Jack Diamond
Renaissance Artist
From his earliest years, Mr. Diamond showed a propensity for creating Socially aware art. At the age of 13 taking a large block of discarded dried clay, which he found in an art class trash can, he sculptured an evocative work that he titled, “S.O.D.” “Society Of the Damned” The work was approximately 16”l x12”w x10”h. Carved on the two sides were figures climbing towards the top. Many with their arms stretched out as they lifted babies, some over the top, above themselves, symbolizing what he saw was the nature of society, pushing their children to the top. The top was covered with dismembered dead bodies. On the front of the sculpture was a tree and with a coiled snake on it. At the opposite end, he carved a niche and in it the serine figure of a woman at peace having found her place in the world. Opting out of the college path Mr. Diamond chose instead to hone his skills and learn his craft in the working world of craftsmen. Serving apprenticeships under master craftsmen in several disciplines he eventually achieved his goal of becoming a master craftsman in painting as well as woodworking and original furniture creation. Although he made his living as a master painter creating murals, trompe l’oeil and faux finishes for international designers primarily in Beverly Hills Ca. Mr. Diamond continued to work on finding his own voice through his original art. In the late 1990's he found that voice. As he puts it “All great artist have one thing in common. They have captured the very atmosphere of the times that they lived in.” With that realization, he began to express himself, using color and image, on matters ranging from social political, and environmental to the simple visual pleasures of nature and architecture. Painting his life in New York City he created images of the cities past and metamorphous into the future. Mr. Diamond’s rural county scenes of his youth as well as remembered vistas from his many travels continue to have a place in his body of work.
A true modern Renaissance artist Mr. Diamond’s work continues into its sixth decade.