The NDSU Department of Visual Arts announced Lori Larusso, Lexington, Ky., has been named the 2012 James Rosenquist Artist in Residence. Larusso will work spring semester 2012 in the studio dedicated for the program in Renaissance Hall, interacting with students, holding public lectures and opening her studio for visitors.
Larusso uses representations of generic and stereotypical middle-America in her paintings to remind the viewer of the culture one maintains on a daily basis. She uses this to explore the contradictions that exist in society’s system of beliefs by pointing to the complexity of individual situations. She believes ideals are reflections of the way one wishes things were, rather than the way they actually are experienced. At NDSU, Larusso will teach a seminar course and her residency will culminate with an exhibition and donation of a piece of artwork to the James Rosenquist Artist Residency Collection. Additional information about Larusso can be found at www.lorilarusso.com.
Larusso earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning and a Master of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art’s graduate interdisciplinary program, the Mount Royal School of Art. She works in her community as an advocate for reproductive rights, a part-time professor of art and maintains a studio practice. She exhibits her work locally, nationally and internationally. In 2011, Larusso was awarded a Visual Artist Fellowship from the MacDowell Colony, the Kentucky Art Council’s Al Smith Fellowship and was a Milton and Sally Avery Fellow for 2010-11.
The James Rosenquist Artist in Residency Program for Visual Arts at NDSU honors James Rosenquist. Born in Grand Forks, N.D., Rosenquist is considered one of the greatest living artists of the Pop Art movement of North America. His work and career are internationally known. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from NDSU in May 2005.
NDSU introduced the James Rosenquist Artist in Residency program with sculptor Hedi Schwobel, of Ludwigsburg, Germany. Additional participants include Jonathan Pellitteri, sculptor, 2008; Min Kim Park, multimedia performances, 2009; Michael Namkung, kinesthetic drawing, 2010; James Sham, video, 2011.
