Synopsis "Art Speaks: Poems and Drawings by Alvin Sandler (in English)"
In ART SPEAKS, an artist extends himself through words, finding the image, the color, the meaning, the structure, and the music within himself. Alvin Sandler is an artist, print-maker, and sculptor, who also writes. "Art Speaks", is his third book in as many years, preceded by "My Life in Pictures", in 2012, and "Drawing the Line Demonstrations in Art", 2011. In 1992 he published a hand-painted edition of "Picture Poems". In the author's words; " 'Art Speaks' is a collection of 50 poems that span my youth, and my maturity, up to the present. As an artist who also writes, I thought my poems needed the support of art, to stand. I resolved to face each poem with a work of my art. The poems were mostly written; the art would all be new. After several months, and 40 attempts of uncertain style, I had only 6 pieces that served. That left 44 to go. It wasn't as torturous as it sounds. I designed a decent format, tested and explored various media, and finally found the right style to complement my poems. From then on, it was all art-- if I could produce it; happily I did." Painter, printmaker, writer, Alvin Sandler, born in Brooklyn in 1933, is a graduate of New York's High School of Music and Art. He studied drawing and printmaking at the Art Students' League, and at Pratt Graphics Center, furthering his studies at the Instituto de Bellas Artes, Mexico, and with engraver Leopoldo Mendez, and muralist Pablo O'Higgens. Upon his return from Mexico, at age 20, Sandler had his first solo show in New York City. Exhibitions and honors followed, including awards from the National Academy of Design, and the National Arts Club, two solo shows at the Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, N.Y., Long Island University, and New York University. His color etchings have received numerous national and regional awards. His triptych mural "The American Passion" is in The Schomberg Collection, New York Public Library. After dividing several years between Ajijic, Mexico, and Manhattan, in 1981 Sandler moved to Bisbee, Arizona, where he has lived with his wife, artist Katherine Hagstrum, for over thirty years, enjoying the beauty of the Southwest landscape, with new adventures in art, with paintings, drawings, etchings, monotypes, and more recently, sculpture. Sandler has exhibited in Tucson, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Santa Fe, Douglas, Wilcox, and Bisbee. He has won many prizes in the region, including a solo exhibition at the Schemer Museum, Phoenix. Since 2010 he has invested himself in producing three books, summing up in words and pictures, his insights and experience for a reading public.
