Bruce Morser: A Retrospective
8,000 pencils, 45 years, 6 careers
For online viewing of the Bruce's collection exhibiting in this show, scroll down.
For over 45 years, Bruce Morser has used the simplest of tools—a sharp pencil—to create an extraordinary body of work. From intricate technical illustrations and photorealistic dry-brush paintings to expansive 3D installations, his art is a conversation—an exploration of what we see in the world. This retrospective exhibition highlights six major areas of his career, spanning his early passion for encyclopedic drawings to his decades as a sought-after illustrator for clients like NASA, National Geographic, and Apple. Whether capturing human expression in portraiture, chronicling months-long bicycle adventures, or animating large-scale mechanical pieces with storytelling, Morser’s work is a testament to curiosity, creativity, and the endless possibilities of a” zillion little lines.”
Show opens at Vashon Center for the Arts, Friday, April 4, with an Artist Reception 5-8pm and runs through Sunday April 27. Gallery hours are Wednesday – Sunday, 12-5pm. Exhibition includes both artwork for sale and art from private collections.
ARTIST TALK
Also join Bruce for his presentation “A Talk on Creativity ,” Wednesday, April 16, at 7:30 PM in the Kay White Hall, where a variety of his images and related life stories will help explain what he understands creativity to be, why everyone is wired to have it, and why creativity is “one of the two best things in life!”
ARTIST STATEMENT
I love a sharp pencil, the simplest tool but capable of creating so much.
The vast majority of my work is basically drawing. From detailed technical illustrations, to portraits, to storybooks, to large 3-dimensional installations, it’s all just a zillion-little-lines trying to organize themselves into a story. Even the photoreal paintings are just dry-brush drawings on canvas. I wouldn’t always call drawing fun, it’s challenging and admittedly lonely at times, but where it gets me is wonderful.
Six of my major career areas are the focus of this show. Before I knew about different kinds of art, before I could really read, I was compelled as a 2nd grader to create, “The True Book of Vallcno,” (yup, not much of a speller). Art, for me, was less about making pieces of art, rather, more as a way to converse with people about what I saw in the world. I’d pour through encyclopedias to find drawings that explained what others saw.
I have a passion for mechanical things and realized 50 years ago that I could make large canvases, which could then be animated with 3-dimensional components. This led to big fabricated installations covered with a drawn story, like the wood installation at VCA. Portraits and storybooks and scenes from months-long bicycle adventures are each their own kind of storytelling. But the majority of my 45-year career was as a freelance illustrator for countless magazines and corporations. “Go learn as much as you can about X, Y & Z, then make art about it so others can learn,” they would say. “Really? You’re hiring me to do this?” This led to a wonderfully broad education that connected me with many of the mechanical things that originally inspired me to draw. It’s all about the conversations, the stories and ideas; my tool is a sharp pencil.
Oh, and then there’s the whole creativity thing.
Drawing gave me a path around the obstacles of written language, I actually feel lucky to be a severe dyslexic, even with its challenges. That route required a lot of original thinking: creativity meant survival and that had big payoffs. My presentation, “A Talk on Creativity,” is all about that. The date is Wednesday, April 16, at 7:30pm in the Kay White Hall, where a variety of my images and related life stories will help explain what I understand creativity to be, why everyone is wired to have it, and why it’s absolutely one of the two very best things in life!
Please join me. TICKETS FOR TALK
Bruce Morser