"Campbell: Paintings Etchings Boxes"

surveys six decades of work in the prolific career of artist Richard Campbell. Campbell’s involvement with the figure in expression began in his youth and persists in his work today.

Born in Wisconsin in 1921, he earned a scholarship to the Cleveland Art Institute. In l945 he had two simultaneous solo exhibitions, one at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco, the other, in Labrador at the Air Corps communications base where he was stationed in WWII. His natural ability with engineering was discovered while in the service. Following the war, Campbell was instrumental in engineering the skyscrapers and freeways of Los Angeles.

A vital member of the Los Angeles art scene, Campbell was involved with the cultural growth of the city. His home was a hub of intellectual gatherings, and he organized and participated in many alternative exhibition spaces. He had 23 solo shows, which included museums and important commercial galleries.

In the 1970’s Campbell explored printmaking and produced over 200 etchings. He focused on abstracted human forms, including faces with gentle eyes and open-mouthed screams expressing internal chaos. In the 1980’s Campbell returned to painting and produced brilliantly-colored abstractions of sensual, celebrating figures. In the 1990’s Campbell was the Director of Los Angeles Association. During his two-year stint, he restructured the cooperative gallery to attract a more diverse group of contemporary emerging artists.

Campbell’s current series, "Boxes," is reminiscent of the whittling that he did in his youth. The carved facial caricatures carry traits that are summed up in a gaze or in one incisive Campbell gesture.