Overview

California artist Russell Crotty’s ink and watercolor drawings in the form of hanging ‘globes,’ flat works on paper and books interpret his observations of natural and man-made phenomena. As his ink drawings of constellations and nighttime skies came out of his experience as an amateur astronomer, his visions of surf and shorelines are filtered through his experiences as a life-long surfer.

 

Two large-scale ‘globe’ drawings of Northern Californian coastal landscapes and a 10×20 foot drawing from 1990 composed of hundreds of tiny vignettes of a surfer and wave will anchor the exhibition both formally within the gallery space and historically within the artist’s oeuvre. The other significant aspect of Crotty’s practice, books of drawings and text, will form the third component of the show.

 

Russell Crotty was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. He lived and worked in Malibu for many years and now divides his time between Southern and Northern California. He received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and his MFA from the University of California, Irvine. His work has been exhibited extensively internationally. In 2002 his surf drawings were included in the exhibition ‘Drawing Now: Eight Propositions for Contemporary Drawing’ presented by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His work has been collected by MoMA and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, SFMoMA, the San Francisco Fine Arts Museum’s Achenbach Foundation, the Centre Pompidou, Paris and many others.

Works
  • Ballpoint pen drawing with washes of blue purple and green gouache create a hilly seaside landscape on paper which is pasted onto a large fiberglass hanging globe. Throughout the green hills and blue sea various thoughts are scribbled down in all caps
    Russell Crotty
    The Cape, 2010
    ink and gouache on paper on fiberglass sphere
    36 inches in diameter
    61 cms
  • a stick figure surfing a blue wave with
    Russell Crotty
    The North Slab, 2008
    gouache and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Dark painting with orange green blue and purple asterisk shaped forms morphing and moving in waves against each other
    Anoka Faruqee
    2012P-01 Blue Pool, 2012
    acrylic on linen
    56 1/4 x 51 1/4 in
    142.9 x 130.2 cm
  • Ink and blue and green watercolor landscape drawing of stick figures walking on the beach with a caption at the right bottom corner reading Le Cote Sauvage
    Russell Crotty
    Le Cote Sauvage, 2009
    watercolor and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Ink and watercolor landscape drawing of a large wave crashing with a caption written in all caps and curving along the bottom of the illustration reads Perfect Les Culs Nuls… Vive La France… Vive La France…
    Russell Crotty
    Vive la France, 2009
    watercolor and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Ink and blue watercolor landscape drawing of ocean waves with a caption at the bottom of the piece in all caps that reads Empty Lines Trumpet Across The River Bar…
    Russell Crotty
    The River Bar, 2009
    watercolor and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Ink and gouache landscape drawing of a stick figure surfing a blue wave with green and black vertical strokes resembling grass at the bottom right corner
    Russell Crotty
    Grey Bluffs, 2009
    gouache and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Ink and watercolor landscape drawing of a stick figure surfing a large blue wave. At the bottom of the piece a caption written in all caps reads Lobster Lounge…Moidsland…Big Rock… Call It What You Will
    Russell Crotty
    Big Rock, 2009
    watercolor and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Black ink and blue beige and green gouache landscape drawing of several stick figures walking along a beach with two large waves and green grass in the foreground
    Russell Crotty
    Perfect Peak, 2009
    gouache and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Ink and watercolor landscape drawing of a stick figure surfing a large blue wave with several large gray rocks towards the left bottom of the piece
    Russell Crotty
    Tucked in at Piedras Blancas, 2009
    watercolor and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Ink and gouache landscape drawing of a stick figure surfing a blue wave with three large gray rocks jutting out of the water
    Russell Crotty
    Cold and Fun, 2009
    gouache and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Ink and gouache landscape drawing of multiple stick figure surfing several green waves. At the center right portion of the piece a gray rock wall form and multiple stick figures are walking along it. At the top a caption in all caps reads The Slab At North Wall In Full Swing…
    Russell Crotty
    In Full Swing, 2010
    gouache and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Ink and watercolor landscape drawing of a stick figure surfing a blue wave with a small wall of gray rocks and a green cliff towards the right. At the center bottom of the piece a caption written in all caps reads Little Anga perfect For Glassy Tube Tucks
    Russell Crotty
    Little Anga, 2009
    watercolor and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Ink and gouache landscape drawing of a stick figure surfing a large blue and green wave with thin beige shore lines at the upper right and left corner of the illustration
    Russell Crotty
    Little Hot Creek, 2009
    gouache and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Ink and gouache landscape drawing of a stick figure surfing a large turquoise wave. To the right is a sandy cliff of equal height with three stick figure onlookers and at the bottom of the piece the phrase It’s Going Off is repeated twice followed by a series of ellipses
    Russell Crotty
    Grey Bluffs Going Off, 2009
    gouache and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
  • Ink and watercolor landscape drawing of a stick figure surfing a large blue wave. At the bottom left several black and green vertical strokes resembling blades of grass sprout up and at the right bottom corner of the piece a caption written in all caps reads Peering Over The Sage Bluff At Tajiguas… Perfect Peaks Slaming Across The Reefs…
    Russell Crotty
    Peering Over, 2009
    watercolor and ink on paper
    22 x 30 inches
    55.9 x 76.2 cms
Installation Views