- James Rosenquist
Infobox Artist
bgcolour = #6495ED
name = James Rosenquist
imagesize = 200px
caption = Photo of James Rosenquist in his Aripeka, Florida studio, 1988. Photo by Russ Blaise
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birthdate = 1933
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nationality = American
field =Painting ,Printing ,Drawing
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movement =pop-art
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awards =James Rosenquist (born
November 29 ,1933 ) is an acclaimed Americanartist and one of the protagonists in thepop-art movement.Background and education
He was born in
Grand Forks, North Dakota and grew up as an only child. His parents moved from town to town to look for work, finally settling inMinneapolis . His mother, who was also a painter, encouraged her son to have an artistic interest. In junior high school, Rosenquist won a short-term scholarship to study at the Minneapolis School of Art and subsequently studied painting at theUniversity of Minnesota from1952 to1954 . In1955 , at the age of 21, he moved to New York City on scholarship to study at the Art Students League. [citation | title= In the Studio: James Rosenquist| author=Jeffrey Kastner | publisher=ARTINFO | year=2007 | date= November 22, 2007 | url=http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/25939/in-the-studio-james-rosenquist/ | accessdate=2008-04-21 ]Career
Early Years and Pop
From
1957 to1960 , he earned his living as a billboard painter. This was perfect training, as it turned out, for an artist about to explode onto thepop art scene. Rosenquist deftly applied sign-painting techniques to the large-scale paintings he began creating in1960 . Like other pop artists, Rosenquist adapted the visual language ofadvertising andpop culture (often funny, vulgar, and outrageous) to the context of fine art. Rosenquist achieved international acclaim in1965 with the room-scale painting "F-111".Rosenquist has stated the following about his involvement in the Pop Art movement: "They(art critics) called me a Pop artist because I used recognizable imagery. The critics like to group people together. I didn't meet
Andy Warhol until 1964. I did not really know Andy orRoy Lichtenstein that well. We all emerged separately." [ [http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2008/04/art-space-talk-james-rosenquist.html "Art Space Talk: James Rosenquist"] , "Myartspace",04 April 2008 . Retrieved16 May 2008 .]Mature work
His specialty is taking fragmented, oddly disproportionate images and combining, overlapping, and putting them on canvases to create stories you can see. This can leave viewers breathless, making them consider even the most familiar objects (a
U-Haul trailer, or a box ofOxydol detergent , etc.) in more abstract and provocative ways.Prints
In addition to painting, he has produced a vast array of prints, drawings and
collage s. One of his prints, "Time Dust" (1992 ), is thought to be the largest print in the world, measuring approximately 7 x 35 feet.Honors
Rosenquist has received numerous honors, including selection as "Art In America Young Talent USA" in
1963 , appointment to a six-year term on the Board of theNational Council of the Arts in1978 , and receiving theGolden Plate Award from theAmerican Academy of Achievement in1988 . In2002 , theFundación Cristóbal Gabarrón conferred upon him its annual international award for art, in recognition of his great contributions to universal culture.Since his first early career retrospectives in
1972 organized by theWhitney Museum of American Art , New York City, and theWallraf-Richartz Museum ,Cologne , he has been the subject of several gallery and museum exhibitions, both in the United States and abroad. He continues to produce large-scale commissions, including the recent three-painting suite "The Swimmer" in the Econo-mist (1997 –1998 ) forDeutsche Guggenheim ,Berlin, Germany , and a painting planned for the ceiling of thePalais de Chaillot inParis, France . His work has continued to develop in exciting ways and is an ongoing influence on younger generations of artists. A note of interest would be that "F-111" was mentioned in a chapter of "Polaroids from the Dead" byDouglas Coupland .References
External links
* [http://www.jimrosenquist-artist.com/ Rosenquist's official site] (Requires
Macromedia Flash )
* [http://www.apo442.com/folio/lightbox_1.htm Photographs of James Rosenquist by photographer Russ Blaise]
* [http://www.deutsche-bank-kunst.com/art/2003/14/e/4/147.php Interview with db artmag]
* [http://www.popartmasters.com/toc.html#masters Pop Art Masters - James Rosenquist]
* [http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/25939/in-the-studio-james-rosenquist In the Studio: James Rosenquist]
* [http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2008/04/art-space-talk-james-rosenquist.html Interview with Myartspace]
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