"When the hollow men come and it is a time of madness, who will step from the line and say, 'No more!' And who will brave and steal fire from the gods and stand solitary beneath the blinding glare of truth?"  

Thus begins "When the Hollow Men Come," a poem by Gabor Barabas written during the pandemic that has been set to animation art by Juan Delcan.

Barabas was born in Hungary in 1948 and escaped with his parents at the age of eight to the U.S. during the revolution against the Soviet Union. He received his BA from NYU and his MD from the University of Cincinnati and practiced as a pediatric neurologist.

Barabas is well known throughout the Garden State as the Executive Producer of the New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch where he has produced over 100 professional productions, but his poetry is known throughout the world.  His work has appeared in various literary journals, and his books of poems include “Russian Chronicles” (Gray Falcon Press,1985), “Collected Poems” (Blast Press, 2016), and a translation of the work of the Hungarian poet, Radnoti, who perished in the Holocaust, “Miklós Radnóti: The Complete Poetry in Hungarian and English” (McFarland, 2014).

Juan Delcan is a native of Spain where he studied architecture and fine art and began his career as a graphic designer and illustrator. He lives and works between Los Angeles and New York. In Madrid, Juan joined Opera Soft where his video game designs enjoy cult status to this day. Although he is primarily a live action director, and began his career directing for European networks in Spain and Germany, he is also a painter and illustrator whose work came to the attention of Bono who commissioned him to animate backdrops for U2’s Vertigo Tour. His documentary, AfriCOBRA is a historical tribute to the Chicago artists collective who create images to uplift and affirm the African-American community. Juan’s animated film, “The Spider”, with poetry by Gabor Barabas, is a tribute to the art of Louise Bourgeois and was featured in the Berlin, New Orleans, and Chicago Film Festivals and in Ani’mest Bucharest. Also featured at Ani’mest was Juan’s “Lutier”, a film commissioned by Shakira to support classical music education for children stifled by poverty in South America. His work has been honored by The London International Advertising Awards, British Design & Art Direction Award, Monitor Award and Design Awards, AIGA, The BDA Awards, The Telly Awards and the Museum of Modern Art.