Russellville artist David Mudrinich will present his exhibit, "Within the Landscape," at University of the Ozarks' Stephens Gallery throughout September as part of the university's Artist of the Month Series.
The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, will run from Sept. 2-25 in the gallery, which is located in the Walton Fine Arts Center. There will be a reception to meet the artist from 4-5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9, in the Stephens Gallery.
Mudrinich has taught art at Arkansas Tech University since 1998 and was promoted to professor of art in 2011. He previously taught at Emmanuel College in Georgia and at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Learning.
A native of Pennsylvania, Mudrinich studied at Penn State University and the University of Georgia. Over the years he has worked a variety of jobs to support his family and pursue his art career. These included working in a steel mill, in building construction, as a technician in forestry research and teaching. All the while, he developed his art along themes that dealt with nature and the environment. He works in a variety of drawing and painting media, including oil paint, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, ink, charcoal and pencil.
Ozark Beehives is one of the drawings by Russellville artist David Mudrinich that will be displayed in the University of the Ozarks’ Stephens Gallery from Sept. 2-25 as part of the Artist of the Month Series.
"As an artist, I have always been intrigued with a sense of place and the various characteristics that make any particular location unique," Mudrinich said. "This can include the natural geographic features of the landscape as well as the visual impact that human activity has left on the land. I mostly do drawings and smaller color studies on site and then work a larger piece in the studio. I rely on memory and will occasionally include a photograph to help as a reference, but the full experience of actually being within the color and sound of a particular place is what I find important and motivating. Patterns, rhythms and interrelationships become more revealed. Everything within the environment is subject to change, whether it is the movement of the wind, the transition from day to night, the cycle change of the seasons or human alterations of the land. This continuous change allows me to visit a place repeatedly and always experience something new."
Mudrinich said that "Within the Landscape" includes some expansive views of space, on-site studies, and a subgroup of works based on more intimate observations.
"Within this last grouping, I have been creating a series on beehives," he said. "The farm next to where I live has a bee yard that I see every day. I am intrigued by the visual rhythm created as the hives are arranged within the landscape. Many of the apiaries I come across are at abandoned locations that were once a home, school or business. They seem to symbolize a regeneration of purpose in what was once an active place. Their placement seems to make a statement about measuring time resembling, in my mind, Stonehenge or some sort of sundial configuration."
His work is exhibited widely and he has received awards on both the regional and national level. Exhibitions include shows at the Arkansas Arts Center, Butler Institute of American Art, Springfield Art Museum, Clinton Presidential Center, Wichita Center for the Arts, Schenectady Museum, NY, St. John’s University and Georgia Southern University. Public collections of his work include the William J. Clinton Foundation; Hendrix College; Arts and Science Center of Southeast Arkansas; State of Georgia Art Collection; Athens-Clarke County Courthouse in Georgia; North Georgia College & State University; Parkersburg Art Center in West Virginia, and St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria , La.
Topics: Exhibit