Isaiah Zagar
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Isaiah Zagar (born 1940) is a Philadelphia mosaic artist. He is notable for his murals which are primarily in or around Philadelphia's South Street.
[edit] Works
The Magic Garden, Zagar's largest South Street mural, is an indoor/outdoor maze of mosaics inlaid with various pieces of poetry. One line reads, "I built this sanctuary to be inhabited by my ideas and my fantasies." Another says, "Remember walking around in this work of fiction."
Isaiah says of his personal creative philosophy,
"In 1959 when I was 19 years old I was introduced to the folk art environment of Clarence Schmidt, My Mirrored Hope, Woodstock, NY USA. Soon after in 1960 there was a groundbreaking exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, NY USA. Because that exhibition included assemblages of artists like Pablo Picasso, Jean Dubuffet, Curt Schwitters, Antonio Gaudi alongside of untrained brickaleurs Clarence Schmit, Simon Rodia and Joseph Ferdinand Cheval that gave me as a trained artist the rationale to include their concepts as manifestations of fine art. At a crucial time in my life it allowed me to begin what could be called a life's work making the city of Philadelphia PA USA into a labyrinthine mosaic museum that incorporates all my varied knowledge and skills."
He experienced some press attention in recent years when he was asked to provide $200,000 to preserve the Magic Garden in South Street, but he was unable to do so. Citizens of the Greater Philadelphia Area supported the cause with a great turnout. As of May 2007, the Garden is just $7,000 away from its goal.
Embedded in many of his works are the words "Art is the Center of the Real World". His murals reflect an appreciation for the imaginative human and sensual element in the potentially bleak urban environment. Beginning his public works in blighted, decrepit neighborhoods, these murals were part of the inspiration that transformed the environment.
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Http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l118/bajarlman/Magic Garden 08/me8053.jpg
Inside Zagar's Magic Garden |
Http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l118/bajarlman/Magic Garden 08/me8117.jpg
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[edit] Awards
- Pew Charitable Trust Individual Artist Fellowship Grant of $50,000.00 for work in the interdisciplinary arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1995
- National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C. 1979
- Member of the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers Artists Association
