The Art of Darkness, Tim Atseff

!
TSEFF
TIM ATSEFF
THE ART OF DARKNESS
7
DEADLY
SINS
A
TRUMP
DYSTOPIAN
HEPTOLOGY

"
!
!

ART
OF
DARKNESS
TIM ATSEFF
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
Carbondale
FALL 2020

CURATOR’S FOREWARD
Stepping into “The Art of Darkness” is not
something for the feint of heart. As soon as you enter
the gallery this exhibition will take ahold of you, and
refuse to let you go. The surreal dreamscape created
by Tim Atseff’s (’70) earlier work brings the viewer
along a dark twisting journey, ending with a
dystopian view of our current state of political affairs.
The works on display build on one another
creating a real sense of dread, which reaches a
crescendo with the titular works “The Seven Deadly
Sins. A Trump Dystopian Heptology”. This collection
personifies each of these sins through a twisted and
almost nightmarish depiction of Donald Trump. Each
of Trump’s vices are laid bare through Mr. Atseff’s
work, allowing the visitor to see how monstrous
someone driven by these impulses can become.
Mr. Atseff’s early works are deeply existential and
ominous, evoking a real sense of dread and seemingly hopelessness as he
searches for something brighter. This collection of Surrealist and Abstract art
laid a power foundation for his later political pieces. Cementing an
undercurrent of darker themes that continues to show up throughout his
chosen mediums. As the artist began working as a journalist, their artistic
style inherently shifted. But these “ artoons” as Mr. Atseff refers to them, did
not lose their dark undertones. These scathing artworks shifted away from
the ominous imagery of his earlier works, while still maintain a sense of
darkness. They exaggerate the features of their subjects, creating
humorously dark caricatures of political figures.
The combination of his dark abstract style and his pointed paintings are
put on full display in “The Seven Deadly Sins. A Trump Dystopian
Heptology” series. Each of these works masterfully displays its subject,
giving form to the darker impulses of human behavior. Opening with what
appears to be a twisted mug shot of our 45 th president seamlessly merged
with a pig. Surrounding this image are the seven sins all pointing towards
the subject, using real quotes from our President to illustrate these concepts.
Foreshadowing what the viewer
can expect to see in each of the “Seven Deadly
Sins” pieces. These works culminate in a sculpture curated after the
Senate failed to vote to remove an impeached president. The Senate is
known as the "most deliberative body in the world.” It features a bloated
pig leading a parade of elephants as they flee down the drain of a toilet, The
Trumpian Throne, bringing this dystopian world to a close.
The University Museum is happy to welcome back another
accomplished Alumni, to allow our visitors to see his work. Tim Atseff is an
accomplished artist whose scathing works are lay bare his feelings towards
the 45 th president. While the 50 years worth of works on display in this
exhibition may stir up strong emotions, I would encourage you to challenge
yourself and experience this collection when you have the opportunity. As
Mr. Atseff says, “the power of art is in the response”.—WM Weston Stroerger

The darker I paint, the
more alive I feel.

