Past Exhibits

Gallery

Artist Russ Guirl finds beauty in trees—in their arching trunks, their knobby cypress knees, and in the gleeful delight of their springtime foliage. Some of Guirl’s renderings of trees lining central and south Arkansas riverbanks are currently being exhibited in Mullins Library. Poised in graceful, ageless dances, Guirl’s water-bound trees invite peaceful contemplation.

Guirl says, “Landscape-based themes have always been the subjects holding me enthralled. I’m constantly pulled back to the wonderful streams and shores and their cast-aside artifacts all about us here in Arkansas.” One series of five oil pastel paintings from Jenkins Ferry on the Saline River revisits the same stand of trees during different seasons of the year—a roaring spring flood, a languid winter pool, and summertime high and dry. Another painting, “Primavera, Saline River,” invites the viewer to imagine sitting on the bank, listening to the background hum of cicadas, and perhaps even itching to drop a cane pole line baited with worm into the reflective water.

Another series of collages highlights Guirl’s technical skill in rendering delicate, small images. The collages, composed of mere snips of paper, tinted with color and sparsely arranged in snapshot size images, are a marvel in their deceptive simplicity. The oriental austerity of these collages offers a charming alternative view to the same riverbank scenes rendered in the larger oil pastels.

Russ Guirl was born in Illinois and received his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1959. After teaching at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Guirl came to the University of Arkansas as associate professor of art. But for the past thirty years, Guirl has heeded a different call—the organization, implementation, and management of substance abuse treatment programs serving Arkansans. His artwork is represented in various public and private collections throughout the region. For more information, contact (479) 575-6702.