Meathead and Ladybug

Size: 16 x 20

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Issa finds meaning and purpose as an artist, musician, writer, filmmaker, activist, 25-year artist-in-residence at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center’s Living Museum, and now as an artist of Fountain House Gallery. “Knocking down the icon” has been a major theme since his teen years, influenced in the late 1970s by punk rock. Anarchic takes on comic strip themes stay with Issa and resonate, lending him the capacity to merge the lowbrow with the erudite, the truth behind the fairy tale – what he calls “a fun house reflection of a bankrupt culture.” Issa is the author of the 2016 memoir The Hospital Always Wins. He has been featured on German public television, in an HBO documentary, and in an Edward R. Murrow and Third Coast award-winning NPR audio story. By creating “what if” scenarios, and infusing loving homage and nostalgic longing with harsh realities and biting satire, Issa wishes to express something honest and meaningful about contemporary society and the world we live in. 

Fountain House Gallery / New York City, NY