Features/Reviews

The 27 colorful, richly textured canvases of artist Tom Block's series Human Rights Painting Project sent a strong and timely message to the Jasper community at an opening reception in February....

Tom Block, whose vibrant, but sometimes disturbing paintings which illustrate the struggle for human rights, considers himself an activist first. An artist, second.

Given the antipathy in many unenlightened quarters to the idea of 'The Levantine Option' - that Jews and Muslims shared a common culture over many centuries in the Middle East, and it is this culture that will act as the salve through which the two peoples will be able to reconcile - it is of the utmost significance to find anyone who will support the matter publicly....

When local artist Tom Block was commissioned in June to install a public art piece along the entrance wall to the Kennett Street parking lot, he wanted to bring back the "public" into public art....

Convergences: Towards a Jewish/Muslim Renewal,' with artwork by Karim Chaibi and Tom Block, who are Muslim and Jewish, respectively, 'explores the positive aspects of the Jewish/Muslim liaison,' insists Heliport’s curator David Fogel....

Two artists, one Jewish and one Muslim, examine their faiths’ common ground in upcoming exhibit. Through their art, Tom Block and Karim Chaibi hope people can see more of the similarities between the Jewish and Muslim religions and less of the misunderstandings....

...Much of the current enmity between Jews and Muslims is based on history, but there is "a whole positive history that is ignored," says Block, also 43, pointing to the period between the seventh and 15th centuries when Arabs and Jews lived together in the Middle East in amity....

A group of small acrylic paintings on paper, combining areas of color, line drawings and bits of text, is on view at Space 7:10. Located inside the Kefa Café on Bonifant Street in downtown Silver Spring, this new art venue is just the sort of place where artist Tom Block prefers to exhibit his provocative work....

...Tom Block of Silver Spring makes large, boldly colored portraits that depict individuals involved in the struggle for human rights around the world. Jessica Damen of Baltimore paints colorful, textured works focused on children and the experiences of growing up....

Tom Block began his professional life as a writer, but over the past 15 years he has developed a parallel career as a visual artist. Since the late 1990s he has focused his artistic energies largely on the creation of serial artworks that explore social, political and philosophical issues, he said in a recent telephone interview from his home on the outskirts of Washington....