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Barbara Nessim is an artist, illustrator, teacher, and innovator — a self-taught computer artist whose work is as at home on the cover of a magazine as it is hanging on a gallery wall. Mastering a series of computer programs when no other artist was even remotely interested in the newfangled computer, Barbara led the way and opened up a whole new category of art. In addition to expanding commercial art, Barbara advanced within fine art and has had exhibitions at the Louvre. A forever curious pathfinder, Barbara has found time to teach and has served for the past 12 years as the Chair of the Illustration Department at Parsons. We sat down to speak with Barbara in her pristine SoHo loft studio.3x3 Tell us about your early schooling and influences. Barbara Nessim The Highschool of Industrial Art (now Art and Design) was my first "official art school." The daily commute from the Bronx gave me independence as well as opening the door to an urban landscape full of interest - Manhattan. Continuing on to Pratt I entered the Department of Illustration and Fine Art. I was much more interested in the commercial side of the department and was open to learning everything I could. Focusing on doing art to make a living added to my quest for independence - which I now see, looking back, was my major goal. 3x3 What made you decide to become an illustrator? BN In the back of my mind I didn't think I would be an illustrator. I was sure I'd be in advertising and perhaps own an agency. I also didn't think I was that talented. My views were unpopular in my class. Most of the class was interested in fine art. I had very definite ideas of who I was and what I wanted. So I was very surprised when I started to pursue being an illustrator and liking the challenge. My influences were David Stone Martin, Richard Lindner, Bob Gill, Robert Weaver, Tomi Ungerer, Thomas B. Allen, Fritz Eichenburg, Jacob Landau, and a string of other "originals." 3x3 Tell us about your first job out of school. BN During my last few months in school I put together a mailing list of art directors in book publishing, made a woodcut, printed 100 signed prints and mailed them to the art directors. Within a week I got my first job to illustrate a book cover for Doubleday where I made a woodcut in three colors. I got a job working three days a week doing colorings for a textile company and the other two days I took my book around to art directors. On the weekend I worked on any job I happened to get. I also entered the Society of Illustrators show and won a Special Merit award for a series of 10 monotype etchings entitled "Man and Machine." 3x3 How did you arrive at your unique style? BN This is an interesting question. I never consciously tried to have a "style." During my school years I always had a sketchbook. In these 9"x6" books I continued my secret drawings. The more drawing I did the more they developed and the more they became mine. After about two years of constant work filling these books, I had discovered I became secure in my style. To this day I still keep these books and do about three or four a year. They keep me connected to my subconscious. 3x3 There seems to be the influence of Matisse in your work. Who are other influences? BN I love to look at other artists and appreciate each one's unique approach. I wonder how they conceived this or that idea. But when it comes to being influenced I have to say that, for me, the process is so internal that I am totally unaware of any influences. When I was in college, I loved Modigliani, Arshile Gorky and David Hockney, among others. The first time I experienced a chill up my spine was when I viewed Gorky's painting "Agony." However, I love to look at so many different artists, for so many different reasons, that it is impossible to choose a favorite. 3x3 There's a timeless quality to your work. Why do you think this is so? BN I try to keep the figures very neutral. I accomplish this by clothing my figures in leotards and eliminating any hair "style" on the women and men. This way you can't pin an "era" on the women and men. They become just human situations with no clues as to the time frame. The same goes for the simple interior or exterior. 3x3 Who do you think responds more to your work, women or men? BN I think women understand the work in a more intuituve way. I love to draw women and if a man enters into the picture he is usually there in response to a woman. I also think that my work is understood after you get to know it. Over the years I have had a lot of people say to me that they didn't really like my work when they first saw it. And then, after years of "getting familiar" with it, they love it and they can't explain why. 3x3 When approaching an assignment, what is the most important information the art director can give? BN I ask many questions. After discussing the time frame, the price and the rights, I need to know the editor's and art director's views about the article. I want to know how far I can take it. I am always aware that I am a "service." That means I am there to visually express my interpretation, as well as satisfy the idea behind the story, satisfy the editor, the art director and, of course, to provide an interesting and visually informative aspect to the reader. 3x3 What prompted you to explore the digital world? BN To make a long story short, in 1980 I was invited to MIT. Muriel Cooper had just opened the Visible Language Workshop Graduate Program, it was the first program developed for artists, programmers, and computer hardware students to work together. I was so intrigued with the conversations I was having with Peter Spackman, head of the council for The Arts at MIT, that I actively looked for a computer in New York. Time Incorporated had a new "secret" program they were experimenting with called TVIS (Time Video Information Services). It was a precursor to the internet. I was invited to be an "Artist in Residence" and taught myself how to use their computers. I was also allowed to work from 5pm to 9am, and I went there for a period of two years until they closed down in 1983. With the help of manuals, I became proficient and created a body of work. 3x3 Are you drawing with the computer or using it as a reproduction device? BN Over the last 24 years, I've used the computer in so many ways. One of the major challenges is not creating the art, but how you show it. The creative process extends to how the work is exhibited. I have done 35mm slides, CIBA-chromes, videos, early non-archival inkjet prints, Polaroid, as well as pastel hand-colored tiled larger artworks, 3-D Stereo-pair works, very large modular works hand-painted with acrylics, unique archival inkjet prints printed on canvas, and "randomly" moving software art shown on a wall-mounted monitor. There is more to add to this list and I am always thinking of new ways to show my art. I've learned to use so many programs over the years. Many of them do not exist today. 3x3 Why do you think so few artists followed you into the digital area? BN Because it is challenging to be constantly learning something new all the time. It is a bottomless pit. 3x3 Do you find it easy to cross between the commercial world of illustration and fine art? BN Yes I do. I am very aware of the end result of where the work will be seen and work accordingly. When I work for myself, I don't want to think consciously about anything because when I work for commerce I have to think about everything and everyone. I enjoy the difference. 3x3 What do you think about the current state of illustration? Illustrators? BN We are in the midst of a revolution. As in every revolution, change is challenging the "norm." Most people have an aversion to change. I believe in every change there is an opportunity as large as the change taking place. One has the chance of exploring new markets. There is the moving image that can be used in so many graphic ways on websites and TV, for example. There is also licensing art for products. The world is always changing and we have to change with it if we still want to be working. 3x3 What part do you believe a good business mind plays in being a successful illustrator? BN I think a major part. Good business, in my mind, means a lot of things. Having a good understanding of people, being open to new opportunities - even if they may seem strange in the beginning and not being afraid to venture into new areas. 3x3 If you had to pick a favorite assignment, what would it be? BN I still love looking at my cover for Time Magazine. The assignment was to reflect on the women's movement and to do anything I wanted. I decided to illustrate the moment we were in. After 10 years of lobbying and working to bring the ERA to Congress, it was defeated and women felt let down. My illustration simply reflected that feeling. 3x3 If you were to change careers, is there something else that intrigues you more than art? BN All in all, my first love is illustration and painting. Oh, and I also love to cut my friend's hair if they let me. |
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