ARTIST’S
STATEMENT
May of 1970, Southern Illinois University and Carbondale were on fire.
SIU students were peacefully, but actively demonstrating on campus in
continued opposition to the Vietnam War, not unlike campuses elsewhere. First
at the ROTC office in Wheeler Hall and later at Woody Hall which housed at
the Center for Vietnamese Studies.
On May 7, the pot bubbled over sparked by the May 4 killings of four
students by National Guard troops at Kent State. Colleges across the nation
were rising up. SIU was no different.
The volume was turned up as students clashed with local and state police
supported by the Illinois National Guard on Main Street. The protests erupted
into heightened violence at night through the fog of tear gas and flash of
bayonets. For two more weeks, the protests grew larger and more agitated. I
wasn’t an innocent bystander. Nor was I a bomb thrower.
It is said that one of the strongest human motivators is the smell of your own
blood. The shadow of an unjust war was cast. The specter of the newly
instituted draft became an existential threat and the air was thick with tear gas,
uncertainty, anger and fear. It went like this:
Come on mothers throughout the land
Pack your boys off to Vietnam
Come on fathers, and don't hesitate
To send your sons off before it's too late
And you can be the first ones on your block
To have your boy come home in a box
On May 14, two more students were killed by police at Jackson State College
in Jackson, Mississippi reigniting college campus agitation. On May 15, the
administration and board in consultation with the governor shut Southern’s
campus down.
With that, my college experience came to an end. I left behind a couple of
canvases and a full-size kinetic gallows at the Glove
Factory created for Aldon Addington’s class. I
graduated from Southern with more than an academic
education. I also learned to think for myself, not to get
attached to my work and be in tune with my
existential existence. With no commencement, I
couldn’t bring home my diploma. However, I was fortunate enough to bring
home a girl from Chicago who became my wife… or I became her husband.
So, life continues. Wondering. I still look at the clouds like everyone else
looking for an answer. I’m stuck on the romance and grandeur of cosmic
questions: Why are we here? Is there something or is there nothing? Why is
anything here—or anything anywhere? Why is there something rather than
nothing? Why not just nothing?
I cannot allow myself the luxury to admit the disappointingly simple truth;
‘Nothing rather than something’. It’s nonsensical. Is life just a reflection in a
mirror? Then what happens the instant we die? Nothing?
It's the absence of possibility. It’s literally nothing, and placing nothing in
opposition to something, as an alternative to something, is saying, there is no
alternative to something. To that point, I always believed when something ends,
something else begins. The proof will be in the dying, I guess.
Now, I come back to Southern 50 years later to close a creative circle with
this survey show at the University Art Museum.
Through my art. Through suffering and the darkness of death, I have been
trying to bring myself closer to the ”Truth” in an otherwise good life. Looking
not for a rational faith, but a reasonable faith. Hope of something of value here
and on the other side. Painting for me, keeps the mystery alive.
As a painter, it's to make a mark on the canvas and answer with another and
another until I have exposed something of myself. Creating a new reality.
Something unconscious that deepens that dark mystery. Something within me
that is instinctive in the human soul. Mine. Maybe even within the viewer. What
I try to do in my work is explore and expose myself by presenting something in
terms of my own sensibilities. Whether it is shared with anyone else, is not my
business.
I paint for my benefit in space and time.
Creating something that moves beyond the
subject by manipulating chance. Bearing the
mysteries of pain in life passing to death. It’s like
an exorcism. A purging of fears and anxieties.

I look at art in isolation. Alone asking , “Hello is
anybody in there?” Feel the response. If nothing..well,
move on. In other words, my interpretation of what went
into that painting is mine. I am not trying to steer anyone
to the same conclusion.
Where does what is on the canvas come from? A
dream, a nightmare something buried in my experience.
A word, an image, a smell, a song a noise, Maybe it
something I see that others don’t. Sometimes I don’t see
what others do. That’s what makes art so ethereal. It’s
like chasing smoke. Like breathing life into the canvas.
All I know, is the darker I paint, the more alive I feel.
The fact of the matter is, we all lay in bed with the art
of death and the art of life at the same time.
Art, in all of its forms, is meant to be evocative,
provocative. Its power is in the response—good, bad,
beautiful, ugly. That art is louder than words.
As a student, Atseff occasionally did editorial
cartoons or illustrations for the Daily Egyptian.
At right, a cover of a special section of the
newspaper covering the 1968 presidential election.

