Distinguished Alumnus, Renown Artist Carmen Cicero Celebrated
August 2024
"At this stage of life, I never expected so much attention," shares 97-year-old renowned artist and Kean Distinguished Alumnus, Carmen Cicero '51, “or to be so busy!” His work is the subject of an upcoming monograph and an exhibit at New York's June Kelly Gallery. The book, entitled Carmen Cicero: Drawings and Watercolors, Tales of Intrigue and Humor, has an anticipated publication date of October 8, 2024. The exhibit will open on October 18th and run through December.
Noted art critic and author David Ebony's upcoming monograph has already been described as an "essential addition to any library of American art." It features drawings from every stage of Cicero’s seven decade career, from his abstract expressionism works of the 1950s, which have been collected by the Whitney, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim and other major museums – to his figurative expressionism works in the 1960s and 1970s – to his more recent “visionary” works, which have been described as “vivid” and “mysterious” scenes animated by multiple emotions – “desire, jealousy, despair and isolation – as well as a generous does of humor.”
During Cicero’s acclaimed career, he has garnered many awards, including two Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships, a Ford Foundation prize, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Award. However, the award that Kean University most boasts is his 1990 Kean University Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award. The Galleries at Kean are especially proud that he is an alum and exceedingly grateful that he donated one of his works for their permanent collection. Did his time at Kean, then named New Jersey State Teachers College, play a role in his artistry? Cicero has warm memories of his college days, stating that his teachers exposed him to great art and helped foster his own passion and creativity.
Along with his artistic journey, Cicero has also had careers as both an educator and musician. He has taught at every level, elementary school through to master’s programs. In higher education, he taught at Sara Lawrence College for nine years and at Montclair State University for 31 years, where he also achieved his Master of Fine Arts. Mirroring his teachers at New Jersey State, he encouraged his students to find their passions or, as he puts it “their truth within” and to helped them find their “language of expression” by exposing them to as many forms of art as possible.
He has had a lifelong love affair with music of all genres, having begun playing the clarinet while in elementary school. Accomplished on both clarinet and alto saxophone, he has played with all the great jazz musicians and with Tony Bennet. At one point, just after his World War II military service, he even led a 17-piece jazz band. Look for his solo albums on YouTube.
Carmen and his wife, art historian Mary Abell, live part of the year on the Massachusetts Cape and the remainder in their artist loft and studio in lower Manhattan. In fact, Cicero was featured last spring in Joshua Charow’s book, Loft Law. The Last of New York City's Original Artist Lofts, and its accompanying film and Spring Gallery exhibit. The loft was also the location the documentary, Eternity’s Sunrise: The Life of Carmen Cicero, which was produced in 2020.
Clearly, Cicero is still attracting attention and as busy as ever at 97. He shows no sign of stopping. He explains that his artistry, both painting and musicianship, is not a profession but a life calling. He “cannot not paint.” His passion for his art is integral to his being. We at Kean look forward to celebrating his upcoming book and exhibit - and we look forward to more artistry to come.