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Artist in Residence Russell Crotty

 

 

 

 


On View: Russell Crotty, A Look into the Vast
March 28 – April 26, 2024
Windgate Center Art Gallery

Russell Crotty Gallery Talk
April 4, 2024 | 3:30-4:30 pm
Windgate Center Art Gallery

Russell Crotty Drawing Workshop
Apr. 5, 2024 | 12-1 pm
Windgate Center, Baldwin and Shell Drawing Studio room 115 

Artist-in-Residence Russell Crotty will conduct a drawing workshop that explores our relationship with our closest celestial neighbor, the Moon. As we anticipate the total solar eclipse, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the Moon just before it aligns with and obscures the Sun. The Moon is distinctly equitable as humans have been observing it for eons ~ with the naked eye, and in more modern times through telescopes and space probes. Our Moon stabilizes the Earth as we orbit around our Sun. It evokes the imagination. We marvel at the full moon rising in the east at sundown and revere the beautiful young crescent moon in the west. How can we as individuals express this beauty in a personal way as drawn from our experiences and memory?
 
The workshop is designed to spur dialogue and contemplation of the many moods of the Moon: romantic, scientific, literary, cultural, symbolic, spiritual, seasonal, time, surface, etc.
Reference materials will be presented as a catalyst for your unique interpretations of the Moon. Attendees will be provided paper, pencils and charcoal. You are also welcome to bring your own materials if you wish to work with watercolor, ink, collage, text, etc.
Russell Crotty Gallery Talk
April 6, 2024 | 3-4 pm
Windgate Center Art Gallery

About Russell Crotty

Russell Crotty has made important contributions to contemporary drawing since the early 1990’s. Utilizing ballpoint pen as his primary medium, he is especially renowned for his distinctive drawings on paper-coated suspended globes and within large-scale books. His work engages astronomy, landscape, mapping, surfing, coastal studies, along with an idiosyncratic commentary on the natural and manmade worlds.

As a serious amateur astronomer, the artist has made important observational contributions to accredited astronomy organizations such as NASA and ALPO (Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers). He obsessively and enthusiastically documents the night sky and celestial phenomenon. The resulting body of astronomical work is informed by scientific research by contemporary astrophysicists, romanticized by his extensive knowledge of exploratory 19th century science, and fueled by his immense passion for the cosmos. Russell’s work has been extensively exhibited nationally and internationally and is owned by private collectors, museums and public collections. He is a 2015 Guggenheim Fellow.

 

 

Check out the other great events happening in conjunction with the Eclipse