Third Street Gallery archive: 2010 Exhibitions: REVOLUTIONARY REALISM, Drawings by Chuck Bowden

Humboldt State University First Street Gallery is pleased to present REVOLUTIONARY REALISM, Drawings by Chuck Bowden, on exhibit from October 2nd through November 9th 2010. This will be the California North Coast artist's largest exhibition to date, which will include drawings from 1964 to the present day. The visual quality of his work often leads one to the conclusion that it was constructed digitally or through use of multi-media, however, they are meticulously drawn by hand. Much of Bowden's work contains strong political content, the inspiration for which began at a young age when he was affected by the Panama riots of 1964, and by the Kennedy assassination.

Within the works of Chuck Bowden, exists a unique passion for exercising his technical virtuosity, using simple implements, paired with a platform of expressive free speech.  In a category of his own, Bowden mixes his rich compositions, which incorporate black and white hyper-realistic pencil drawings, with ballpoint pens and brightly colored markers. The artist uses historic photographs as subjects within his drawings; however his goal is to "surpass the photograph" by employing a wider tonal range than one would find in the original source material. Bowden's exhibition delivers depictions of his fine artistic talent and boldly confronts sensitive and controversial present day issues.  Greatly influenced by his upbringing in a military family, Bowden’s politically charged expressions evoke strong reactions by his audience.

Bowden’s prior success as a commercial artist is outweighed by his overwhelming interest in expanding his own fine art.  Bowden occupies a personal stylistic category and pushes the conventional boundaries of fine art. Within his method of juxtaposing words, abstractions, popping colors with super-realistic graphite drawings, he creates a new intense, lusciously heightened pictorial form. This process of rendering strengthens the severity of topics expressed. For example, the piece Manbomb, created in 2005, depicts the contrast between a graphite image of a 19th century woman and vividly colored phallic-shaped bombs. If observed closely, each bomb bears the name and face of political figures and their affiliations.  At the bottom of the image surrounding the woman, a manifesto is included stating Bowden's message, which is a feminist critique of warmongering political systems. Many other pieces include messages of anti-war, anti-colonialism and other politically charged topics.

The artists Bowden has been most influenced by are Hieronymus Bosch, Brueghel, and Dürer. He is also working in the vein of activist artists such as Sue Coe, George Grosz, and Käthe Kollwitz. As with other activist artists, Bowden's art is more motivated by his ideals than monetary compensation. When he was asked his incentive was for creating works, he answered, "Someday I might influence the world…on occasion."

There will be a public reception for Chuck Bowden on Saturday, October 2nd, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., during Eureka Main Street’s Arts Alive program.  HSU First Street Gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m.  The gallery is located at 422 First Street in Eureka and admission is free to all. School groups are encouraged to call ahead to arrange tours. For more information call 707-443-6363.