“THEM” is a show celebrating creative mavericks that were brave enough to express themselves the way they wanted to (or still do) –ignoring the restraints of critics, society or their own fears of the unknown. It’s visionaries like these that inspire the creatively curious to continue to discover, push, and invent new forms of artistic expression today. These mixed-media portraits (photography, collage, digital collage, acrylics, wood, paper, canvas, and even vinyl…) represent just a few of those that have inspired me.
GENIUS CHILD
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Digital Collage / Acrylic / Paper on Wood Panel
40x40
Jean, a kid from Brooklyn, stood out from the rest through his poetic expressions of social commentary. He started with provocative phrases and moved to painted pieces, which perhaps spoke more than just the words themselves. He used a mixture of poetry, drawing, and painting, blending text and image, abstraction, figuration, and historical information to bring attention to power structures, racism, and class struggle. His popularity skyrocketed his worth with collectors, forcing him to deal with people he originally despised. The pressures to keep up with his reputation as a major artist led to drug use that ultimately took his life at the young age of 27. He was just a child… a genius child.
Jean-Michel Basquiat (December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988)
“I don’t listen to what art critics say. I don’t know anybody who needs a critic to find out what art is.”
–Jean-Michel Basquiat
INNERVISIONS
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Collage / Acrylic / Paper on Wood Panel
30x30 SOLD
As his 30 years at Motown can attest, Stevie Wonder has been a musical icon. First, he was a child prodigy. Then, a young man with a soulful and multifaceted talent. As an adult he was driven by the challenge of realizing his ever-deepening inner visions.
Ever since I was a kid I have been drawn to Stevie’s music. He helped me see soul. He helped me see jazz. He helped me see funk. Help me see injustices in our society. He helped me see all races as equal.
I wish we all could see like Stevie.
Stevie Wonder (May 13, 1950 – Age 66)
“Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision.”
–Stevie Wonder
POET PAINTER
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Digital Collage / Acrylic / Canvas on Wood Panel
24x24
Chagall paints poetry- his work is very dream-like and filled with love, despair, and hope. Christ’s crucifixion is often a recurring image in his paintings. Chagall believed Christ martyred on the cross was an ultimate symbol of the Jewish people’s long-term suffering and strife. Chagall painted his emotions, creating his own deeply personal visual language.
Marc Chagall (July 6, 1887 – 28 March 28, 1985)
“If all life moves inevitably towards its end, then we must, during our own, color it with our colors of love and hope.”
–Marc Chagall
"When Chagall paints you do not know if he is asleep or awake. Somewhere or other inside his head there must be an angel.”
–Pablo Picasso
UN-ABSTRACTION
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Digital Collage / Acrylic / Paper on Wood Panel
40x40
During the 1960s, Jackson Pollock was viewed as one of the most important figures in the art world, and one of the innovators of the avant-garde styles that were beginning to emerge. Pollock’s personal struggles, such as his raging alcoholism, added to his often-publicized "superstar" status. In a way, his painting style reflected his lifestyle –Splattered chaos resulting in a powerful unapologetic boldness, which filled his canvases with movement, pain, and beauty.
Jackson Pollock (January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956)
“Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.”
–Jackson Pollock
COLOR FULL
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Digital Collage / Acrylic / Paper on Wood Panel
30x30
Hockney’s life has not been governed by problems or struggles, instead he has taken great strides to bypass much personal suffering and discontent. David Hockney has often been regarded as a flamboyant playboy of the art world. Yet, he has always retained a sense of stability in his life through his constant and tireless devotion to his work–Bold colorful art reflecting his lust for life.
David Hockney (July 9, 1937 – Age 79)
“The moment you cheat for the sake of beauty, you know you're an artist.”
–David Hockney
RE-SEE
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Collage / Wood / Acrylic / Paper on Wood Panel
30x30
Rauschenberg believed that painting related to "both art and life” and that “neither can be made." Following this belief, he created art that moved between these realms in constant dialogue with viewers and the surrounding world. He repurposed what we see and understand as common and reshaped it into “art.” Rauschenberg was a rule breaker who acted as a modern-day street artist before his time.
Robert Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008)
“Being right can stop all the momentum of a very interesting idea.”
–Robert Rauschenberg
GREEN PEA $OUP
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Digital Collage / Paper on Wood Panel
30x30
Today, Andy Warhol is almost synonymous with Pop Art. Not only did he change the way we look at common items, he became a magnet that attracted others who wanted to experiment and push the boundaries of what art could be. His fresh take on art made him a commercial success and gained him a following of fellow aspiring artists who shared the same vision –proving art can be just as much about a lifestyle as a finished canvas hanging on a gallery wall.
