Designer/Maker:
Russell W. Baldwin - One of San Diego's most important mid-century
artists, Baldwin studied at San Diego State during the late 50s with
Everett Gee Jackson, Jean Swiggett, John Dirks, Martha Logenecker
and Ilse Ruocco. He explored many forms of expression; painting, sculpture,
drawing, ceramics and various constructed art forms and was a member
of the San Diego Art Guild, the Allied Craftsmen and the Contemporary
Arts Committee of the Fine Arts Society. Some of his first one-man
exhibitions took place in La Jolla at the Jefferson Gallery in 1964
and the La Jolla Museum of Art in 1965. He wrote his masters thesis
on sand-casting for sculpture during this period, but quickly moved
on to hard-edge constructions and polychrome mixed-media works that
were exhibited in La Jolla and in his 1966 one-man exhibit at the
Santa Barbara Museum of Art in 1966. He was one of San Diego's earliest
pioneers of conceptual art, working alongside fellow artist-teachers
Bob Matheny and John Baldessari who taught at Southwestern College
while Baldwin taught at Palomar College. Here, he taught for many
years in the art department and established the Boehm Gallery.
Description:
Enamel
on thick, brazed copper. This rare footed tray dates to the 1962-1963
period when Baldwin exhibited with the Allied Craftsmen and made numerous
intimate works involving brazed and welded sheet steel and colorful
enamel. A reflection of his diverse talents and interests, works of
this kind were exhibited at the 1963, Newport Harbor Museum exhibit:
Artist as Craftsman, Craftsman as Artist. Unsigned, from the estate
of Russell Baldwin.
