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9/11 W**d Prints
Susan Rowland (1940 - 2019)

During the winter after the attack on the World Trade Center, I obsessively read W.G. Sebald’s novels about destruction, memory and landscape. His stories reminded me that the butterfly bush, Buddleia, is revered by Europeans as the first plant to return after the firebombing of their cities. I wondered what would grow around our ruins in the first spring after 9/11.

I know the persistence of plants as for several years I have been making monoprints of city weeds from parking lots, cracks in the sidewalk, gutters and demolition sites. When the first spring growth of 2002 appeared on my Brooklyn sidewalk, I went over to the chaotic destruction area to look for green.

On that day, March 11, 2002, the only sprouts I found were at the base of the south side of a building on Edgar Street. With Marina Ancona at Ten Grand Press, I printed those tiny green leaves. I was never allowed into the center of the site, hardhat territory, but all summer I walked the circumference and collected 22 annual species growing from seeds that had been buried under rubble and ash. On each print I have written where the plant was growing and have stamped the latitude and longitude of the center of the World Trade site, the target.

Rowland’s 9/11 W**d Monoprints are in the collection of the Whitney Museum among other exhibitions and publications.

Contact us if you are interested in purchasing a 9/11 W**d Print. Proceeds will benefit the Brooklyn Arts Council.

Jud Nelson remembers Walter (Fritz) Mondale upon his death at age 93.

“I woke up this morning to see all of these photos of Fritz in the news, shot from every angle and thought, ‘I love you.’” The obituaries of Walter Mondale with their accompanying photos reminded sculptor Jud Nelson of his 1982 commission to carve a marble bust of Vice President Mondale for the U.S. Capitol.

Nelson continues,

We had a photographer take multiple photos of Mondale while I measured his head and face for reference in order to carve the bust. I had to concentrate on every angle of Mondale’s face, head and shoulders. My first step was to sculpt a clay model that I worked on for three months before Mondale returned to my studio. Well, much to my surprise, Mondale walks in as a much thinner man. He had been dieting those three months and my reference photos of him were obsolete!

Mondale looks at the clay model and said “My neck doesn’t look like that!” I started pulling clay off of the model to represent the thinner Mondale and basically had to start over. Regardless, hefty or slender, I had to capture Mondale.

While working on the commission, Fritz and I spent a lot of time together and realized we shared many similarities – we had fathers that were preachers and we loved to fish.

Mondale periodically visited Nelson’s studio, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn to model and check on the progress of his bust. At that time, Greenpoint was a crowded, working class neighborhood full of Polish immigrants. Mondale and Nelson would walk all over Greenpoint, going into stores and restaurants, talking to everybody they met. Mondale genuinely enjoyed people.

Mondale had an agenda for the sculpture, a smile on his face. As a minister's kid, he knew a smile means "I love you".

“It was an honor to know Walter Mondale and work with him on his bust.” Nelson adds, “May he rest in peace.”

During the winter after the attack on the World Trade Center I obsessively read W.G. Sebald’s novels about destruction, memory and landscape. His stories reminded me that the butterfly bush, Buddleia, is revered by Europeans as the first plant to return after the firebombing of their cities. I wondered what would grow around our ruins in the first spring after 9/11.

I know the persistence of plants as for several years I have been making monoprints of city weeds from parking lots, cracks in the sidewalk, gutters and demolition sites. When the first spring growth of 2002 appeared on my Brooklyn sidewalk, I went over to the chaotic destruction area to look for green.

On that day, March 11, 2002, the only sprouts I found were at the base of the south side of a building on Edgar Street. With Marina Ancona at Ten Grand Press, I printed those tiny green leaves. I was never allowed into the center of the site, hardhat territory, but all summer I walked the circumference and collected 22 annual species growing from seeds that had been buried under rubble and ash. On each print I have written where the plant was growing and have stamped the latitude and longitude of the center of the World Trade site, the target.
Susan Rowland

http://www.townhouse.bz/blog/?p=2181

Susan Scott Rowland passed away Sunday, August 25, 2019.

Susan Rowland was a creative force, with a slender physique and a large mind. I was one of many that loved and admired her. Susan left a body of work that provokes and resonates.

Read more about Susan's work at the link above.

Susan Scott Rowland obituary:
https://www.collinsfuneralhome.com/rowland-susan-scott

Townhouse » Blog Archive » Susan Scott Rowland, 1940-2019

We are proud to announce the launch of judnelson.com - a website of Jud Nelson's powerful, minimalist sculpture.

Nelson's sculpture is in the collections of the Walker Art Center, Guggenheim Museum, the Gerald R. Ford Museum and The United States Capital.

Contact townhouse.bz for more information.

Happy Valentines Day!
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Portrait of Candy Hearts by Jud Nelson. Carrara Marble, 1984.
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Yesterday I went to see the art at the new 2nd Avenue Subway. It is spectacular. Chuck Close's mosaic portraits blew me away. They all used different techniques in their ex*****on. He is at the peak of his abilities well into his 70's and confined to a wheelchair.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah!
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Herbert Kapitzki: Omnia Fluunt. Latin for "All things are in a state of flux". A greeting card produced by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), 1968. Two acetate circles with the same image in black, overlaid, allowing infinite combinations when moved.

Romare Beardon: Mother and Child. A greeting card produced by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), 1965. Silk screened with 3 colors. The inside reads "Peace". One of a portfolio of original greeting cards for MOMA during the 1960's featuring artwork by iconic fine artists including Paul Klee, Bridget Riley, Folon and more.

Check out Romare Beardon's body of artwork. It is stunning.

Tsai Wen-Ying: Trichromic III. A greeting card produced by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), 1965. Silk screened with 3 colors. The inside reads "Merry Christmas". One of a portfolio of original greeting cards for MOMA during the 1960's featuring artwork by iconic fine artists including Paul Klee, Bridget Riley, Folon and more.

Lupold Domberger: Fire and Earth. A greeting card produced by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), 1968. The inside reads "Merry Christmas ". Silk screened with 7 colors, in West Germany. One of a portfolio of original greeting cards for MOMA during the 1960's featuring artwork by iconic fine artists including Paul Klee, Bridget Riley, Folon and more

A detail from Harry Sloviak: Snow Screen. A greeting card produced by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), 1966. Embossed and punctured on a textured, deckle edged stock. One of a portfolio of original greeting cards for MOMA during the 1960's featuring artwork by iconic fine artists including Paul Klee, Bridget Riley, Folon and more.