March Artist
The Psalm Visual Arts Gallery is proud to present Whitworth Art Professor, Scott Kolbo, for the March gallery feature. Kolbo was born in Othello, Washington, in 1972, grew up in Boise, Idaho, and later moved to Seattle. He became obsessed with art after spending countless hours sketching on the back of the church bulletin as a kid, and drawing continues to play a dominant role in all of his work. After going to college in the Seattle/Portland area he moved back to Boise to study art. He became interested in the tradition of satire by looking through art books in the library and realizing that he was most attracted to prints with funny-looking people in them. He was fortunate to enroll in a printmaking class with Professor George Roberts, an innovator in non-toxic printmaking, and a wonderful mentor.
Kolbo received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and printmaking from Boise State University in 1996. The University of Wisconsin–Madison brought him into the graduate program in studio art on a fellowship in 1997, and he taught beginning and advanced drawing for the department as a teaching assistant from 1998–2000. As a part of his graduate work he worked for a short while at Tandem Press, a university-based print workshop, and was exposed to many important contemporary artists. He received a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2000. He currently lives in Spokane, Washington, with his family and works as a professor at Whitworth University.
Kolbo teaches a variety of classes in the Whitworth Art Department including Printmaking, Design, Computer Graphics, and Contemporary Art History. His interests revolve around the study of culture, aesthetics, literature, film, and the tension between religious faith and contemporary art. In his studio artwork he is interested in the incorporation of new technologies into traditional art-making strategies and mixing together elements from high and low culture. He exhibits his work locally, nationally, and in web-based formats.
Artist’s Statement:
“We are a funny species. My work is first and foremost about humor — the comedy and tragedy I see in the world around me (most importantly in myself). My work springs out of the tradition of satire. I create prints, drawings, installations, and projections where fragments of reality mix with exaggerated environments and grotesque characters. I believe that despite our best efforts to look important, rational, and dignified, we all make fools of ourselves in the end. I like to think of my work as an investigation into the ways that this tendency manifests itself in our individual lives and in society as a whole. I’m a big believer in the notion that we learn something important when we laugh at ourselves, and that we should be fearless when we evaluate the society we are all complicit in creating for each other.”
Psalm Visual Arts Gallery Archive (2009-2010 school year):
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