S.B. 1.27.77 #5

Tworkov immigrated to the United States from Poland at the age of thirteen. He was among several of the New York School artists that worked with the Public Works of Art Project and then with the WPA. It was in the WPA where he met and befriended Willem de Kooning. In the late ?50s they shared a studio. The expressionistic brushstrokes in Untitled form a pattern of unrestrained energy. The interlocking reds and blues create a sense of unity. It appears to be some sort of grid or system similar to our own circulatory system. One can easily detect the influence that Cezanne and the Surrealists had on Tworkov. Cezanne?s expressionist brushstrokes certainly impressed Tworkov. The Surrealists favored the automatic method of painting and he seemed to employ this method in his work, too. This method required the artist to use his unconscious mind to paint. Pollock?s drip paintings were created in this fashion, too.

Untitled

Currently residing in New York, Yokose has exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States. His works also have appeared in several group exhibitions in his native Japan. Works by Yokose can be found in the collections of The Kennedy Museum of American Art, the San Jose Museum of Art and the Microsoft Corporation. Yokose uses an unusual process in which he combines oil and beeswax to create landscapes that appear simultaneously abstract and realistic. Because of the artist?s unique technique of painting, the surfaces of his work have a sensuous and tactile appearance. In this work by Yokose, one can see a funnel looming above the low horizon that is typical in his landscape works. The viewer can only speculate whether the funnel is a tornado or a bolt of lightning. The abstractness of the work hinders one from deciphering the exact nature of the funnel shape. The mysterious funnel and dark haunting skies allude to the danger of an approaching storm.

Untitled M 83

An associate professor of art at The Kansas City Art Institute, Cromwell has taught the history of photography, the history of film, contemporary art and aesthetics. He has been a visiting artist and lecturer at several colleges and been a juror of art competitions. He served as an editor of the literary magazine Words and photo editor of The Cottonwood Review, another literary magazine. In 1978 he served as program chair of the Society of Photographic Education?s national conference. Cromwell?s solo exhibitions include the Sheldon Memorial Gallery of Art at the University of Nebraska, the Douglas Drake Gallery in Kansas City and the University of Oregon Museum of Art in Eugene, Oregon. He has exhibited his photographic work in numerous invitational, group and juried exhibitions throughout the United States. His works appear in the collections of Mulvane Art Center, Mutual Benefit Life, University of Kansas Spooner-Thayner Museum of Art and the Denver Museum of Art.