Brian Block is an artist that lives and works in Grafton NY and New York City. His most recent project “To Live With Great Beauty: The Julia and Peter Archer Collection” was an exhibition of his “Cipher” works: abstract paintings and sculptures derived from previously auctioned artworks in the form of a preview show of a fictional auction of a fictional art collection.  

Relevant to CPAL conference is his ongoing project “The Notes of Franklin Curtis Wott” which involves print works Block has created from the fictional archive of FC Wott - an artist he created as a former California nudist colony resident and part time philosophy professor.  Block’s Ideas and Apparatus press was primarily established to publish the Wott projects.  

Block obtained a BA in English literature before completing his MFA at the School of Visual Arts. He also attended the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program. He has exhibited at the Yale University Art Gallery, BravinLee Programs, Salomon Contemporary, Lower East Side Printshop, Participant Inc, and The Opening. He has completed residencies at the Library Residency in Athens,  American Academy in Rome and The Cooper Union and the Watermill Center. Caryn has extensive experience representing artists' foundations, acting on behalf of both fiduciaries and beneficiaries, in the administration of domestic estates and trusts, as well as estates and trusts with contacts to international jurisdictions and litigation in the Surrogate's Courts. Prior to entering private practice, she served as an attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. Caryn is a frequent speaker and has written extensively on the special planning needs of artists and other creative individuals.