Gainesville, Fla. - May 1, 2024 - Award-winning artist and professor of Art Emeritus John A. O’Connor announces the release of his book, White Lies Matter Too, book 2 in his series of “art-as-book” historical revisionism and satirical political critique. Primarily recognized for his Chalkboard Series, a group of works that repeatedly question the boundaries between reality and illusion, John A. O’Connor is an artist who believes that it is very important to re-establish the artist’s historical contributions to the formation of public policy and social justice issues. In the spirit of his predecessors, Bosch, Hogarth, and Goya, John began a new series in 2021, White Lies Matter: Decoding American Deceptionalism, (iUniverse, 2021). Now, the second book in the series, White Lies Matter Too, (Book Baby, 2024) has been released. John uses the same format that proved to be successful in the first book: sixty digital art works in the form of “fake slates” each accompanied by a one-page essay. Similarly, the “fake slates,” together with the essays, “. . .were created by the artist to reveal the deceptions, lies and cynicism of America and the ‘fake news’ that permeates contemporary society.” One of the most interesting things about the slate is that it eerily resembles and predates today’s iPad and other digital note-books. Using the latest advances in digital technology, John continues to “educate” the viewer about the lies, deception and cynicism rampant in today’s America.
About the Author
John A. O’Connor received his A.B. with Honors in Art in 1961 and his M.A.A. in 1963 in painting and drawing from the University of California-Davis. He taught art at the University of California-Davis from 1961-63, the University of California-Santa Barbara from 1963-64, Blake College, Valle de Bravo, Mexico from 1964-65, and Ohio University, Athens from 1965-69. From 1969, he taught art at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He was named Professor of Art in 1985, a position he held until his retirement in 2005.
He has had thirty-six solo exhibitions of his paintings and his art has also been exhibited in more than two hundred group shows. His work is in numerous public and private collections in the U.S. and abroad including the State of California Collection, the Ringling Museum of Art, the DeLand Museum of Art, the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Bechtel Corporation, Alabama Power and Light, Cole National Corporation and IBM Corporation. For a more comprehensive look at O’Connor’s career, please visit his website at johnaoconnor.com.
About the Book
“Artist/art professor John A. O’Connor characterizes his series, White Lies Matter, as “a history of American hypocrisy.” Using the image of the slate as a consistent base, White Lies Matter Too ranges across historical and contemporary America, touching down at flashpoints of inequality, misunderstanding, and conflict. From the gradual decay of national institutions to more immediate political crises, O’Connor’s project traverses a list of illegalities and cover-ups, oppressions and suppressions, tracing links between individuals and institutions in positions of influence. Book 2 begins with the continuous denigration of the indigenous population of America and moves on through the contradictory and belated embedding of religion in the nation’s founding documents, to the recent rise of Christian Evangelicals and White Supremacists. White Lies Matter Too continues to reveal the deceptions, lies, and cynicism of America and the “fake news” and “alt- facts” that permeate contemporary society.”
Note: Portions of the book description were written by Michael Wilson, a New York-based writer and editor and the author of How to Read Contemporary Art: Experiencing the Art of the 21st Century (New York: Abrams, 2013).
White Lies Matter by John A. O’Connor
Available at Book Baby Publishing
And at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Ingram
FACTS
Language : English
Publication Date : 04/18/2024
Format : Softcover
Dimensions : 8.5x11
Page Count : 158
ISBN : 9-798352-953176
Media Contact
Company Name: Literary Titan
Contact Person: Mallory O'Connor
Email: Send Email
Country: United States
Website: www.oconnorartllc.com
