The Art of Russell Pierce

I loved drawing and coloring from the time I could hold a crayon. My mom always encouraged me and being an artist herself would expose me to art and even teach me certain techniques. As a kid, real art meant beautiful paintings hanging on a wall in a museum and later illustrations in magazines by the likes of Norman Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker among others. Eventually I started to see Warhol’s work everywhere, mainly the Campbell’s Soup cans and other graphic renditions of everyday objects like Brillo boxes. I admit I didn’t get it at first, how could painting these every day objects be art? I could do that (to some extent). But it was my mom again who opened my eyes to POP art, the humor in it, the political statement about consumerism, even just pointing out the beauty of everyday objects as seen through the eye of an artist. That was a “Wow” moment. I started checking out other artists like Claes Oldenburg, who’s oversized soft sculptures of every day objects I found hilarious and poignant. Then I saw Lichtenstein’s work and also fell in love with his comic inspired works. For more on that, see my piece dedicated to Roy.