Closer to the Truth
Acrylic on canvas,
72 x 54
1970

Untitled,
Acrylic on
canvas,
47.5 x 72,
1971

The Scream- acrylic on canvas, 64” x 56”, 1980
-30-
Oil, acrylic,
28” x 41”
1996

Untitled
Oil, acrylic
on canvas
50” x 72”
1982

Untitled, Oil, acrylic, 105” x 67”, 1975

Crazy Eyes- acrylic, 73” x 50”, 1986

I Can’t Breathe
Oil, acrylic,
48” x 60”
2020

Susan
Oil, acrylic,
38” x 48”
2009

Susan in the Skies with Diamonds,
acrylic. oil on canvas
Oil, acrylic, 28” x 48”, 2018
-30-
Oil, acrylic,
28” x 41”, 1996

Silence of the Slain. NEXT! Mixed Media, Oil on Canvas, Spent AR-15 Shells,
Triage Tags, Stuffed Animals, Molded Skeletons, Forensic Evidence Markers, IV
Bags, Bandages, Dead Roses,Police line tape. 120” x 60” x 36”, 2020

Alone
Oil, acrylic on
canvas,
48” x 60”
1973

Heartbreak
Oil, acrylic,
on canvas.
48” x 60”
2001

“I use painting as a form of
exorcism, a kenosis, to empty
the unrest buried inside me.”

ARTIST’S NOTE
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
! "
SINS
GLUTTONY
GREED
LUST
SLOTH
WRATH
VANITY
ENVY
My professional career was spent in journalism. Several of those
years as an editorial cartoonist exposing hypocrisy and corruption with
a stroke of a pen. In fact, the Daily Egyptian allowed me to take some
shots at 10 p.m. dorm curfews for women. A pressing issues at that
time.
The art of caricature and political cartooning has a long and rich
history. From Cro-Magnon man scratching images on cave walls to
Bosch, Daumier, Goya, Thomas Nast, Bacon to today’s contemporary
artists, cartoonists have been exploiting the faces of political and public
figures with visual satire. Enlarge a nose or jowl here and droop an earlobe
or tiny hands there. The idea is to take an imperfection and apply
a magnifying glass while still capturing the subject’s likeness and
exposing them for who they really are. Trump offered the opportunity
to merge my two “not normal” existential and cartoon disciplines.
VIRTUES
TEMPERANCE
CHARITY
CHASITY
DILIGENCE
PATIENCE
HUMILITY
KINDNESS
When I get an itch, I have to scratch it. President Trump was my
itch. For the last two years, I have felt like I’ve had a bad case of
poison ivy. You know the saying, “When you see something, say
something”. Well, I painted something. Trump’s scorched democracy
policy and his feckless lemmings, have been assaulting objective truth,
civility and the free press on a daily, if not a minute-by-minute basis.
Destroying and desensitizing the difference between right and wrong.
White hats and black hats. They are complicit, corrupt, immoral and
indecent. What follows is this series, the Seven Deadly Sins. A Trump
Dystopian Heptology. Trump embodies each as narcissistic, fullthroated
and butt-naked for all to see.
Perhaps this “Art of Deal” President never read Goethe’s Faust,
another deal maker. His Faustian bargain didn’t turn out so well for
him either.
POLITICAL ART

DEADLY
SINS
A
TRUMP
DYSTOPIAN
HEPTOLOGY
All Ye Who Enter,
Abandon Hope.
48” x 36”
2019
!
A r t R a g e G a l l e r y / A p r i l 8 - M a y 1 6 , 2 0 2 0
SINS
VIRTUES
"
✓ GLUTTONY
TEMPERANCE
✓ GREED
CHARITY

GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
WRATH
Trump, Trump, thou thou art art a villainous, tickle-brained, bully-rag. bully-rag.
“Get even with people. If they screw you, screw them back 10
Trump, even thou with art people. a villainous, If they tickle-brained, screw you, screw bully-rag. them back 10
as I it!
“Get even with people. times If as they hard. screw I really you, screw believe them it!” back 10
(Of (Of course, unless times they they as hard. have have I the really the ability ability believe to to it!” screw screw you you into into oblivion.
(Of course, unless they The The have weaker, the ability the the to screw better.) you into oblivion.
The weaker, the better.)
—Donald Trump, 2011

