Out of the Ruins: a New York Record

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.