approach to subliminal sources of imagery: a feast of senses, where senses are not there in full. How can you not stand in awe?
The illusionism of the images presented in this book works because it reflects the vision of artists envisaging through another plane of appraisal. Artists here so carefully construct the perceived space, create the sense of texture in objects, and naturalistically render light effects that the viewer feels immediately drawn into that world.
Wildbank for instance provides me with acceptance of his work's existence as a matter of course. My overriding sense in looking at his production is that if illusionism exists here, it is to be found in the Mind, not in the reality it reflects.

The artificial constructs of certain paintings presented in this books are dynamically charged in space and are convincing because of the realistic character of the light and textural effects the artists create, that can only be engedered by a different perceptual stance. Colors range from the deep reds, blues, and blacks in the shadows to the very light, almost pastel tones of the summarily indicated patterns on sunlit and receding planes along top and left edges.

In many instances the artists presented accent the textural characteristics of their painted objects through the way light hits their surfaces. You can comprehend the interest of a deaf artist in the interaction of light with such objects, when silence dominates everything else around them. Upon examining these light effects, one realizes not only how carefully the artist observes its various characteristics, but also how he uses them selectively and creatively. By selectively eliminating shadows, at times the artist minimizes the temporal quality of the light entering the painting. The shadows create the semblance of reality while minimizing the transitory nature of the moment.

A must read for the discovery of silent creative auras.