Steven L. Sles

Last updated

Steven L. Sles (born June 16, 1940) is an American contemporary artist, composer and musician. He was born with cerebral palsy and was a scholar of Hans Hofmann, founder of Abstract Expressionism.

Contents

Sles is an established and prolific mouth painter; he is most recognized for his variations of techniques and fiery abstract palette.

Biography

Sles was born into a Conservative Jewish family in New Jersey. His father co-founded the United Cerebral Palsy Society. Despite the advice of high school guidance counselors, who advised him that his handicap would probably make college attendance impossible, Sles attended Bard College and graduated from Swarthmore College in 1962.

After graduation, Sles became a working artist, painting in New York, Martinique, Paris and Cannes. He established a studio in Valencia, Spain.

Personal life

Sles was married for 22 years and raised a daughter. As an adult, he became an "unconventional modern Hasidic Jew" turning to Jewish mysticism and alternative healing techniques to help him transcend his disability.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerebral palsy</span> Group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensation, vision, hearing, and speaking. Often, babies with cerebral palsy do not roll over, sit, crawl or walk as early as other children of their age. Other symptoms include seizures and problems with thinking or reasoning, each of which occur in about one-third of people with CP. While symptoms may get more noticeable over the first few years of life, underlying problems do not worsen over time.

<i>My Left Foot</i> 1989 film by Jim Sheridan

My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown, also known simply as My Left Foot, is a 1989 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jim Sheridan adapted by Sheridan and Shane Connaughton from the 1954 memoir of the same name by Christy Brown. A co-production of Ireland and the United Kingdom, it stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Brown, an Irish man born with cerebral palsy, who could control only his left foot. Brown grew up in a poor working-class family, and became a writer and artist. Brenda Fricker, Ray McAnally, Hugh O'Conor, Fiona Shaw, and Cyril Cusack are featured in supporting roles.

<i>My Left Foot</i> (book)

My Left Foot is the 1954 autobiography of Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy on 5 June 1932 in Dublin, Ireland. As one of 13 surviving children, Brown went on to be an author, painter and poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geri Jewell</span> American actress

Geraldine Ann "Geri" Jewell is an American actress, stand-up comedian, diversity consultant, and motivational speaker, noted for roles on the 1980s sitcom The Facts of Life and the mid-2000s western Deadwood. She is known as being one of the first people on a TV sitcom with cerebral palsy, and she has helped advocate for people with disabilities throughout her career. She has also been an advocate for the LGBTQ community since publicly coming out as lesbian in her 2011 autobiography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Goldenson</span> American businessman

Leonard H. Goldenson was the founder and president of the United States-based television network American Broadcasting Company (ABC), from 1953 to 1986. Goldenson, as CEO of United Paramount Theatres, acquired a then-struggling ABC from candy industrialist Edward J. Noble. Goldenson focused on investing heavily on sports and news coverage along with creating synergy between Hollywood studios and television networks. Goldenson turned ABC into a media conglomerate, owning television and radio stations along with newspapers and book publishers. His innovations with ABC in terms of programming and media synergy would have lasting implications on the American television industry, and be emulated by leadership of other networks. He was portrayed in the 2002 TNT movie Monday Night Mayhem by Eli Wallach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists of the World</span> For-profit internantional organization

The Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists of the World (AMFPA) is a for-profit international organization facilitating the sale of artwork produced by mouth and foot painting artists associated with the organization. None of the artists have proper use of their hands as a pre-condition to joining the association. It represents around 820 artists located in 76 countries, of whom 143 are full members, and receive a monthly fee from the organization from the date of their admission until their death. The other artists are students, who receive a monthly scholarship until such time as they are promoted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Blue</span> American comedian

Josh Blue is an American comedian. He was voted the Last Comic Standing on NBC's reality show Last Comic Standing during its fourth season, which aired May–August 2006. Blue has cerebral palsy, and much of his self-deprecating humor is centered on this.

