John J Heartfield | John Heartfield Exhibition Curator

Many artists and small business owners have something in common. They struggle to create something great. Then they often discover it’s a more challenging struggle to promote and market their creation. John J Heartfield has been on both sides of the equation. John is the director of eCurtain Media LLC, a company dedicated to promoting great Internet content.

John J Heartfield Stories

The John J Heartfield Stories website offers short stories and fiction and nonfiction excerpts. His book on business website design Make Your Small Business Website Work, Easy Answers To Content, Navigation, and Design remains completely relevant year after year because it provides clear advice regarding the core principles of small business website design in an easy-to-understand style. There’s no techno-babble, only simple instructions on how to present a successful small business website.

John has always been an avid reader of detective and adventure novels. You can sample chapters from his published mystery-adventure novel Controlling Time and his soon-to-be-published novel Not Funny, a fictionalized deeply researched historical account of events leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis and its consequences.

John J Heartfield Songs (Coming Soon)

John is an accomplished songwriter and performer. He’s been composing songs since he first picked up an instrument at age eleven. He’s performed in bands and theater productions in New York and California. He’s working on bringing together graphic novelists, musicians, and artists to present The International Multimedia Event One Hand! The event focuses on the life and times of his grandfather in a groundbreaking format.

John J Heartfield, Curator of The Official John Heartfield Exhibition

John J Heartfield built, maintains, and curates The Official John Heartfield Exhibition, a comprehensive Internet site focusing on the life and work of his grandfather, John Heartfield. He is a recognized expert on his grandfather’s personal life and artistic legacy. He spent summers with his famous grandfather in Europe and describes these days with his grandfather as “some of the best times of my childhood.”

Professor Heartfield has designed and taught over twenty-five university courses in digital media design and programming in schools such as the Tisch School of the Arts (New York University), The College Of New Jersey, and Queens College, City University of New York. Upon completing his Masters Degree, New York University presented him with a Tisch School of the Arts Award “for pioneering work in interactive media.”

Japan’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI), The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and The Multimedia Association of Japan honored John by inviting him to Tokyo to inaugurate the Time 24 multimedia facility. While in Japan, he gave presentations to large audiences of government officials, corporate leaders, and multimedia professionals. He led a two-week seminar for brilliant young Japanese multimedia artists.

John’s interactive presentation “Art As A Weapon” entertains and enlightens audiences around the world. The presentation focuses on his grandfather’s legacy, historic events from 1916 to 1945, and the nature of great political art. He has interacted with enthusiastic audiences in venues as diverse as major museums, art galleries, university lecture halls, corporate meeting rooms, outdoor monuments, and graphic novel stores. 

A Sample “Art As A Weapon” Presentations & Events

• The Surrealist Festival: Magnetic Fields, Canessa Gallery, San Francisco, 2019
     Organizer: City Lights Bookstore
• Time Tunnel Festival, Walker Art Museum, Liverpool, 2018
     Organizer:  John Moores University, Liverpool
     Afterwards, John took part in a panel with noted photographer John Walmsley.
• DADA WORLD FAIR, The Collage Museum, San Francisco, 2016
     Organizer: City Lights Book Store & Swissex
     He also spoke at several events during this exciting Dada event.
• Mahnmal Friedenkreuz St. Lorenz, An Inspiring Austrian Political Event, Austria, 2016
     Television and print interviewed John at the event launch
     Organizer: St. Lorenz City Government & Austrian Government Officials
• DesignIt, New York, Simulcast in New York and San Francisco, 2016
     Organizer: Corporate Event Planner

John retired after a career as a sought-after multimedia consultant at many of the world’s largest corporations. The Official John Heartfield Exhibition is his focus. It is a labor of love. He remains passionate about:

• Increasing the recognition and renown of his courageous grandfather.
• Displaying more art and artists with courage and integrity.

Red Burns, legendary founder and former chair of the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University, wrote of John J Heartfield, “From the moment he entered our program, John evidenced the wonderful combination of skills and talents which inspired him to study multimedia — a computer programmer and a musician with a keen appreciation for the visual arts. In other words, a wonderful blend of the technical and the artistic. John thrives on challenges, and he is a relentless learner.”