Founder of Funism: Sal Marino is a multi-media artist with a career that spans more than thirty years. His recent works, "Strange Paintings & Prints" are the discovery of a thirty-something year long quest for a stylistic approach that, according to the artist, ". . . was there all along!" Marino is known as the Founder of "Funism", an art movement dedicated to and rooted in absolute fun. These new images draw their influence from the sometimes cryptic, sometimes erotic, but most times hillarious doodlings of Marino's youth. Marino's wry sense of humor and curious point of view have given...

Funism is a serious art movement founded in 1991 by Norm Magnusson in New York City.

Its basic tenets have remained the same:
1) Art should be intellectually engaging without being intellectually elitist, and
2) Art should be as much fun to look at as it is to think about.

Unlike so many other art movements, this one is philosophically focussed rather than aesthetically, or design focussed.

For the first known published reference to funism, follow this URL: http://www.funism.com/art/reviews/aselftaught038
Norm Magnusson (born March 20, 1960) is a New York-based artist and political activist.

Founder of the art movement funism, he began his career creating allegorical animal paintings with pointed social commentaries. Eventually became more and more interested in political art and its potential for persuasion.

This led him away from the canvas and into the public realm where he created short videos that ran on U.S. national television prior to 2004's U.S. general election, viral emails and roadside historical markers with contemporary social content.

In the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art (Franklin Furnace Artist's Book Archive), The Springfield Museum of Art, The Anchorage Museum of History and Art, The Pember Museum and numerous other public and private collections, he has exhibited at these museum and for many years before it closed, at the infamous East Village-born Bridgewater/Lustberg Gallery in NYC. His sculptures of historical markers were shown at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum's 2007 Main Street Sculpture Project, a show entitled "On this site stood." He was honored with a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant in 1999.

Letter to Norm Magnusson: Dear Mr. Magnusson: It has come to our attention that you are in violation of United States Copyright Protections Act by claiming that you are the "Founder of the Funism Art Movement" and advertising yourself as such without the expressed written permission for the original founders of the movement and owners of the Funism Art Copyright. Furthermore, you actions may have caused economic damages to the Funism name and copyright and the owners of such copyright will seek claims for said damages unless you immediately cease and desist from making claims of being the movement's founding entity. However, should you elect to do so, you may continue to identify yourself as a Funist or Funism Artist without consequence. You may also identify your creations as Funist or Funism Art without consequence. You are hereby ordered to remove all reference to you being the "Founder of the Funism Art Movement", "The Founder of Funist Art", "Founder of Funism", or any other such reference in your advertising or publicity in all mediums including the internet, print and electronic media, etc. Additionally, you are hereby ordered to issue a statement of retraction, stating that your actions of claiming to be the founder of the movement were indeed an act of Funism in itself and were not intended to detract credibility from the original founder. This statement of retraction must be posted on all internet sites that claim you as the founder. Lack of compliance with these directives shall result in a costly legal entanglement and we shall seek full restitution for such actions in equity and at law. Respectfully, Sal Marino Founder of the Funism Art Movement