R.I.P. – Chris Al-Aswad (1979-2010)

Chris Al-Aswad, founder of an excellent art journal Escape Into Life (as well as The Blog Of Innocence) has passed away (at the age of 31). The tributes poured in from Twitter (where he posted actively) and other sources and for a good reason – his websites are chock full of thoughtful and excellent essays on anything from animation to visual art.

It is incredibly rare to see such drive in someone so young, to simply push forward and create a work that can stand with the best ‘professional’ publications and even give them a run for their money.  I think Chris accomplished something enormous with EIL – he brought together talented writers, artists, poets and editors under his charismatic umbrella and gave everyone the space to do their very best.   He had an unfailing eye for what was good and how something could be made better – I saw for myself how it gave him tremendous pain to disappoint someone, but his generosity of spirit meant there could never be any ill-will. – From The Desk

Read More: MetaFilter / From The Desk / Escape Into Life on Twitter / This Isn’t Happiness