David Ring is a Christian evangelist and motivational speaker who has cerebral palsy. Ring has, since 1973, challenged thousands of people with his signature message: "I have cerebral palsy... What's your problem?" He currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife and four children.

King Gimp is a 1999 documentary that was awarded the 2000 Oscar for Best Short Subject Documentary and 2000 Peabody Award. King Gimp follows the life of artist Dan Keplinger of Towson, Maryland, who has cerebral palsy. Filmmakers Susan Hannah Hadary and William A. Whiteford, of the University of Maryland Video Press and Tapestry International Productions produced the film. Geof Bartz, A.C.E. edited the final version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RJ Mitte</span> American actor

Roy Frank "RJ" Mitte III is an American actor, best known for playing Walter White Jr. on the AMC series Breaking Bad (2008–2013). Like his character on the show, he has cerebral palsy. After moving to Hollywood in 2006, he began training with a personal talent manager. They sought acting opportunities where his disability would serve to educate viewers, which led him to audition for the role in Breaking Bad.

José Acosta Hernandez also known simply as Jose Acosta, is a Cuban-born American artist. He is known as a painter and sculptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ataxic cerebral palsy</span> Medical condition

Ataxic cerebral palsy is clinically in approximately 5–10% of all cases of cerebral palsy, making it the least frequent form of cerebral palsy diagnosed. Ataxic cerebral palsy is caused by damage to cerebellar structures, differentiating it from the other two forms of cerebral palsy, which are spastic cerebral palsy and dyskinetic cerebral palsy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Benetti</span> American sportscaster (born 1983)

Jason Benetti is an American sportscaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berta Bobath</span> German physiotherapist

Berta Bobath, MBE was a German physiotherapist who created a method of rehabilitation and therapy known as the Bobath concept in 1948. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy believe "it is the most popular approach for treating neurologically-impaired patients in the western world."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alastair MacLennan (obstetrician)</span> Scottish-Australian physician, researcher, and health advocate (born 1945)

Alastair Harvey MacLennan,, MB ChB, MD, FRCOG, FRANZCOG is a Scottish-Australian physician, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, medical researcher, and a community health advocate. He studied and practised medicine in Glasgow, Chicago, and Oxford before moving to Australia in 1977 to take up a position at the University of Adelaide, where he went on to become the Professor and Head of the Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2006. He retired from his full-time academic position in 2013, and he is now Emeritus Professor of Medicine. He leads research projects at the Robinson Research Institute, and he is Head of the university's Cerebral Palsy Research Group.

Bronson Crothers was an American pediatric neurologist and a professor at Harvard Medical School. He studied birth trauma, cerebral palsy, and other neurological disabilities in children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronald MacKeith</span> British paediatrician, known for establishing the first cerebral palsy advice clinic

Ronald Charles MacKeith FRCP was a British paediatrician. MacKeith was prolific in his endeavours. He was principally known for establishing the first cerebral palsy advice clinic, which was to become in 1964, the larger and more comprehensive Newcomen Centre for disabled children in Guy's Hospital. He founded the British Paediatric Neurology Association and the medical journal, Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. His work gained recognition of the field of paediatric neurology as a science in several European countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Gordon (paediatrician)</span> Scottish paediatrician

Neil Simson Gordon, was a Scottish paediatric neurologist, who conducted research into eponymic diseases including chronic handicaps, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, disorders of languages and learning disabilities. Gordon was one of the first to initiate comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment centres for children. He has been described as the "wise grand old man of UK paediatric neurology" and first specialist paediatric neurologist to be appointed outside London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederika Menezes</span> Indian author, poet and artist

Frederika Menezes is an Indian author, poet, and artist best known for her book Unforgotten, a love story for young adults published in 2014. Her poem "The Different Normals" has yet to be included in the English textbook of the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBSHSE).

Jerron Herman is an American choreographer, dancer, performance artist, writer and a teacher for the Dream Project at National Dance Institute for children with disabilities. He grew up in California as part of a religious and art loving family. He has the movement disorder Cerebral Palsy, the symptoms of which he has absorbed into his dance movements.

References