Oil, acrylic,
American
flag, police
tape, emojis.
48” x 60”
2019

GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
GREED
GREED
Trump, thou art a gilded, conniving, forked-tongued fraud.
“My whole life I’ve been greedy, greedy, greedy. I’ve grabbed all the money I could get.
I’m so greedy. But now I want to be greedy for the United States. I want to grab all that
money. I’m going to be greedy for the United States.”
Trump, thou art a gilded, conniving, forked-tongued fraud.
“My whole life I’ve been greedy, greedy, greedy. I’ve grabbed all the money I could get.
I’m so greedy. But now I want to be greedy for the United States. I want to grab all that
money. I’m going to be greedy for the United States.”

Oil, acrylic,
American
flag, police
tape, emojis.
48” x 60”
2019

GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
LUST
LUST
Trump, thou art a small-handed, orange-faced, flaccid, momma’s-boy.
“I think Viagra is wonderful if you need it, if you have medical issues, if you’ve
had surgery. I’ve just never needed it. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind if there were an
anti-Viagra, Trump, thou something art a small-handed, with the opposite orange-faced, effect. I’m flaccid, not bragging. momma’s-boy. I’m just lucky. I
“I think Viagra is wonderful if you need it, if you have medical issues, if you’ve
don’t need it. I’ve always said, ‘If you need Viagra, you’re probably with the
had surgery. I’ve just never needed it. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind if there were an
anti-Viagra, something with the opposite wrong effect. girl’.” I’m not bragging. I’m just lucky. I
don’t need it. I’ve always said, ‘If you need Viagra, you’re probably with the
wrong girl’.”

Oil, acrylic,
police tape,
emojis.
48” x 60”
2019

GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
GLUTTONY
Trump, though art a paunchy, swag-bellied, boar pig.
Trump, thou art a paunchy, swag-bellied, boar pig.
Trump’s Trump’s reign reign of of a two-scooped, two-scooped, fast-food, fast-food, empty-caloried, empty-caloried, engorged engorged presidency presidency is the is the
personification of of a craven, digital depravity that that stirs stirs our our worst worst national national ideals. ideals. His excesses His excesses
and insatiable hunger for for attention and and power power closely closely parallels parallels the authoritarian the authoritarian behavior behavior of a of
Vladimir a Vladimir Putin, a Kim Putin Jong or past Un or oppressive past oppressive and and contemptuous tyrannts.
Trump exemplifies a rude narcissism laced with with a nihilistic a delusion delusion free of free consequences of and supported by spineless and supported Congressional by spineless lemmings. Congressional Can you say lemmings. impeachment hearings?
"I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the
Bikers
“I can
for
tell
Trump—
you I have
I have
the support
the tough
of the
people,
police, the
but
support
they don't
of the
play
military,
it tough
the
--
support
until they
of the
go to a
Bikers for Trump— I have the tough people, but they don't play it tough…until they go to a
certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad.”
certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad.”

Oil, acrylic,
police tape,
emojis.
48” x 60”
2018

GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
VANITY
Trump, Trump, thou thou art, art, a beslubbering, motley-minded, lout. lout.
“You know, I’m, like, a smart person.” I am a really smart guy. I’ve been known
“You know, I’m, like, a smart person.” “I am really smart guy.” “I’ve been known
as being a very smart guy for a long time.”
as being a very smart guy for long time.” “I have a very good brain and I’ve said
a lot “I of have things.” a very “I’m good intelligent. brain and I’ve Some said people a lot of would things.” say I’m intelligent. I’m very, very, Some very
intelligent.” people would “And then say I’m people very, very, say oh, very is intelligent. he a smart And person? then people I’m say smarter oh, is than he a all of
them smart put person? together, I’m but smarter they than can’t all admit of them it.” put “My together, IQ is one but of they the can’t highest admit — it.” and
you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure; it’s not your fault.” “My
two “My greatest IQ is one assets of the have highest been — mental and you stability all know and it! Please being, don’t like, feel really so stupid smart…. I
went from VERY successful or insecure; businessman, it’s not your to top fault.” T.V. Star, to President of the
United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but
“My two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really
genius….and a very stable genius at that!”
smart…. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star, to
President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not
smart, but genius….and a very stable genius at that!”

