The artist’s biography is mainly that of a fine art architectural illustrator of Chicago’s most beautiful buildings and sculpture for print publishing and museum exhibition. Before 2018, as an architectural “portraitist”, he had no idea his focus would ever turn to human portraiture. But the unveiling of the Obamas at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery painted by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald in the spring got his juices flowing, wanting to portray them in a more formal manner.
His decision to do life-size, full-length drawings was set after having lunch with Perri Irmer, Director and CEO of the DuSable Museum, when asking her if she would like to see the emeritus President and First Lady done in a classically idealized style closer to the Grand Manner of the High Renaissance. She said “Yes”. And he was on his way. COVID allowed him to not only do the Obamas, but gave him the opportunity to do Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden too.
As was mentioned in the Artist Statement, the work was not only a want to see the former President and First Lady done in the highest and most formal fashion possible, but it was also art therapy and emotional salve for his disgust at the antics of the 45th administration.
Statement2017 and 2018 were emotionally difficult years for me, seeing the 44th President being replaced by the 45th. I was also not impressed with the static and casually postured oils done by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald when they were unvielded in D.C. To soothe my aching heart and fulfill my vision of what the President and First Lady should look like in oil as leaders of the free world, I chose to draw preparatory portraits that would better portray them in erect and powerful nobility.
Symbolism is extremely important to me. So I placed President Obama in the Oval Office holding a book of the Constitution, adding a foreground antique globe spun to the Middle Passage, an 1862 print of Abraham Lincoln musing on Washington, volumes of laws and accomplishments produced in his two successful terms, and bookends of MLK to round out that symbolism. With the First Lady, she is placed in the Vermeil Room or First Lady's Room, holding a cameo of Sojourner Truth. VP Kamala Harris is standing in front of the Oval Office's Resolute Desk, holding the Senate's ivory gavel - the symbol of her power as the dual President of the Senate.
CvGroup Shows:
2022
Evansville Museum of Art, 61st Mid-States Art Exhibition, Evansville, IN
Audubon Artists 80th Annual National Exhibition, New York, NY
Tall Grass Arts Association, MULTI-plicity, Park Forest Art Center, Park Forest, IL -- Best Of Show
Tall Grass Arts Association, Black & White, Park Forest Art Center, Park Forest, IL -- Best Of Show
Hopkins Center for the Arts, “Arts North,” 27th International Juried Competition and Exhibition, Minneapolis, MN -- Best Of Show
2021
Wausau Contemporary Museum of Art, 5th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Wausau, WI
2019
Elmhurst Artist's Guild Winter Exhibition, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL -- Honorable Mention
2018
Evanston Art Center 25th Evanston & Vicinity Biennial, Evanston, IL
Rockford Art Museum 75th Midwestern Biennial Exhibition, Rockford, IL
The Alliance of Fine Art “Best Of The Best Exhibit,” Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL – Best Of Show
Elmhurst Artist's Guild Spring Exhibition, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL -- 1st Place
Bridgeport Art Center 3rd Floor Gallery “Architectural Elements,” Chicago, IL -- Best Of Show
2017
Elmhurst Artist's Guild Winter Exhibition, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL -- Best Of Show
Elmhurst Artist's Guild Spring Exhibition, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL -- Best Of Show
Bridgeport Art Center 4th Floor Gallery 5th Annual Competition Exhibition, Chicago, IL
2016
Bridgeport Art Center 4th Floor Gallery “Hard To Believe: Visual Illusions of Reality,” Chicago, IL
Butler Institute of American Art 80th Midyear Exhibition, Youngstown, OH
Appleton Museum of Art "Inspired Lines!" 2016 Drawing Biennial, Ocala, FL
Rockford Museum of Art 74th Midwestern Biennial Exhibition, Rockford, IL
Bridgeport Art Center 4th Floor Gallery 4th Annual Competition Exhibit, Chicago, IL -- Best Of Show
Tomahawk Ridge Community Center Juried Exhibition, Overland Park, KS -- Best Of Show
2015
Dubuque Museum of Art 5th Biennial Exhibition, Dubuque, IA
Arterie Gallery, Benedictine University “Art & Paper” Juried Competition -- Best Of Show
ARC Gallery “The Base Line: A National Exhibition on Drawing,” Chicago, IL -- Best Of Show
Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Art Center (Smithsonian Affiliate) “Finding Our Place,” Dowell, MD
R.G. Endres Gallery 8th Annual “State of the Arts” Competition, Kansas City, KS -- Best Of Show
Marin Museum of Contemporary Art “National Juried Exhibition: Drawing,” Novato, CA
2014
Ft. Wayne Art Museum International Contemporary Realist Biennial, Ft. Wayne, IN -- Hon. Mention
Rockford Museum of Art 73rd Midwestern Biennial Exhibition, Rockford, IL
Swope Art Museum 70th Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition, Terra Haute, IN -- Best of Show
Evansville Art Museum 57th Mid-States Exhibition, Evansville, IN
Beverly Arts Center 38th Annual Competition and Exhibition, Beverly, IL
Harper College 37th National “Paper Art” Invitational Exhibition, Palatine, IL 2013
Oak Park Art League Juried Invitational, Oak Park, IL -- Honorable Mention
Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs 11th Diamond National Competition, Hot Springs, AR -- Best Of Show
Columbia College 35th Annual “Paper In Particular” National Juried Exhibition, Columbia, MO
1992-2001 “Sunshine Artists” Juried Best of Show:
State Street Art Fair; Wells Street Art Fair; Gold Coast Art Fair; Lakeview Art Fair; Water Tower Place
Art Fair, Chicago, IL; Oakbrook Invitational Art Fair; Hinsdale Art Fair; La Grange's West End Fair;
Highland Park's Port Clinton Art Fair; Evanston's Fountain Square Art Fair; Lake Forest's Market Square Art Fair; Old Orchard Art Fair, Skokie, IL
One Man Shows:
2020 - Emhurst Art Museum Guild Gallery, Elmhurst, IL
2019 - 3rd Chicago Architectural Biennial, Chicago, IL
2018 - Wilmette Center for the Arts, Wilmette, IL
2018 - Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
2017 - Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL
2016 - ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL
2013 - Alden B. Dow Museum of Art, Midland, MI
2008 - Art Chicago / Artropolis - The Invitational Exhibition of Emerging Artists
1996 - University Club of Chicago
1992 - Mid America Bank of Chicago
1990 - Union League Club of Chicago
Awards, Publications, and Lectures: 2020 INDA 14 Drawing Annual publication from Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2018 Sheridan Road Magazine Culture & Arts
2017 Wilmette Arts Guild Fall Arts Review
2017 "Composition and Chiaroscuro Drawing," School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2016 "Piranesi, the Description de l'Egypte, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and Chicago Architectural Graphics," Chicago Architectural Historians, Chicago, IL
2015 - Acanthus Award for Excellence in Craftsmanship, Institute of Classical Architecture & Arts, NY
2014 - Harper College National “Paper Art Invitational” catalog, Palatine, IL
2014 - Ft. Wayne Art Museum International Contemporary Realist Biennial catalog
2014 - Swope Art Museum’s H.E. Wooden Award for Artistic Excellence
2015 - INDA 9 Drawing Annual publication from Manifest Gallery’s DRAWN Exhibition
2015 - Marin Museum of Contemporary Art “National Juried Exhibition: Drawing” catalog
1981 - BFA, Graphic Design Communication, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH
IL
CountryUnited States
