Russell Crotty, Nightfall Matilija Wilderness, 2007-2019. Ink and watercolor on paper on fiberglass sphere. Russell Crotty Studio. Courtesy image.
SANTA BARBARA — Santa Barbara Museum of Art to present: “Space and Wonder: A Conversation with Russell Crotty,” starting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, 1130 State St., Santa Barbara.
Artist and amateur astronomer Russell Crotty, whose work is featured in The Observable Universe: Visualizing the Cosmos in Art, talks about his interest in and artistic interpretation of the art and science of the universe.
Drawing primarily from SBMA’s permanent collection and supplemented by loans from area collections, The Observable Universe explores a diverse range of artistic representations of the cosmos coinciding with the “Space Age” of the last 60 years.
$5 SBMA Members/$10 Non-Members
Purchase tickets at the Museum Visitor Services desk, or online at tickets.sbma.net.
Location:
Mary Craig Auditorium
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
1130 State Street, Santa Barbara
More about Russell Crotty:
Since the early 1990s, Russell Crotty has made important contributions to contemporary drawing. Utilizing ballpoint pen as his primary medium, he is especially renowned for his distinctive drawings on paper-coated suspended globes and within large-scale books. His work engages astronomy, landscape, mapping, surfing, coastal studies, along with an idiosyncratic commentary on the natural and manmade worlds. Crotty ambitiously broadens his vast body of work by incorporating bio-resin, collage, and non-traditional materials, exploring new ideas that investigate and expand the notion of “works on paper.”
As a serious amateur astronomer, Crotty has studied the night sky for decades, utilizing his own array of telescopes with occasional sojourns to professional observatories. He has made important observational contributions to accredited astronomy organizations such as NASA and ALPO (Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers). He obsessively and enthusiastically documents the night sky and celestial phenomenon. The resulting body of astronomical work is informed by scientific research by contemporary astrophysicists, romanticized by his extensive knowledge of exploratory 19th century science, and fueled by his immense passion for the cosmos.
Russell’s work has been extensively exhibited nationally and internationally and is owned by private collectors, museums and public collections. He is a 2015 Guggenheim Fellow.
A native Californian, Russell grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, began and nurtured his art career in Los Angeles, lived many years in the Santa Monica Mountains—and now works in Ventura and resides in Ojai.