From the Ithaca Journal

November 2007

11/21/07

A New Look At My Old Art

11/12/07

« November 2007 Archive

Monday, November 12, 2007
8:32:00 PM EST

From the Ithaca Journal

Here is my response to a survey. This was published recently in the Ithaca Journal.

Article published Nov 10, 2007

Literary Inspiration: Meet Stephen Poleskie

Where is your favorite place to write? In my studio at home.

Has Ithaca influenced your writing in any way? Yes,by knowing and being able to associate with all the fine writers who live in this town.

When do you get most of your writing done? In the evening, when all my other work is finished. Writing for me is a recreation. If no one wants to read what I have written at least I have had the joy of doing it. I have written 103 short stories, and published eight, and six novels and published one.

Name two books that have inspired your writing? “The Street of the Crocodiles” by Bruno Schulz, and “Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass” by Bruno Schulz

Who is your favorite author?

Bruno Schulz

What's your favorite font? Helvetica

What do you want readers to take away from your book(s)? A sense of understanding about what I have written, and how it relates to their own lives.

What do you love most about being an author? I am not adding to the large inventory of stuff I already have stored in the attic, garage, and barn left over from the years when I was a visual artist.

What are you working on? I have just finished a novel about deceit and corruption in the American political process.

If you could have dinner with any three fictional characters, which would you choose? Mrs. Marple, Sir Lancelot, and Rip van Winkle.

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A review of THE BALLOONIST

On the bookshelf: IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE

By Betsy Rider

What I read: “The Balloonist: the Story of T.S.C. Lowe, Inventor,Scientist, Magician, and Father of the U.S. Air Force” is a new book by Stephen Poleskie, who will sign his book from 5 to 8 p.m. this First Friday at Otto Book Store.

In the book, Poleskie follows his hero’s exploits through a whole passel of professions — farmhand, cobbler, showman, manufacturer of hot air balloons and volunteer surveillance balloonist during the Civil War. He takes you into living rooms, labs and workshops; into the elegant drawing rooms and the inelegant army camps — eveninto Lincoln’s White House to chronicle the life of this 19th-century man of many talents.

Poleskie’s biographer, if there is one, will have as daunting a task following his many paths in life as Poleskie had with Lowe’s life. Steve has filled many shoes in his 69 years. He has made his name in the art world, beginning with various forms through the representational, the abstract, the landscape, figure and screen prints.

His work is on display (through July) at the Terrain Gallery in New York City. He has owned and managed a screen print company. He has been a racer of motorcycles and has won the Canadian Open Aerobatic Championship. He has taken his art to the sky with his unique form of “aerial theater.”

This involves flying his biplane through loops, trailing white smoke in artistic designs in three dimensions, many times with music broadcast from the ground. It was on one of these aerial demonstrations that he spotted a UFO, which also was seen from the ground.

He has taught at Cornell and taught in Rome in the Cornell College of Art and Architecture Summer Abroad program.

He has displayed his photographs in art shows and has lectured since retiring from Cornell. He now has researched and published a historical novel, bringing Lowe to the place in our country’s history that he deserves.

Poleskie’s book paints the whole 19th century science and social experience with enough detail to make you feel you know what it was like to be there.

His appearance Friday at Otto’s, coming on the heels of his signing at the National Space and Air Museum last month, should be very exciting.

Rider is proprietor of Otto Book Store, 107 W. Fourth Street, Williamsport, PA

From the WILLIAMSPORT SUN-GAZETTE, 7/5/2007

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Thank you for logging on. THE BALLOONIST can be found at your local bookstore or ordered online at numerous providers, including Amazon.com.

The Balloonist: The Story of T. S. C. Lowe,
Inventor, Scientist, Magician, and Father of the U.S. Air Force
by Stephen Poleskie
Category: Fiction / Historical
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
On Sale: May 2007
Price: $24.95
ISBN: 978-1-929490-27-1

click on the title above for more information

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Brice Marden Says: (r)

IN PREVIOUS ENTRIES I HAVE mentioned that Brice Marden was a printer at my silk-screen shop Chiron Press. Here are some quotes from an interview with Brice conducted by Paul Cummings, on October 3, 1972. During the interview which was taped for the Archives of American Art, of the Smithsonian Institution, Brice spoke of his time working at Chiron Press, and living in the same building. After he left Chiron Press, Brice went to work for Robert Rauschenberg. Brice Marden is considered to be one of the most important American painters of the Mininalist movement.

BRICE MARDEN: . . . Alex (Katz)got me a job with a silkscreen printing place, Chiron Press; it was run by a guy named Steve Poleskie, (who became) head of graphics at Cornell. And there I started meeting these artists, and then friends of mine from Yale started moving to town, and I started meeting people and getting involved in a kind of scene thing. By that time there weren't so many musicians around there to hang out with and that just got awkward. About that time Max's opened and Max's was like a very important thing for me. I was there kind of meeting people, your peer group, and I met a lot of California artists through David Novros.

PAUL CUMMINGS: Yeah, Max's became the new Cedar Bar.

BRICE MARDEN: Yeah. I can remember hanging out in the Cedar but that just wasn't happening, you know, and so I was still sort of switching back and forth between the West Village type thing, you know, Kettle of Fish and the musicians and things like that. But Max's really kind of did it. I met Carl there, Carl Andre. I'd met him before and had seen his show that he had at Tibor with the big . . .

PAUL CUMMINGS: Styrofoam?

BRICE MARDEN: . . . the big styrofoam pieces. I really thought that was fantastic. We used to sit and get drunk, and Carl would tell all these stories, you know, he was just great. He was just fantastic.

PAUL CUMMINGS: And he loves to talk.

BRICE MARDEN: Yeah.

PAUL CUMMINGS: Well, what kind of work were you doing; you were at Chiron Press part time?

BRICE MARDEN: Yeah, that was to print silkscreens. You'd work with different artists and we were working with good artists, you know, Poleskie and I did the original Robert Indiana Love poster. That took days and days and days.

PAUL CUMMINGS: How did you like working with these different people in that type of circumstance?

BRICE MARDEN: It was very good. I was in New York and I was really anxious to meet people and stuff like that. But it was still very difficult. I would go to openings; there was always Tuesday night openings, and I'd go to all these openings and I'd be the only person who would look at anything. Everybody else knew everybody, and I didn't know anybody. But then you start meeting people and I met a lot of people through Steve Poleskie and we were both painting along. That whole building was full of artists; it was 76 Jefferson Street, lots of really good people.

PAUL CUMMINGS: Who else was there in those days?

BRICE MARDEN: Well, when I was there, Steve Poleskie, and Janet Fish was upstairs. I can't remember the guy who lived on the first floor. He used to work for Castelli but then he just kind of dropped out. Neil Williams had been in the building, and Emilio Cruz, Eric Dolphy had once lived there. Then after that, you know, like Gary Stephens and Neil Jenney and people like that were living. It was a good building. . . .

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You can read the complete text of this interview at http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/transcripts/marden/72.htm