Don Stewart (artist)

Don Stewart (artist) [http://www.dsart.com DS Art] (born 1959) is a visual humorist living in Birmingham, Alabama. Stewart, a former physician, creates ballpoint composite drawings in the style of Arcimboldo. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and art from Birmingham-Southern College in 1981, Stewart attended the University of Alabama School of Medicine, and completed an internship in surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota before turning to art full time.

The Artist's Magazine [www.artistsnetwork.com/artistsmagazine] observed that “Stewart could be one of his own artworks,” referring to the artist’s multiple academic interests. (Strickland, Bill: The Artist's Magazine, The Artist’s Life, Jan 1988). This combination of science, art and humor is illustrated in Stewart’s PERIODIC TABLE OF THE ELEPHANTS [http://www.dsart.com/Gallery/elephants.htm] , which appeared in the Journal of Irreproducible Results. (N. Sperling, Ed. Vol 50, No 1, 2006)

The Birmingham News noted, “Stewart has the skill of an illustrator and the sense of humor of a satirist, producing badge-like images filled with inventive humor,” further describing his work as “a quirky kind of surrealism that becomes a game of cognition.” (Nelson, James: The Birmingham News, Sunday, August 01, 2004)

Stewart’s art was challenged in 2006 by Volkswagen Group of America, which issued a cease and desist letter asserting trademark infringement for his VW Bug [http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/Don-puns.htm] drawing. His case drew the attention of the Chilling Effects (group) [http://chillingeffects.org/trademark/notice.cgi?NoticeID=2889 VW Bans Beetle Art] , and the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which highlighted the artist in its opposition to H.R. 683 [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-683] , a revision of trademark law that threatened artists’ legal protections used to defend trademark infringement cases [http://www.digitalphotopro.com/studio/trademark-two-step_2.html] .

A hardbound collection of Stewart’s drawings, DS ART: THE VISUAL HUMOR OF DON STEWART [http://www.amazon.com/DS-Art-Visual-Humor-Stewart/dp/0977329402/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219945640&sr=1-1] was published in 2005.