Oil, acrylic,
police tape,
emojis.
48” x 60”
2018

GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
SLOTH
Thou art a lazy, muddle-brained, slug.
EXECUTIVE TIME!
EXECUTIVE TIME!
Thou art a lazy, muddle-brained, slug.

Oil, acrylic,
police tape,
emojis.
48” x 60”
2019

GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
GLUTTONY GREED LUST SLOTH WRATH VANITY ENVY
ENVY
Trump, Thou art a fawning, idle-headed, wagtail.
“Hey, Trump, he’s head Thou of art a country a fawning, (Kim idle-headed, Jong Un). And wagtail. I mean he is a
strong “Hey, head. he’s Don’t head of let a anyone country (Kim think Jong anything Un). And different. I mean He he is speaks a and
strong head. Don’t let anyone think anything different. He speaks and
his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”
his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”

Oil, acrylic,
police tape,
emojis.
48” x 60”
2019

Redact
23” x 29”
Mixed media on
parchment.
2020

100 Seconds to
Midnight. The
Tick-Tock of the
Doomsday Clock.
Oil, acrylic, police
tape, emojis.
48” x 60”
2020

The Trumpian Throne.
The World’s Most Deliberative Body.
Oil on porcelain. 2020

WE VS I, Oil, acrylic on canvas
24” x 36”, 2020
Crown of Thorns, Oil, acrylic on canvas
24” x 36”, 2020

EDITORIAL CARTOONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
“I don’t give a straw for your newspaper articles, my constituents don’t know
how to read, but they can’t help seeing them damn pictures!”
—“Boss Tweed”, a former New York City street brawler and notorious political fixer
bellowed about Harper’s Weekly political cartoonist Thomas Nast in 1871. Nast’s cartoons are credited for Tweed’s downfall from his perch in a
corrupt Tammany Hall political machine. Tweed’s quote speaks to the power of the pen.

