Louisa Bertman is a digital activist, feminist, illustrator
animator

GIF art GIF art is a form of digital art that first emerged in 1987. The technology for the animated GIF has become increasingly advanced through the years. After 2010, a new generation of artists focused on experimenting with its potential for presenti ...

ist and filmmaker living in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most ...

. As a visual narrative artist her work pushes illustrations, gifs, animated shorts, and visual narratives in conjunction with technology and social media to advocate art for social awareness, social justice and social innovation. Her interest lies in creating art for advocacy. Whether it's GIFS focusing on ''Climate Awareness'' for The New York Times; video game characters for The National Archives ''Rightfully Hers'' exhibition, or animated shorts for NPR's WNYC Podcast series, "''

Caught The Lives of Juvenile Justice Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the ball ...

''", Bertman's works address a range of political and social justice issues including sex, race, age, and cultural identity. Bertman utilizes the power of visual narratives to enable activism and change. She is known for incorporating humor and extreme graphic imagery in her work. She is also known for "untraditional portraitures of celebrities, influencers and personalities"

Personal life

Louisa Bertman is from

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. Her parents are Richard Bertman (sculptor, author, and founding partner of

CBT Architects CBT usually refers to: * Cognitive behavioral therapy, in psychology CBT or cbt may also refer to: Broadcasting * CBT-FM, a radio station in Grand Falls-Windsor, Canada * Certified Broadcast Technologist, a professional title Businesses * Cabo ...

), who has worked with her on occasion, and Sandra Bertman PhD, Ft, author, and

thanatologist Thanatology is the scientific study of death and the losses brought about as a result. It investigates the mechanisms and forensic aspects of death, such as bodily changes that accompany death and the postmortem period, as well as wider psychol ...

who pioneered applied arts and humanities in clinical, academic and public settings; founding director of

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medi ...

Medical School's Medical Humanities program. Her two siblings include, David Bertman - a television and film director, editor, and winner of the 2017 ACE Eddie Award for the '' This Is Us'' pilot episode and Jonathan Bertman, a physician, entrepreneur and founder of ''Amazing Charts'' and ''Afraid To Ask''. Initially Bertman attended NYU

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

, and was a professional modern dancer in New York City. She received her BFA in illustration from Parsons The New School for Design. She received an MFA in Visual Narrative from The School of Visual Arts.

Professional career

Embracing the intersection of illustration, technology and social media, Louisa Bertman is an illustrator, GIF artist, animator, filmmaker, and producer of creative nonfiction visual narratives. Her illustrations, GIFs, and animated shorts bring attention to social awareness and social justice. From MTA Posters for The LGBTQ Center, NYC to Podcasts for WNYC Caught the Lives of the Juvenile Justice; to female video game characters for the exhibition ''Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote'' for

The National Archives National archives are central archive, archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by government ...

, DC, Bertman's work appears in magazines, newspapers, podcasts, social networks, and film festivals including ''The New York Times'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'',

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's '' The Undefeated'', '' GQ'', '' The Root'', and ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's ''The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

''. She has created illustrations and animated GIFs of celebrities including

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

for ''The Nation''; Cecile Richards, Valerie Jarrett, London Breed for LENNY; Cartalk's

Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

and

Ray Magliozzi Thomas Louis Magliozzi (June 28, 1937 – November 3, 2014) and his brother Raymond Francis Magliozzi (born March 30, 1949) were the co-hosts of NPR's weekly radio show '' Car Talk'', where they were known as "Click and Clack, the Tappet Bro ...

for NPR's yearly calendar;

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

for ''BUST Magazine''; Serena Williams for ESPN; Jackie Robinson,

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, i ...

, Denzel Washington, Chadwick Boseman and Rob Morgan for ''The Undefeated''; and nine power couples of social media for ''The New York Times''. '' American Idiot'' producer Laurence Kaye (Hop Theatricals) commissioned a signed/numbered limited edition series of 10 prints in celebration of American Idiot's opening night on Broadway. Bertman is a 2017/18 AICAD Fellow recipient. Bertman illustrated and animated Elegy Ending with a Cell Door Closing written and spoken by 2021

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

Reginald Dwayne Betts Reginald Dwayne Betts is an American poet, legal scholar, educator and prison reform advocate. At age 16 he committed an armed carjacking, was prosecuted as an adult, and sentenced to nine years in prison. He started reading and writing poetry dur ...

. Bertman is currently Assistant Professor of Illustration and Visual Narrative at the Lesley University College of Art + Design.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertman, Louisa Living people Artists from Newton, Massachusetts American women illustrators American illustrators Tisch School of the Arts alumni Parsons School of Design alumni Year of birth missing (living people)