ArtPrize artist exhibiting at GRAM is red hot after being forced to change entry 3 times

Sept. 17, 2010 - PRLog -- (GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.) It’s ironic that San Francisco artist Doug Argue’s last name is what it is, because he has nothing to argue about even though he’s been forced to resubmit his ArtPrize entry for the third time.

His first entry “Genesis” was yanked. Shortly after submitting his second bid “Foramen Magnum” that too had to be removed from the competition.  The reason?  ArtPrize’s strict rules?  Difficulty with venue host Grand Rapids Art Museum? Neither. Argue sold both to private collectors in New York City.

So, Argue had to look for a third option in his formal entry, “Tuffatore”.

Argue isn’t red hot at anyone. Rather, he’s just red hot with the fierce sales of his work.  And, his “Tuffatore” piece was finished just two weeks ago. The piece, a large scale oil/canvas painting that sits 13.5 feet by 13.5 feet, will be showcased at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

So, what is “Tuffatore” all about?  (pronounced: tough-a-tor-eh)

At first glance, this enormous painting appears to have several shapes that resemble a three-quarter moon, or even the popular “Pac Man”.  However, looking closer reveals a large painting of multi-colored and very intricate shapes, each representing a specific meaning.

Doug’s painting was inspired by an Etruscan tomb fresco called, Tuffatore; meaning “Diver” in Italian.

Etruscans were a strong empire that ruled over Italy before the rise of Rome. They spent much time preparing resting places for their dead by painting murals on the inside walls of the tombs. This “fresco”, meaning painting or mural, shows a diver on a cover plate in an unidentified tomb dating back to the decade between 470 and 480 AD.

“The diver looks like he is suspended in pure joy to me,” states Doug.

In early versions of Doug’s painting, he added the diver into the upper right hand corner of the piece. “To me he represented individuality,” Doug continues. “But I decided it was too much, that my painting itself could represent that individuality.” However, Doug says that you can still see the imprint of the diver in his painting when you look at it up close.

“What emerged in the painting was the individuality of brush strokes, the human nuance of how my hand applied and removed the paint, in direct contradiction to the oversimplification of people in surveys charted by the media,” he notes.

“Two things stirred me to make a painting using pie charts,” says Doug. “What they look like and what they mean. The pie charts are often loaded with meaning and given crazy implications.  In television election coverage, the charts tell us that we can be summarized into clean little groups:  "10 percent of Norwegian Americans vote in a certain way, while 90 percent of German Americans vote the opposite way. So I needed to fight that, to buck the generalizations. In addition, I love the notion that a lime green can stand for angry white males over 50, or mauve could be used to represent pro-choice women under 30.”

Will Doug’s “red hot” status carry him into a top 10 ArtPrize finish?  Obvisously, that’s up to the public.  But he’s hoping the lucky streak continues.

About Doug Argue
http://www.dougargue.com
Born in St. Paul and educated at Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota, Doug Argue emerged as a leading force in the Twin Cities art scene. There his work is represented in virtually all of the leading collections, including those of the Walker Art Center, Minnesota Museum for American Art, Weisman Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Minnesota Historical Society. He has shown consistently since 1980 around the country and is the recipient of many awards including a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the Rome Prize, Pollock Krasner Foundation grant, and Bush Foundation fellowship. Most recently Argue was chosen as the 2009 London International Creative Competition Artist of the Year. All of Doug’s large-scale paintings are in museum collections or are on loan to museums for exhibition.