Divided Portraits Identity and Disability

"She brings a keen painter's eye to bear. . . . The result is often striking: how the subject exists as well as looks."--James Salter

"Whether focused on a landscape or the human features, the result is an enchantment."--George Plimpton

Beautiful and inspiring portraits create a new image and identity for disability, showing grace, beauty, strength, and resolve. In portraiture, as in most human interactions, the head--indeed the eyes--are the first thing noticed. But confronted by a person in a wheelchair, the viewer's focus shifts to the chair. This work challenges any assumption of difference, illuminating Christopher Reeve's protest after his accident--"I am still me!"--and emphasizing that able-bodied or disabled, humanity is innate to us all. The book accompanies a traveling exhibition of the paintings, drawings, and sculptures.

A New York-based fine artist specializing in portraiture and landscape, Hilary Cooper has been featured in numerous exhibitions and collections, as well as editorials in The New Yorker and Art News. Among her commissioned works are portraits for Erica Jong, Ed Koch, Kimberly Rockefeller, and Patricia Hearst Shaw.

Jean Kennedy Smith, founder of VSA arts, was the US ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998, and has received numerous awards for her many contributions to the issue of disabilities.

Roxana Robinson is a noted writer, the author of the acclaimed biography of Georgia O'Keefe and five other books, including four New York Times Notable Books of the Year.