Let George Do It

By George Deem

Born on a farm near Vincennes, Indiana, George Deem (1932-2008), graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Although artist George Deem's greatest contribution is surely his art, in which he explores the process of altering the past in a way that allows it to embrace the present and future, Deem was also insistent on the importance of language in relation to art as a process of thinking, of "thinking that is painting." His marvelous short essays, aphorisms, and fables, accordingly, have the lightness of a pencil sketch, the delight of exploring space and color through writing and thinking itself. Placed against (or perhaps one should say beside) his drawings and paintings Let George Do It clearly reveals just how much George did through both language and art.

— Douglas Messerli

George Deem lived in England, Italy, and New York, where he exhibited his work at Allan Stone Gallery and Pavel Zoubok Gallery. His paintings have been the subject of several museum exhibitions and are included in numerous American and European public collections. Among his publications are Art School and How to Paint a Vermeer: A Painter's History of Art, both published by Thames & Hudson.

2009    91 pages    $28.00    ISBN: 978-0-942996-68-5