Out of the Ruins - A New York Record: Lower Manhattan, Autumn 2001

by Jean Holabird

Soon after the attacks of September 11th, artist Jean Holabird, who has lived just four blocks from the WTC for 27 years, started to record the wreckage visible from the perimeter of Ground Zero. Driven by instinct, she was determined to chronicle the ruins before they could be carted away. The result is Out of the Ruins, a hauntingly powerful collection of paintings accompanied by poignant fragments from enduring works of literature by Milton, Shelley, Eliot, Seamus Heaney, Frank O'Hara and more. The poetry and prose speak of loss and bereavement, survival and defiance, disbelief and acceptance, and finally, love of New York City. This book draws on years of the artist's practice of her craft, the proximity of the subject matter to the artist's life, and a strong sense of civic duty and history.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2002

Reviews

[Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cheap, hardcover, with reproductions of the author's watercolor paintings of pre- and post 9-11 New York landmarks in thick, quality paper with nothing at the back of the paintings (which you can use for writing whatever you wish to write about, so this can double as a notebook of sorts), short poetry here and there, anything about New York, or destruction, or death, and--best of all--you can finish looking at the paintings and the very little prose and poetry there are here in less than two minutes. Then you can write a review.

The author (artist/painter/writer) lived in a loft near Ground Zero and was there when 9-11 happened and I think the best part here is in her short interview at the end, when she describes what she heard when the second tower collapsed: "it wasn't noisy--sort of like waves rushing over rocks at the ocean. It was eerily quiet for a few moments, then the dust came pouring through the cracks under the front door."

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of watercolor paintings, punctuated with excerpts of appropriate melancholic poetry, creating a bound piece of art that will exist as an artist's chronicling of the events of September 11th, and the subsequent deconstruction of the ruins of the World Trade Center.

An important, and very personal document.

[Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the watercolor sketches and literary references in this record of the ruins in lower Manhattan after the destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11. Mary Enge purchased the book for me at the NYC Public Library when I was visiting her in 2002.

[Ms. Tongate, TLC Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Window a Day watercolor sketches are very nice.