BIO
GRAPHY
Tim Atseff is a native of Syracuse, N.Y. and a1970 graduate of the School
of Art at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale majoring painting. While
Tim Atseff is a native of Syracuse, New York. He is a 1970 graduate of
at Southern, Atseff began his sandbox cartooning and illustration years at the
the School of Fine Arts at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where
school’s newspaper, The Daily Egyptian.
he majored in painting. While at Southern Illinois, Atseff began his sandbox
After graduation, Atseff returned to Syracuse to work for the afternoon
cartooning and illustration years at The Daily Egyptian.
newspaper, the Syracuse Herald-Journal. There he served
as an
After
artist,
graduation,
the Art and
Atseff
Design
returned
Director,
to
Editorial
Syracuse to work for the afternoon
Cartoonist,
newspaper,
Deputy
the Herald-Journal.
Managing Editor
There
and
he
Managing
served as an illustrator, the art and
Editor. design director, editorial cartoonist, deputy managing editor and managing
editor. As an As Editorial an editorial Cartoonist, cartoonist, Atseff Atseff jabbed poked the the powerful powerful and ego bloated
and from bloated the Nixon from through the Nixon the through Reagan the years. Reagan years.
During During that that period, period, Atseff Atseff penned penned over over 15001,500 local, local, national and
national international and international cartoons. Some cartoons. appeared Some in the appearing New York in Times. Washington
the Post, New Boston York Globe Times, and Washington the Monitor, Post, a Boston publication Globe of as the American
well Psychological as several Association, political cartoon as well anthologies as several and political other cartoon anthologies.
books. Atseff’s cartoons are represented at the Carter Center and Presidential
Library Atseff in retired Atlanta from and The Ohio Post-Standard, State University’s Syracuse's Cartoon Art Collection.
morning Atseff newspaper, retired from in 2011 The Post-Standard, after 46 years of Syracuse's service. His morning newspaper, in
responsibilities 2011 after 46 years at The of Post-Standard service at the were two Syracuse as Marketing publications. His last
and responsibilities New Product at Development the Syracuse Manager newspapers and were finally as as marketing the and New
creator and editor of Central New York Magazine, CNY Business Exchange
Product Development Manager and finally the editor and creator of three
Magazine and Central New York Sports Magazine.
regional magazines—Central New York Magazine, CNY Business Exchange
During Atseff’s professional career, he served as president of the New
Magazine and Central New York Sports Magazine.
York State Managing Editor’s Association, and on the national board of
During his professional newspaper career, he served as president of the
directors of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association where he
New York State Managing Editors Association, and on the national board of
chaired the committees of Foreign News, Ethics, Photo and Graphics, Sports,
Innovation
directors of
as
the
well
Associated
as chair of
Press
the group’s
Managing
national
Editors
convention
Association,
in Atlanta.
where he
chaired
Atseff
the
was
committees
also a member
of foreign
of the
news,
American
ethics,
Association
photo and
of
graphics,
Editorial
sports
Cartoonists and innovation. well He as The also Society chaired for the Newspaper group’s national Design convention where he had in Atlanta. won
Atseff was also a member of the American Association of
Editorial Cartoonists, The Society of Newspaper Design on
which he was recognized with over twenty-five awards for
news presentation and design. In 2006, Atseff was inducted
over twenty national awards for newspaper design. In 2006, Atseff was
inducted into the Syracuse Press Club Wall of Fame.
into the Syracuse Press Club Hall fo Fame.
Atseff’s community service includes the boards of the Boys and Girls
His community service includes membership on the boards of the Boys and
Club, the Crouse Health Foundation and the Onondaga Historical
Girls Club, the Crouse Health Foundation, on which he served as board chair,
Association.
and the Onondaga Historical Association, for which he redesigned the
In the recent past, Atseff was named the "Community
association’s History
Trustee
Highlights
of the Year"
magazine.
by the civic and business group,
In the recent Leadership past, Atseff Greater was named Syracuse, the "Community for the positive Trustee impact of the Year"
by the civic and magazines business group, he created Leadership had on the of Greater image of Syracuse, the Central for New the
positive impact York the magazines region. He he was created also received had on the image Onondaga of the Citizens Central
New York region. League He also 2012 received Civic Beautification the Onondaga Award Citizens for League defining 2012 and
Civic Beautification creating Award a public for defining space and and sculpture creating for a public Susan Atseff space and
sculpture for Susan Memorial Atseff Park, Memorial also known Park. as The Salt pocket-park Springs Park. was The established pocketpark
late was wife established Susan and in the memory caregivers of his who late devote wife Susan themselves and to comforting others. caregivers who devote themselves to comforting others.
in memory of his
Since his “rewirement”,
Since his
Atseff
“rewirement”
has designed
Atseff
and
has designed
edited six
and
table-top
edited six
table-top books- An Artist’s Life, Frank Townsend Hutchens,
books— An Artist’s Life, Frank Townsend Hutchens, The Art of a Life,
The Art of a Life, Dorothy Riester— A Memoir, and Kokum
Dorothy Riester— A Memoir, Kokum Lena of the First Nation Algonquin, The
Lena of the First Nation Algonquin, The Hunt, A Lifetime of
Hunt, A Lifetime of Pursuing Big Game, Syracuse’s Grand Hotel and
Pursing Big Game, Syracuse’s Grand Hotel and Dancing in
Dancing in Two Realms. He also redesigned an alternative newspaper, the
Two Realms. Most recently, he redesigned and helped publish the Onondaga
Historical
Syracuse New
Association’s
Times.
History Highlights magazine in his role as a board
Throughout his newspaper career, Atseff worked in spurts building a body
member.
of paintings. Previous shows of his work were held at the Everson Museum
Throughout his professional career, Atseff worked in spurts on building a
body of Art of in paintings. Syracuse, Previous Xerox Center shows in of Rochester, his paintings the were Center held for at Contemporary
the Everson
Museum Political Art of Art in Washington, Syracuse, N.Y. DC, The and Art Xerox Car Center Museum in Rochester, in Houston, N.Y. TX He and a
also solo had show a show at the of ArtRage his editorial Gallery cartoons in Syracuse. at the Onondaga He also had Historical a show Society. of his
political Atseff’s cartoons lastest at spurt the yielded Onondaga the Seven Historical Deadly Museum Sins— in A Syracuse. Trump Dystopian
Heptology. This current solo survey show at the University Museum includes his latest
painting series to which he refers to as Artoons, rather than
cartoons. The Seven Deadly Sins— A Trump Dystopian
Heptology is a hybrid of his political cartooning and fine arts
disciplines.
For more , go to:
timatseff.com

