Pablo A. Medina is a Cuban-Colombian-American artist who recently relocated to Medellin, Colombia after having studied, lived and made art in New York City for 35 years.
We first met Pablo in the mid-90s. We collaborated on type design projects and he was our guest art director for issue 25 of Plazm magazine. A couple of years ago we invited him to be part of our Artist Series.
Pablo has taught art and design at Parsons School of Design, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and at California College of the Arts (CCA).
Have you designed a stamp before?
I haven’t, but a big favorite among my Parsons students was a stamp design project that I would assign.
What was the most interesting or fun aspect of designing a poster stamp? What unique challenges did it present?
Back in August, I did something unexpected.
I impulsively booked a flight from Medellin, Colombia, where I currently live, back to New York with the sole intention of seeing an exhibition at the MoMA by the late Jack Whitten. I had seen a video about his painting process online and was very compelled to witness his work in person. The work moved me unlike any other artist I have ever seen.
The trip and seeing the exhibition was the fun part. The torture began as soon as I made a commitment to working on the stamps. The very beginning of the creation process is usually the most painful.
“What the f#ck do I do and how the f#ck do I do it?” becomes my slightly dysfunctional mantra.
After a couple of days of terrifying creative paralysis, I felt the spark of an idea…do an homage to Jack Whitten.
Tell us about the art. Did you create something new for this stamp?
Yes, I created a series of 30 paintings for the 30 stamps available on the sheet. Jack’s paintings explore the idea of the cosmos and its relationship to art. Having just returned from a 10-day, silent Vipassana meditation retreat, where I experienced a sort of stationary space-travel, the idea of the cosmos was fresh on my mind. Once I had the idea of paying tribute to Jack through the medium of stars, I immediately got to work.
Anything else?
If you are familiar with Jack Whitten’s work, consider yourself very fortunate. If not, look him up and if possible, see his work in person. It will blow your mind.
Release date February 20, 2026: today, a historical event occurs in the cosmos. The planet Saturn is conjunct the planet Neptune, at the 0° mark of the zodiac sign of Aries. This zero point marks the beginning of an entire new cycle and, some would say, a whole new era for humankind.