ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Sculpture is a vital element in our visual environment. The creation of objects that exist in three dimensions whose purpose is to stimulate reflection, meditation, awe and amusement is as unique to humans as it is ancient. I create works that will live harmoniously in the world as independent functionaries of society. I draw inspiration from forms and rhythms in nature, ancient artifacts, mathematics and science, distilling these influences into abstract points of intersection. My aim on a public scale is to involve the viewer, to interject into the world points of beauty, interest and spontaneity. I want people to use my sculpture as an excuse to mentally shift to another level of consciousness, above the daily hubbub, even for a moment, and to reconnect with themselves via that primal, emotional, cortex-controlled spasm of an encounter with an unexpected oasis in a visual desert.

On a personal level creating sculpture is an endless connected series of experiments. Technical matters drive visual possibilities. Imaginings require research into materials and techniques. The act of physically manipulating substances informs the entire thought process. Knowledge of process induces parameters and frees the mind. The daily work ethic gives total responsibility over the outcome. The path is long and winding and where it leads I will follow.


BIOGRAPHY

Brian Russell’s artistic endeavors began in the late seventies when he started exploring black and white photography. Concentrating on the human form Russell pursued photography as his primary expressive medium until his introduction to sculpture in 1981. Studying art and art history at Rhodes College, Russell began assembling found object steel sculptures.

After graduating in 1983 he began building furniture and functional items of steel and wood, opening his studio in 1985. Soon thereafter Russell became aware of the creative possibilities of working with hot forged metals. Using the tools and techniques of traditional blacksmiths allowed the shaping of metal into forms matching his creative vision. For the next nine years Russell worked in his studio on Broad Avenue, building everything from fire screens to monumental gates, from sculpture to lighting. Mastering new techniques and materials stimulated his creative vision, each new work allowing a synthesis of ideas. Driven to incorporate color into his work, Russell began experimenting with fused glass and pate-de-verre. Initially focused on glass vessels and fixtures, Russell laid the foundation for subsequent mixed media sculpture. His visual vocabulary was derived from his travels, nature and the human form.

In 1994 Russell moved his studio to 15 acres in the countryside northeast of Memphis. During the next six years, Russell produced an exceptional volume of work, including four commissions for monumental architectural sculptures., including Dancers, Ballet Memphis building, and Blue Plate Special, Wolfchase Gallleria, Memphis. On a visit to New Zealand in 1999 Russell was exposed to a lost-wax glass casting technique which he adapted through two more years of hard work and research resulting in the current state of Russell’s art: a fusion of forged metals and cast glass unique to his sculpture. The transparency and optical nature of the richly colored cast glass have an inherent emotional effect that enable the artist to speak quietly, yet powerfully about his ideas on the nature of reality and purity of form. The effect of the metal forgings, synergized with the images presented by the vivid glass castings give life to his sculptures.

Scale and structure, form and materials, light and shadow, are the guideposts on Russell’s continuing exploration of life through sculptural expression. His more recent installations include the 30-foot long Run Wild, in San Francisco, and the monumental outdoor work Torrential, purchased by the town of Newburyport, MA, for their Rail Trail project. In 2011 Russell exported 14 of his sculptures for the new palace of Prince Mansour Bin Abdullah, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as well as completing corporate commissions for SAS Instiyute and Evraz Steel. Currently Brian is working on a new range of his very popular Hemispheres series.


CURRICULUM VITAE

Brian Russell is a professional sculptor working primarily in a dynamic abstract style. His preferred media are cast glass and forged and welded aluminum, bronze and steel. Brian accepts public and private commissions, and exhibits his sculpture widely in galleries. He maintains an independent studio and sculpture garden near Arlington, Tennessee.

