I began studying music and writing stories at the age of eleven. Years later, I earned a university degree in computer science. I enrolled in the Courant Institute of Mathematics at New York University. However, my grandfather's DNA called to me. So I left Courant and applied to the Interactive Telecommunications Program, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU.
The ITP program, chaired by the iconic Red Burns, was possibly the first, and became the foremost, post graduate program in America to bring together visual, text, and sound artists with digital technology. Red Burns subsequently became my good friend and mentor. We traveled to Tokyo together.
When I received my masters degree, Red chose me to receive a Tisch School of the Arts Award “for pioneering work in interactive media.”
My ITP years were incredible, mostly because of the amazing people around me. The ITP student common room was alive 24 hours a day.
In 2016, I was a featured speaker at the DADA WORLD FAIR in San Francisco, sponsored by City Lights Bookstore. It was easy to relate ITP to Dada. Dadaists tore apart reality and put it together in completely new ways.
I keep busy in addition to my responsibilities as curator of this exhibition.
I'm writing a musical entitled
One Hand! It tells the story of my grandfather's cinematic life and astonishing artistic output. The show is at once a humorous and terrifying tale of what happens whenever nationalism spins out of control.
As the director of eCurtain Media LLC, I represent small businesses on the Internet. I wrote
Make Your Small Business Website Work: Easy Answers To Content, Navigation, and Design My latest novel is
Controlling Time - an action adventure mystery. I’m working on a sequel and new novel about an unusual New York City homicide detective.
I’ve taught more than twenty-five courses in digital design and programming in schools such as New York University and The Stern School of Business.
Of course, my main concern is maintaining and expanding
The Official John Heartfield Exhibition & Archive. I designed and programmed the entire site.
After years of self funding this exhibition, it was clear I needed help from researchers, digitizers, graphic designers, and all the talent and materials a major website requires. If you enjoyed any part of
The John Heartfield Exhibition, please
GIVE ANY AMOUNT to help this site grow into an
Online Museum Of Progressive Art, a tribute to John Heartfield and a showcase for political artists and all groundbreaking graphic designers.
Also check out the high quality items in
THE JOHN HEARTFIELD EXHIBITION SHOP. All contributions and profits from the shop go directly towards maintaining and expanding this website.
If you’re a political artist or cutting-edge graphic designer who would like to see their art featured on the exhibition, then write to me.
ABOUT MY FATHER, JOHN HEARTFIELD'S ONLY SON
John Heartfield's son, Tom, believed in the American Dream. He worked hard and served faithfully for many years as the Secretary Treasurer of the Typographical Union Number 6 in New York.
My father first came to the United States to start a printing business. When America joined the Allied Forces in World War II, he joined the American Army.
In his youth, he had bicycled all over Europe. He lived for a time with my grandfather in several cities. His languages skills (he spoke seven languages fluently) were invaluable to the Allies.
My Italian mother, Lina, also fought fascism. She was an Italian partisan. She carried essential salt to the freedom fighters hiding in the mountains. My mother and father met when Americans liberated her hometown of Sestri Levante, Italy.
My father and mother married in Europe. My brother, Malik, named after Malik-Verlag, died while still an infant.
My father brought my mother to New York City. Even with the GI Bill, life was hard for them. My father eventually became a typesetter and a proofreader for a German language newspaper.
He was a brilliant man, but he did not inherit the artistic DNA of my grandfather.