BIO
GRAPHY
Tim Atseff is a native of Syracuse, N.Y. and a1970 graduate of the School
of Art at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale majoring painting. While
Tim Atseff is a native of Syracuse, New York. He is a 1970 graduate of
at Southern, Atseff began his sandbox cartooning and illustration years at the
the School of Fine Arts at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where
school’s newspaper, The Daily Egyptian.
he majored in painting. While at Southern Illinois, Atseff began his sandbox
After graduation, Atseff returned to Syracuse to work for the afternoon
cartooning and illustration years at The Daily Egyptian.
newspaper, the Syracuse Herald-Journal. There he served
as an
After
artist,
graduation,
the Art and
Atseff
Design
returned
Director,
to
Editorial
Syracuse to work for the afternoon
Cartoonist,
newspaper,
Deputy
the Herald-Journal.
Managing Editor
There
and
he
Managing
served as an illustrator, the art and
Editor. design director, editorial cartoonist, deputy managing editor and managing
editor. As an As Editorial an editorial Cartoonist, cartoonist, Atseff Atseff jabbed poked the the powerful powerful and ego bloated
and from bloated the Nixon from through the Nixon the through Reagan the years. Reagan years.
During During that that period, period, Atseff Atseff penned penned over over 15001,500 local, local, national and
national international and international cartoons. Some cartoons. appeared Some in the appearing New York in Times. Washington
the Post, New Boston York Globe Times, and Washington the Monitor, Post, a Boston publication Globe of as the American
well Psychological as several Association, political cartoon as well anthologies as several and political other cartoon anthologies.
books. Atseff’s cartoons are represented at the Carter Center and Presidential
Library Atseff in retired Atlanta from and The Ohio Post-Standard, State University’s Syracuse's Cartoon Art Collection.
morning Atseff newspaper, retired from in 2011 The Post-Standard, after 46 years of Syracuse's service. His morning newspaper, in
responsibilities 2011 after 46 years at The of Post-Standard service at the were two Syracuse as Marketing publications. His last
and responsibilities New Product at Development the Syracuse Manager newspapers and were finally as as marketing the and New
creator and editor of Central New York Magazine, CNY Business Exchange
Product Development Manager and finally the editor and creator of three
Magazine and Central New York Sports Magazine.
regional magazines—Central New York Magazine, CNY Business Exchange
During Atseff’s professional career, he served as president of the New
Magazine and Central New York Sports Magazine.
York State Managing Editor’s Association, and on the national board of
During his professional newspaper career, he served as president of the
directors of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association where he
New York State Managing Editors Association, and on the national board of
chaired the committees of Foreign News, Ethics, Photo and Graphics, Sports,
Innovation
directors of
as
the
well
Associated
as chair of
Press
the group’s
Managing
national
Editors
convention
Association,
in Atlanta.
where he
chaired
Atseff
the
was
committees
also a member
of foreign
of the
news,
American
ethics,
Association
photo and
of
graphics,
Editorial
sports
Cartoonists and innovation. well He as The also Society chaired for the Newspaper group’s national Design convention where he had in Atlanta. won
Atseff was also a member of the American Association of
Editorial Cartoonists, The Society of Newspaper Design on
