Warren Criswell

"Still Life with Clock I"

oil on copper, 12 x 16 in.

"Artists are often asked for 'statements,' in the hope, I guess, that these will in some way add to the viewer's appreciation of the artworks.  But these tedious little essays often have the opposite effect.  Suppose you really like the painting on the wall, but the statement reveals the artist to be an idiot.  His being an idiot has nothing to do with the quality of the painting, but now that you know, it can't help but color your opinion of his work.  Or suppose the artist is very intelligent and articulate, and her statement tells you explicitly what the work means.  But that isn't what the painting meant for you, and now that you  know what it really means, you're disappointed - in yourself and the painting.  The truth is, artists have limited control over their work and usually no more understanding of it than the viewer has.  This is because art is an organic and mostly unconscious process, both for the artist and the viewer.  I'm not denying the importance of informed art criticism and history.  I'm just challenging the idea that the artist is the best authority on his or her own work.  The viewer is always the final authority."

-Warren Criswell

Warren Criswell was born in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1936 and has lived in Arkansas since 1977 when his bus broke down her.  Though he is primarily a self-taught painter, Criswell is also a printmaker and sculptor.  Since 1980, he has had 28 solo exhibitions in the United States and one in Taiwan.  His work has been included in 57 group exhibitions in New York, Atlanta, Washington DC, Arkansas, North Carolina, Germany and Taiwan, and is represented in the permanent collections of the Arkansas Arts Center, the McKissick Museum, and many other.  In 1996, he was awarded a fellowship grant for painting and works on paper by the Mid-America Alliance and the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 2003 an Individual Artist Fellowship Grant for painting and drawing by the Arkansas Arts Council.  Warren Criswell has been represented by Taylors Contemporanea Fine Arts since 1992.  He now lives near Benton, Arkansas.

"Man in Yellow Shirt"

oil on canvas, 7 x 5 in.

"The Path"

oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in.

For more information about the artwork available at Taylor's Contemporanea, please email us at taylorsarts@cablelynx.com

or visit Warren Criswell's site