Andy Warhol (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987)
“Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.”
–Andy Warhol
Overcast
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Digital Collage / Plexi / Paper on Wood Panel
30x30 SOLD
Born in the rainy overcast small town of Aberdeen, Washington, Kurt was greatly impacted by the divorce of his parents when he was 9. Eventually his mother gave full custody to Kurt’s dad who in turn entrusted family and friends to help take care of him. He felt unwanted by his parents and grew to despise authority figures and to some extent people in general. His outlet became the Seattle punk scene where he found freedom in releasing his stored-up anger. A lot of the time pain gives birth to creativity. Kurt began to create music and he eventually became the driving force behind the mega rock band Nirvana. Arguably the most successful band to come out of Seattle’s “Grunge” scene, Nirvana was a welcome break from the over-produced glam rock acts of the 80’s. Kurt’s music was real and raw–a manifestation of his angst. Tortured by neglect, he ironically became tortured by success and turned to heroin as a misguided savior to deal with his depression and the demands of fame.
Kurt Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994)
“I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.”
–Kurt Cobain
INSIDE-OUT
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Collage / Acrylic / Paper on Wood Panel
21.5x33
Life experiences have shaped us all to some extent. Pablo, from an early age, had many. He was revived as a newborn with a puff of cigar smoke blown in his face by an uncle. As a young boy he made a pact with God promising to never paint again if God would spare his sister from a childhood disease. Little Pablo couldn’t resist his calling to produce art. His sister ending up succumbing to the disease and passed away at the age of 8. Pablo was riddled with guilt and was forever angry at God. I think it had major impact on how he saw life and as a result how he saw art. He distorted reality and made up his own world, one he could manipulate however he pleased. He lived in a world where he was his own god.
Pablo Picasso (October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973)
“My mother said to me, 'If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope. Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.”
-Picasso
DECOMPOSER
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Digital Collage / Paper on Wood Panel
24x24 SOLD
John Cage, the son of an inventor, was an American avant-garde composer whose unconventional compositions and unorthodox ideas profoundly influenced mid-20th-century music. He regarded all sound as potentially musical, from outfitting a grand piano with screws, bolts, and washers to create different sounds to writing and conducting a piece of music that consisted entirely of silence. Like his inventor dad, he created new ways to engage with music and sound. He was the abstract painter of music.
John Cage (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992)
“I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.”
–John Cage
NO BOUNDRIES
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Digital Collage / Wood / Paper on Wood Panel
20x20 SOLD
Our surroundings often shape how and what we create. In architecture, it’s hard to find a better example than Frank Lloyd Wright. His designs harmoniously incorporated the terrain and the natural elements found around the location of his projects. Rock, wood, water… Bringing the outside elements inside and blurring the lines of man-made boundaries.
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959)
“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.”
–Frank Lloyd Wright
NOCTURNE
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Collage / Canvas on Canvas
24x48
Chopin was perhaps Poland’s most famous son. He wrote and played music in a way that brought the human voice to the ivory keys. His many romances and infatuation with female opera singers influenced his music greatly, and led to Chopin being one of the most cherished composers of the Romantic Era. He passed away much too young at age 39 after a long struggle with tuberculosis.
Frederic Chopin (March 1, 1810 – October 17, 1849)
“I wish I could throw off the thoughts which poison my happiness, but I take a kind of pleasure in indulging them.”
–Frederic Chopin
DARK-SIDE
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Digital Collage / Acrylic / Paper on Wood Panel
20x20 SOLD
Known for his surrealist films, David Lynch has developed a unique cinematic style that is dream-like and in many cases, violent. His films have been known to "disturb, offend or mystify” taking his viewers to places they wanted to avoid or were too afraid to visit themselves. His subject matter, and the way he brings it to life, is dark and exposes a deep-seated evil that can be found in normal every day places and in seemly ordinary people –a theme consistent in his films created to make the viewer uneasy and question the good in people.
David Lynch (January 20, 1946 – Age 71)
“We're all like detectives in life. There's something at the end of the trail that we're all looking for.”
–David Lynch
I AM
Eric Ronshaugen
Mixed Media: Digital Collage / Acrylic / Canvas on Wood Panels
48x72 -in 3 parts (NFS)
There are over 100 names of Jesus mentioned in the bible, my favorite being “Creator.” I don’t believe flowers got their many colors by chance… or that the planet we live on was a happy accident in space… or that the complexity of the human body and our ability to reason and love climbed out of pond water. The beauty and wonder of creation had to come from something greater –from an entity larger than our capacity to fully grasp or understand. I believe God created all things and because we were made in God’s image we have been given the gift to imagine and create as well.
God (Past – Present – Future)
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11 NIV)
–John the Apostle