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Msyitc Truhts
Russel Hulsey
January 2010 – August 2010
in Gallery 4
For the last decade much of Russel Hulsey’s work has explored the concept that art
begins with the poetic. Therefore his artwork often focuses towards personal introspection
and spiritual contemplation.
A four part series, Verses I and II, is the artist's most recent body of
work and an homage to some of the most renowned and infamous American poets. Whether
it is Ralph Waldo Emerson or Allen Ginsberg, the portraits show the artist's impression
of each author. Hulsey does not make preparatory sketches for any of the pieces;
instead he chooses to work with immediacy – allowing the portrait to be as spontaneous
and perceptive as the words of each poet.
As we see in Hulsey's earlier work, Seeking, 2002 or his recent vinyl installation
in the 21c vestibule, Patent Pending, 2008, Husley's fascination with the
poetic and word play is also a device for social commentary. In Seeking,
the viewer is invited to approach a normal TV set atop a low lying base, as if it
were a Buddha sculpture atop an alter, and the screen has been manipulated to display
a single line that when combined with the mirrored base reveals the word "T
R U T H."
Similar to the wordplay in Seeking and Patent Pending, Hulsey
evokes other artists and poets in the works that complete the exhibition. The Laughing
Heart (for Charles "Hank" Bukowski), 2009 is a heart shaped sculpture
made only from blue oil paint and hung on a gold background. Hulsey channels Yves
Klein's theories of the blue void made famous in Klein's work of the 60's and the
gold paint color often used by Klein to question value systems. As we read Bukowski's
poem describing the necessity of spontaneity yet void of the word "heart,"
the sculpture becomes a visual pun and acts as a totem of artistic impulse.
The final work, an homage to the conceptual artist Bruce Nauman, reads as a clue
hidden in plain sight. An intentional misspelling of a well known 1967 neon work
by Nauman that reads "The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths,"
Hulsey is suggesting that the role of art lies in poetic, spontaneous, mystical
experience and that it cannot be read at surface value.
Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Hulsey has exhibited regionally since the late 90s
and has had numerous international exhibitions.
Limited edition prints of Verses I & II available at the 21c Gift Shop.
Exhibited Works
- Song to Dickinson (Verses I), 2006. Charcoal, graphite, acrylic on paper.
Collection of Ladonna Nicols & Larry Shapin.
- Song to Emerson (Verses I), 2006. Charcoal, graphite, acrylic on paper.
Collection of Kiley Lane & George Parker.
- Song to Longfellow (Verses I), 2006. Charcoal, graphite, acrylic on paper.
Collection of Laura Lee Brown & Steve Wilson.
- Song to Thoreau (Verses I), 2006. Charcoal, graphite, acrylic on paper.
Collection of Laura Lee Brown & Steve Wilson.
- Song to Dylan (Verses II), 2009. Charcoal, graphite, acrylic on paper.
Courtesy of the artist and Art Ecology Gallery, Louisville.
- Song to Ginsberg (Verses II), 2009. Charcoal, graphite, acrylic on paper.
Courtesy of the artist and Art Ecology Gallery, Louisville.
- Song to Kerouac (Verses II), 2009. Charcoal, graphite, acrylic on paper.
Courtesy of the artist and Art Ecology Gallery, Louisville.
- Song to Snyder (Verses II), 2009. Charcoal, graphite, acrylic on paper.
Courtesy of the artist and Art Ecology Gallery, Louisville.
- after Bruce Nauman, 2009. Glassblasted tablet. Courtesy of the artist and
Art Ecology Gallery, Louisville.
- Seeking, 2002. Vertical deflection process, monitor, mirrored plexiglass,
VCD. Collection of Laura Lee Brown & Steve Wilson.
- The Laughing Heart (for Charles Hank Bukowski), 2009. Oil paint. Courtesy
of the artist and Art Ecology Gallery, Louisville.
- Patent Pending: A Poem for America, 2008. Vinyl. Collection of Laura Lee
Brown & Steve Wilson.
Currently Showing
Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War
Kara Walker
in Gallery 2, off the Atrium
›
exhibition details
Faces of Fooshegu
Lindsay Cameron
November 2009
in Gallery 1, off the Atrium
›
exhibition details
Emergence
Julius Friedman
January - August 2010
in the Atrium Hallway Gallery
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exhibition details
Wheel of Fortune
Anne Peabody
June - October 2010
in the Atrium Gallery
Exhibited in conjunction with the
2010 GAS (Glass Art Society) Conference
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exhibition details
Simen Johan: Until the Kingdom Comes
July 2 - October 4, 2010
in the Street Level Gallery
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exhibition details
New Acquisitions and Highlights
August 6, 2010 - January 15, 2012
Atrium Gallery
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exhibition details