which he was recognized with over twenty-five awards for
news presentation and design. In 2006, Atseff was inducted
over twenty national awards for newspaper design. In 2006, Atseff was
inducted into the Syracuse Press Club Wall of Fame.
into the Syracuse Press Club Hall fo Fame.
Atseff’s community service includes the boards of the Boys and Girls
His community service includes membership on the boards of the Boys and
Club, the Crouse Health Foundation and the Onondaga Historical
Girls Club, the Crouse Health Foundation, on which he served as board chair,
Association.
and the Onondaga Historical Association, for which he redesigned the
In the recent past, Atseff was named the "Community
association’s History
Trustee
Highlights
of the Year"
magazine.
by the civic and business group,
In the recent Leadership past, Atseff Greater was named Syracuse, the "Community for the positive Trustee impact of the Year"
by the civic and magazines business group, he created Leadership had on the of Greater image of Syracuse, the Central for New the
positive impact York the magazines region. He he was created also received had on the image Onondaga of the Citizens Central
New York region. League He also 2012 received Civic Beautification the Onondaga Award Citizens for League defining 2012 and
Civic Beautification creating Award a public for defining space and and sculpture creating for a public Susan Atseff space and
sculpture for Susan Memorial Atseff Park, Memorial also known Park. as The Salt pocket-park Springs Park. was The established pocketpark
late was wife established Susan and in the memory caregivers of his who late devote wife Susan themselves and to comforting others. caregivers who devote themselves to comforting others.
in memory of his
Since his “rewirement”,
Since his
Atseff
“rewirement”
has designed
Atseff
and
has designed
edited six
and
table-top
edited six
table-top books- An Artist’s Life, Frank Townsend Hutchens,
books— An Artist’s Life, Frank Townsend Hutchens, The Art of a Life,
The Art of a Life, Dorothy Riester— A Memoir, and Kokum
Dorothy Riester— A Memoir, Kokum Lena of the First Nation Algonquin, The
Lena of the First Nation Algonquin, The Hunt, A Lifetime of
Hunt, A Lifetime of Pursuing Big Game, Syracuse’s Grand Hotel and
Pursing Big Game, Syracuse’s Grand Hotel and Dancing in
Dancing in Two Realms. He also redesigned an alternative newspaper, the
Two Realms. Most recently, he redesigned and helped publish the Onondaga
Historical
Syracuse New
Association’s
Times.
History Highlights magazine in his role as a board
Throughout his newspaper career, Atseff worked in spurts building a body
member.
of paintings. Previous shows of his work were held at the Everson Museum
Throughout his professional career, Atseff worked in spurts on building a
body of Art of in paintings. Syracuse, Previous Xerox Center shows in of Rochester, his paintings the were Center held for at Contemporary
the Everson
Museum Political Art of Art in Washington, Syracuse, N.Y. DC, The and Art Xerox Car Center Museum in Rochester, in Houston, N.Y. TX He and a
also solo had show a show at the of ArtRage his editorial Gallery cartoons in Syracuse. at the Onondaga He also had Historical a show Society. of his
political Atseff’s cartoons lastest at spurt the yielded Onondaga the Seven Historical Deadly Museum Sins— in A Syracuse. Trump Dystopian
Heptology. This current solo survey show at the University Museum includes his latest
painting series to which he refers to as Artoons, rather than
cartoons. The Seven Deadly Sins— A Trump Dystopian
Heptology is a hybrid of his political cartooning and fine arts
disciplines.
For more , go to:
timatseff.com

UNIVERSITY
MUSEUM