Through years of strife, controversy and world-shaking events, artist and illustrator Norman Rockwell benevolently depicted the core of average American life and the American dream. Starting in 1916, the covers he made for The Saturday Evening Post and other publications created an important chronological history of American homespun sensibility. Ed Gabel’s drawings and paintings, many on the covers of Time and several other magazines, do a similar job but with a more editorial point of view of national and global issues. Nothing average, nothing soft or nostalgic. Gabel tackles current events with a keen eye for the ironic. He juxtaposes and blends unlikely images to accompany a magazine’s cover story. Gabel spotlights thorny issues with astounding, opinionated realism. He astutely represents the illustration evolution—from Rockwell’s tender, moving and often amusing observations to Gabel’s punch of emotionally and critically charged issues painted with a most determined brush.
Time USA
Time USA
Time USA
Time USA
Time USA
Time USA
Time USA
Time USA
Time USA
Time USA
About the Artist
Ed Gabel has more than 25 years’ experience in the publishing industry and specializes in illustration and animation. Born in 1964 in Ohio and a graduate of Miami University (Oxford, OH), he began his career as an artist for newspapers, including the Asbury Park Press and the Toledo Blade, which led to a position at TIME magazine where he worked for nine years. He currently co-owns a design studio, Brobel Design, located in Westfield. “I was influenced early on by newspaper comic strips and the drawing style of MAD magazine. In the 1990s, I began to focus on 3D computer illustration inspired by the groundbreaking style of Pixar Studios,” says Gabel. His illustrations have appeared on the covers of TIME, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone, among others. He has also created artwork used by Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, DC Comics, and ESPN. He lives in Cranford and spends his free time riding throughout the northeast on his Harley Davidson.
