Irwin Weinberger

Artist Statement

Artist Statement - Irwin Weinberger

Please let me introduce myself. My name is Irwin Weinberger and I live in Hendersonville, NC. Since I retired from my career as a public school art teacher I spend my days immersed in the creation of both art and music . Four years ago I began a project that combined both my love of art and music, my two lifelong passions. I call it “The Evolution of Popular Music“. It is an ongoing artistic series consisting of painted wood cut out figures of musicians who have contributed their musical talents to the stream of popular music in America and around the world.

The cut outs are created on thin birch plywood and painted with acrylics. They are cutout on a scroll saw. The drawings I create are carefully constructed from photos that depict unique qualities of each musician. The careful painting of shadows, color harmonies and details make each musician come alive.

My approach to this very large project is to construct musician figures based on the time period, fashions and most importantly the music of the time. I have focused on the origins of each period, paying special attention to the contributions of African-American musicians. The categories I’ve tackled so far are “The Swing Era”, “Early Rock & Roll”, “Country Blues”, “The Folk Era”, “Country Music” and various stages of “The Beatles”. This is an ongoing project and I expect to continue this into my later years.