Florida Artists Group

Artist Bio:

Russell is a native of Seattle. He is a product of “The Northwest School” of art where he studied at The University Of Washington under Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Wendell Brazeau and Glen Alps as an undergraduate and with Paul Horiuchi as a graduate student at Washington State University. He had the pleasant honor of being the undergraduate studio mate and friend of Chuck Close for two years where the two of them painted, passionately talked art, and grumbled bitterly about breaking free from the powerful grip of The Abstract Expressionist Movement that dominated the northwest scene at that time!

Happily both managed to do that and, over the years, go on to more individually expressive pursuits!

Artist Statement:

THE FUSION OF PICTORIAL FACT and ABSTRACT REALITY.
My belief in “Art beyond the canvas”,
These terms may seem confusing misnomers, but they’re really not. They’re actually two different concepts that relate to my visual process. Grappling with them has been the driving idea behind my personal work for many years now, when I first made a conscious attempt to break out of the restrictions imposed by the picture frame.

For me personally, the ability to master multiple mediums has always been an important necessity for my work. When people ask me what medium I work in, I answer “any and all mediums”. The medium I work in is only meaningful in so far as it helps me achieve my ends.

What is PICTORIAL FACT and what is ABSTRACT REALITY,
and why is my preoccupation with them part of my evolving artistic identity?

PICTORIAL FACT is simply seeing what is in front of you
and rationalizing it as reality. Let’s say I am looking at a landscape scene;
a farmer’s red barn and some rolled hay in a field next to it. That’s the real world. Even though it might not be, you accept that image as fact because of your life experiences. Now an artist may reproduce that image on canvas or paper and put a frame around it, and VOILA! you have what is called a “realist” picture: a segment of PICTORIAL FACT.

ABSTRACT REALITY on the other hand, is a unique by-product of the bicameral visual process we experience everyday and generally ignore or discount.
Let’s go back to the red barn landscape. Concentrate on the scene. Really SEE it!

In reality there is no abrupt edge of blindness boxing in what you see. It’s just the opposite!
There are all kinds of subtle things happening at the peripheral edges of your vision that add to the validity of the central image: spots of fading and changing color, moving and twisting forms, indistinct objects, chiaroscuro glare and shadow, etc. etc. etc. You become more aware of these peripheral elements the more you concentrate on the central image. This abstracted imagery is REALLY THERE! You see it as vagary, insubstantial content, but it is part of the REALITY of your human experience.

What if an artist finds a way to give you more than just the picture in a frame? What if that artist is striving to incorporate both aspects of reality. This is my artistic identity:
to keep trying to find the best way to achieve this goal. Sometimes I succeed really well, sometimes not so much!

Education:

BA in Graphic Design Univ. of Washington 1964
BFA in Fine Arts Univ. of Washington 1965
MFA in Design and Painting Washington State Univ. 1966

Publications and Societies:

DESIGN a college text for Graphic Designers. Published by Prentice Hall 1991
THE FUTURE OF COLOR an article in COLOR. SCIENCE magazine June 1986
DESIGNING FOR THE REAL WORLD an article in INDUSTRIAL DESIGN magazine April 1994
Member, INDUSTRIAL DESIGN SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Member, GRAPHIC DESIGN SOCIETY

Awards and Grants:

NEA grant for photographic essay of the Kentucky Mountain People, summer of 1975
Regional Design Award of Excellence In Design GRAPHIC DESIGN magazine 1974,75,77 Regional Design Award of Excellence In Design GRAPHIS magazine 1975,77,80,81,87
Best Designers Midwest Region Award CA magazine 1980,81,83,86,91

Professional History:

1978 to 1998 Exec. Creative VP/Founding Partner Davidson Marketing, Chicago IL Creative Partner in 180 man Advertising Agency that my partner and I built from the ground up. Retired in 98 at age 57 to pursue writing and painting.
Formerly:
Senior Art Director Leo Burnett Advertising, Chicago IL
Associate Professor Of Design Northern Illinois University
Senior Designer Goldsmith, Yamasaki, Specht Industrial Design Firm, Chicago IL
Associate Professor, Chairman of Design Eastern Kentucky Univ.
Design Manager Quaker Oats Company Chicago IL
Art Director American Can Co. Chicago IL

Assist. Professor of Art Bradley Univ. Peoria IL