Throughout history, people have faced intolerance, which frequently led to fear and death. Fear, whether it is real or imagined, leads to anger, then hate, and finally aggression. Indifference and greed can lead to prejudice, bigotry, and war. War compacts a lifetime of stress and tension into a brief period. It confirms that life is short and we must make the most of it. War wastes human potential. However, if we know the signs that lead to disaster, it is then possible to steer a safer course.
Lines were not only on the written page, but also separated armies, enclosed prisons, and kept everyone (in line) following orders. After fifty years, Stan Kaplan realized what was between the lines. He is an artist and observer of life and events around him. It is the meaning and his personal reactions to what he sees that he tries to express visually with gouge, knife, linoleum, ink, and paper.
Stan Kaplan has been an active artist since 1950. His body of work is divided between printmaking, artist's books, and wood-carved murals.
His prints are in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Public Library, The Brooklyn Museum, The Philadelphia Museum, and many others. His commissions have been from ITT, Wallace Labs, Dell Books, IBM, and many others. He has taught at Nassau Community College in Garden City, New York, for thirty years, and has written articles on art. A past president of the Society of American Graphic Artists, he also has had over thirty one-man art shows, and participated in over one hundred group print shows thoughout the USA, Europe, and Asia.
Images: Between the Lines is his sixth artist book. Stan Kaplan can be contacted at Tortoise Press, 47 Trapper Lane, Levittown, New York, 11756, USA.