The artwork of Christopher Troutman will be on exhibit at the Ohio University Eastern Art Gallery through Thursday, March 29.
The artist will be in attendance at a closing reception on March 29 and, at 6:30 p.m., he will give a lecture about his work. The reception will run from 6-8 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
Troutman has lived in Beaumont, Texas, since 2013, where he teaches all levels of drawing at Lamar University. In his work, Troutman uses drawing to define the form and space of figures and environments, as well as examine storytelling inspired by personal narrative.
“I focus on drawing as the primary means of expression of my studio research. Typically, I collect source materials from direct observation or photographs, which I synthesize in compositional exercises as sketches that lead to final works. Alternatively, without preparatory compositional sketches, I begin drawings as marks and line from which I identify and develop representational subjects. Figures and environments in individual compositions present singular moments within a suggested narrative, which I enhance by dividing images into sections to tell stories in multipart works. Additionally, I use multiple sections in drawings to juxtapose imagery from the U.S. and Japan, the two places I live each year.”
“My subjects are human figures in contemporary urban settings presented from unexpected vantage points in order to reveal the latent interest of everyday visual experiences. Influences on my work are artists that focused on composition and the relationship of the human figure and their surrounding urban space, which includes artists Edgar Degas, Edward Hopper and Robert Birmelin. Also, graphic novels and comic books have had a large influence on my work.
“My drawings are large-scale, which I hang unmediated by frames and glass, bringing the artwork into the audience’s immediate space and making the process each drawing has undergone directly visible. The scale of the drawings, the figures within them, as well as composition and point of view, place the audience in unexpected, and sometimes overwhelming, spaces, enabling the resonant experiences from which the drawings are inspired achieve a similar resonance with viewers.”
Troutman received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Bradley University in 2003, then moved to Japan, where he and his wife opened a conversational English school in Kagoshima City. While living in southern Japan, he became the first foreign resident of Kagoshima to be awarded the Grand Prize at the 52nd Kagoshima Prefectural Art Exhibition.
After completing a master’s degree in drawing and painting at California State University, Long Beach, in 2008, he taught in at Eastern Kentucky University, Vincennes University and Eastern Illinois University. He has had solo exhibitions in Japan and at several locations throughout the US. In 2014, Troutman was awarded the Grand Prize (Paris Prize) at the 66th Miyanichi Sougou Art Exhibition in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. He and his family return to Japan annually.
The Ohio University Eastern Art Gallery is open to the public and admission is free. The Art Gallery displays the works of local and national artists, as well as of the faculty, staff, and students of Ohio University. It is located on the second floor of Shannon Hall and is open to the public 11 a.m. to 2 p.m Monday and Wednesday, 12:30-3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, and 4-7 p.m. on Thursday. The gallery will be closed March 12-16, during the week of spring break.
For more information, visit oueartgallery@ohio.edu.
Ohio University Eastern is located off of I-70, exit 213, west of the Ohio Valley Mall in St. Clairsville.