User:Originale/Rosenthal sandbox

Barbara Rosenthal (b. 1948, The Bronx, New York) is an American avant-garde artist and writer. Her existential themes have contributed to contemporary art and art philosophy. Her pseudonyms include "Homo Futurus," taken from the title of one of her books, and "Cassandra-on-the-Hudson" , which alludes to her studio and residence on the Hudson River in Greenwich Village, NYC.

She is known for having brought content, via the subconscious, to photography and Conceptual Art, sometimes unveiling human horrors. Her main theme is art and life in terms of personal and human identity and communication. The work is simple and direct, often employing humor and irony8b. Her stature is said to derive from intense introspection.

As an artist, she works across the media of photography, video, performance, projection, installation, interactive and digital media, text, collage, prints, artists' books and objects. Almost all are produced in multiples or editions, and most combine camera, text and performative aspects11b. Elements from her dream-like surreal photography are also often present. She often revisits past works, recombining old elements with new8c. She often appears in the work in some way, including x-rays, brain scans and clothing11c, as do physical or textual elements from her Journals. She often uses dolls and puppets, toys and games , news clippings, and images and texts from science13b.

As a writer, she produces aphorisms, slogans, quips, poetry, stories, novels, artist's books, pamphlets, art criticism, reviews and essays. She has kept lifelong Journals since age eleven11d. She is a regular contributor to NYArts Magazine. She is known for her principled stand against art as advocacy, which she labels “retro-garde”, and which sets her in opposition to the prevailing political, cultural and feminist trends in contemporary art.20b She argues philosophically that High Art can be produced only from the "soul and psyche"18b. Originale (talk) 21:22, 11 December 2008 (UTC)