Ford Crull is an artist who presents his imagination through painting. A collection of his works span an entire gallery wall at his show "Le Salon de F Crull" at the Friesen Gallery in Ketchum, which opened on Friday, March 6, and will continue through May.
In addition, Crull's diptych "Raft of Medusa" covers another gallery wall, but is hung over a wall Crull painted before the exhibition. The wall is covered in symbols, forms and pictograms and serves as a frame for the painting.
"I improvised the symbols, pictograms and icons," Crull said. "There are a mix of Mayan, Egyptian and Byzantine symbols."
The salon works are a mix of oil and wax on paper, wood and canvas in a variety of sizes and frames. The paintings are thought provoking and juxtapose realism and abstraction. Some of the pieces are encaustic, involving etched forms and symbols. "Le Salon de F Crull" is a grouping of paintings that represent several years of Crull's work.
"The works are based on late 19th-century French symbolists, poets and painters," Crull said. "Each one is special and personal. I took a trip to Rio, which has influenced my work a great deal and added a new figurative element."
His paintings all have a classic painting style but with a twist. There are mystical repetitive elements such as the repeating "LRST, which Crull paints in almost every piece. He said it has a spiritual meaning for him.
Crull's work hints of surrealist painters René Magritte and Joan Miró. However, Crull's work is more emotional and his use of colors extremely vibrant. Crull said he is also a deep thinker and the philosophies of Aristotle have added to his approach to painting.
"Aristotle was an idealist," Crull said. "I use the essence of what idealism is and try to paint things which represent eternal ideas, not specific ones. There is no absolute truth to a work of art, but there is sensibility."
Sabina Dana Plasse: splasse@mtexpress.com
Artist Ford Crull stands beside his painting “Raft of Medusa,” oil and wax on canvas at the Friesen Gallery.