Selected Commissions/Collections

2011 LeBonheur Children’s Hospital Chapel, Memphis, TN Make a Wish Hemisphere
2011 Evraz Steel, Inc, NA, Chicago, IL Hemisphere: Crucible
2011 SAS Institute, Cary, NC Deconstructed Hemisphere Monumental
2011 Prince Mansour Bin Abdullah, Riyadh, SaudiArabia, 14 sculptures
2010 City of Newburyport , MA, Torrential Flight outdoor sculpture
2010 Pitt County Memorial Hospital, NC, Quixotic 3 and Flight outdoor sculptures
2010 Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, FL Hemisphere Nadir, indoor sculpture
2010 Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare, Memphis architectural railing
2009 Trezevant Manor, St. Edwards Chapel, liturgical furnishings
2008 Marriott Hotel Group, Hamilton, OH, Torrent outdoor sculpture
2007 St Georges Episcopal Church, Germantown, TN, altar, ambo, font
2007 Mobile Museum of Art, Haverty Collection, Hemisphere 32 Equilateral
2007 Dublin Arts Council, Dublin, OH Ascension, outdoor sculpture
2006 First Tennessee Bank, Memphis, Curvilinear Motion , outdoor sculpture
2006 Lark Creek Group, San Francisco, Run Wild, 30’ long steel and glass sculpture
2005 Piedmont Natural Gas, Charlotte, NC , indoor sculpture
2005 Energy Capital Partners, New York, NY , indoor sculpture
2005 Cafejian Museum, Minneapolis, MN; purchase of 2 works for the collection.
2004 Church Health Ctr, Memphis, TN; The Virtues, 6 illuminated alum. & glass sculptures.
2003 Tennessee State Museum purchase, Hemisphere 22 Sheaf
2002 Rhodes College, Memphis, Cerebral Map, memorial sculpture
2001 Tennessee State Museum , Bell South Collection, The Will to Live
2000 Rhodes College, Ceremonial Mace
1998 Ballet Memphis building, Five Dancers
1996 Wolfchase Galleria, Memphis, Blue Plate Special wall sculpture, 8x16’

Selected Exhibitions

2010 Anything But Clear; The Studio Glass Movement 1979-2009,
Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis
2010 New Sculpture, River Gallery, Chattanooga
2010 Forging Beauty, solo show Marta Hewett Gallery, Cincinnati
2009 30th International Glass Review, Habatat Gallery, Michigan
2009 SOFA Chicago
2009 International Cast Glass Review, St.Joseph Galerie, Netherlands
2008 Vetro/Glass, Forre’ Fine Art, Aspen
2008 Flowers and Art, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis
2007 Titration, outdoor exhibition, Dublin Arts Council, Dublin, OH, purchase award
2007 Three Masters, Studio E Gallery, Palm Beach
2007 Landscape Sculpture, Marta Hewett Gallery, Cincinnati
2007 Finely Cast, solo exhibition, Baum Gallery of Fine Art, University of Central Arkansas
2006 El Paseo Outdoor Exhibition, Palm Desert
2006 Lines and Spheres, solo exhibition, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis
2005 New Sculpture, solo exhibition at Tobin Hewett Gallery, Louisville
2005 SOFA Chicago, represented by Jerald Melberg Gallery
2005 Earthspace 2005, outdoor sculpture , Arlington, TN
2005 Hot Glass in the Blue Grass, Lexington Art League, merit award
2005 Flowers & Vessels, Eleonore Austerer Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, with Roberto Azank
2005 The Art of Contemporary Blacksmithing, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville
2004 Hemispheres and Gestures, Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte
2004 A Glass Act, solo exhibition, Function Art Gallery, Chicago
2003 Hemispheres, solo exhibition, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis
2003 SOFA Chicago, represented by Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte
2003 Hemispheres, solo exhibition, Tobin-Hewett Gallery, Louisville
2003 New Work, group exhibition, River Gallery, Chattanooga
2003 EarthSpace 1, solo outdoor exhibition, Arlington, TN
2003 ArtForm, West Palm Beach , represented by Jerald Melberg Gallery
2002 Gallery Selections, group exhibition, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis
2001 New Sculpture, solo exhibtion, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis
2001 Best Of TN Art Competition, Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, purchase award
2000 New Works, group exhibition, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis
2000 Made for Use, invitational, National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis
1994 New Works, solo exhibition, Limn Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1994 National Invitational, National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis
1993 Chicago International New Art Forms Expo, Kurts Bingham Gallery
1993 Introductions, solo exhibition, Kurts Bingham Gallery
1992 Form, Fantasy, Function IV, Kurts Bingham Gallery
1992 TACA 1992 Biennial, , Nashville; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art; merit award.
1991 Form, Fantasy, Function III, Kurts Bingham Gallery
1990 Selections from the Metals Museum, Schering Plough Corporation, Memphis
1990 Life Support, One Market Square, San Francisco
1990 The Nouveau Tradition, National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis
1990 Recent Works, solo exhibition, Clough Hanson Gallery, Rhodes College
1990 American Craft Council 10th Annual Fundraiser, Christie’s, New York
1988 House Jewellry II, National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis
1984 Flowers and Art, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis

Bibliography

2010 Best of America: Sculpture, book
2010 A Decade of Exploration, The Sculpture of Brian Russell, book
2010 Landscape Sculpture, article in Cincinnati Enquirer
2009 A New Symbolism of the Organic article in AIA/IFRAA Journal
2008 M3D: On the Edge Exhibition Catalog
2007 500 Glass Objects, book
2006 Glass Art Society quarterly, featured artist pro?le
2005 Forging Beauty, documentary on Southern Exposures, PBS station WKNO-TV
2004 History of Tennessee Arts
2004 Palm Springs Life
2004 Exhibition catalog, Jerald Melberg Gallery
2003 ArtForm exhibition guide, cover photo
2002 Rhodes magazine, Summer 2002, p.7, photo and article
2001 Anvil’s Ring, Fall 2001, photo p. 44
2001 Mid South Living, Nov/Dec 2001, article p. 22
2001 l’Arca 147, Italian architecture journal, photos of Ballet Memphis sculpture
2000 Direct Metal Sculpture, 2nd Edition, Dona Meilach, photo p.-C6, 212
2000 The Contemporary Blacksmith , Dona Meilach , photos
2000 Rhodes magazine,Summer 2000, photo, back cover
2000 Rhodes magazine, Fall 2000, p.10, Some Noted Memphis Alumni

Professiona Experience/Education

2010 Guest Speaker: Anything but Clear; Studio Glass Movement Dixon Gallery & Gardens
2007 Collaborations NZ, Whangerei, New Zealand
2007 Visiting lecturer, University of Central Arkansas
2003 Visiting Foreign Artist at Collaborations NZ, Whangarei, New Zealand

1986-02 Independent Study: National Ornamental Metal Museum; James Horrobin, 1986; James Wallace, 1986-87; Phillip Baldwin, 1988; Richard Quinnell and Ron Eastman, 1989; Bill Fiorini, 1991; First International Festival of Iron, Cardiff, Wales, 1989; ABANA Biennial Conference, 1990-1998; Hot Glass Horizons, Portland, OR, 1998; Glass Art Society Conference, Tampa, FL, 1999; Glass Casting Workshop with Tessa Clegg, Wanganui Polytech, New Zealand, 2000; Sandcasting Workshop with Cathy Chase at Urban Glass, Brooklyn, 2000; G.A.S. Conference, Corning, NY 2001; G.A.S. Conference, Amsterdam, 2002

1984 College of the Redwoods, Mendocino, CA;
non-degree studies with master woodworker James Krenov
1983 Rhodes College, Memphis, B.A., Studio Art; Cum Laude
1979 Oberlin College, Oberlin , OH
1979 Raleigh Egypt High School, Memphis; Valedictorian
1961 Born in Memphis, Tennessee