This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Depicting photo-real, lonely and barren landscape subjects, primairly
in pastel, Brian Cobble began his career as an oil painter. He
did graduate study at Southern Methodist University and there was much
influenced by oil painters Roger Winter and Dan Wingren. For
subject matter, Cobble wandered around the streets of Dallas, Texas
"observing the world as it is, whether lit by cool neon at night or by
the raking winter light of a southwestern afternoon" . . . (120)
Cobble also studied with Willard Midgette in 1977 at the Skowhegan
School of Painting and Sculpture.
Cobble was born in Ohio and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico where his
father was an engineering professor at New Mexico State
University. Showing some art talent, he was enrolled as a
youngster in art classes from Carl Cogar. In 1975, he graduated
from New Mexico State University with a B.A. Degree, and then went to
SMU.
After graduation, he moved to New York City and occupied a studio on
42nd Street. However, the oil paint caused him to have iritis, an
eye irritation, so he gradually switched to pastels, having used them
initially for sketching.
In the early 1990s, Brian Cobble moved back to New Mexico, to
Albuquerque with his wife Julie. His painting subjects are
described as "gas stations, highway overpasses, liquor stores, Lord
& Taylor at 11 am".
Shortly before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Cobble went on site to paint, and his pastel Tchoupitoulas won a Pastel Journal Grand Prize Award. Of doing this work that seemed a premonition of impending events, it was written:
"Brian Cobble happened onto Tchoupitoulas Street on the uptown side of
New Orleans in 2004, Hurricane Katrina was a disaster yet to come, but
already the area was “spooky and semi-abandoned,” he says, and very
much the sort of milieu to inspire a painting, as it did this
award-winner, Tchoupitoulas. The shipping industry that once
fueled the commerce of this warehouse street has moved out, leaving
memories but little action. If Katrina altered things even more, Cobble
doesn’t know. He’s not been back. He took a number of photographs of
the scene, and then finished the painting about three years later."
"… Cobble used to begin with a full-scale charcoal drawing to create his
pastel cityscapes, but more and more these days, he starts out with
just a soft 2B pencil, which is easily erased. He begins directly on
the surface—usually a heavy Strathmore Series 500 illustration board.
For anything larger than Strathmore’s biggest, 30x40, he turns to a
heavy watercolor paper such as 156-lb. Arches, mounted on board."
"When the pencil drawing is complete, he covers the surface with Winsor
& Newton clear gesso, to give it the tooth he likes. Underpainting
is the next step, and a crucial one. Using either oils, acrylics or
gouache, he puts down colors that set the tone or may even clash with
the eventual colors, but are in keeping with the value structure.
Because he went through art school, planning to be an oil painter,
Cobble considers himself essentially self-taught in pastels. “I don’t
know anyone who works just this way,” he says, adding that he’s done a
lot of experimenting with techniques. " (artistsnetwork.com)
Source:
Jane Albritton, "The Accidental Pastelist", Southwest Art, June 2006, p. 118
http://www.artistsnetwork.com/article/2008-Pastel-100/
| |
Biography from Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden:
| Born: 1953, Ohio, resides in New Mexico
Education:
1975 BFA, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico
1977 MFA, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
1977 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine
Fellowships:
Dec. 1978-Feb. 1979 MacDowell Colony Fellowship, Peterborough, New Hampshire
Dec. 1980-Feb. 1981 MacDowell Colony Fellowship, Peterborough, New Hampshire
Solo Exhibitions:
1978 Eastfield Community College, Dallas, Texas
1979 Mountain View Community College, Dallas, Texas
1979 Meredith Long Gallery, Houston, Texas
1981 Meredith Long Gallery, Houston, Texas
1983 Meredith Long Gallery, Houston, Texas
1989 Clifford Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1993 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1996 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2000 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2003 McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, Texas
2005 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2010 Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Group Exhibitions:
1983 American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, group show, New York, New York
1993 USArtists, art fair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1994 40th Anniversary Exhibition, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1994 The Art Show, Art Dealer’s Association of America, Park Avenue Armory, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
1994 USArtists, art fair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1995 The Art Show, Art Dealer’s Association of America, Park Avenue Armory, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
1995 Art of the Garden, The Art Center, Waco, Texas
1995 USArtists, art fair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1996 Works on Paper, art fair, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
1996 USArtists, art fair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1997 The The Art Show, Art Dealer’s Association of America, Park Avenue Armory, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
1997 In Texas II, Tyler Museum of Art, four person show, Tyler, Texas
1997 Texas Natural Wonders, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1998 USArtists, art fair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1999 The The Art Show, Art Dealer’s Association of America, Park Avenue Armory, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
1999 USArtists, art fair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
2000 The Art Show, Art Dealer’s Association of America, Park Avenue Armory, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
2000 Departureturn, Meadows Museum, SMU, Dallas, Texas
2000 Dallas International Art & Antique Fair, The Dallas International Pavilion at Victory, Dallas, Texas (Valley House Gallery)
2000 USArtists, art fair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
2001 Roots & Routes, 12th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition, juried by Luis Jimenez, Truman Lowe, and Rebecca Solnit, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Awarded Best of Show for El Paso)
2001 Texas International Fine Art Fair, NorthPark East, Dallas, Texas (Valley House Gallery)
2001 USArtists, art fair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
2002 The Art Show, Art Dealer’s Association of America, Park Avenue Armory, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
2002 McNay Art Fair, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas (Valley House Gallery)
2002 Burning Desires: Acquisitions 1997-2001, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas
2002 Art of Albuquerque: 13th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico
2003 McNay Art Fair, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas (Valley House Gallery)
2003 The Show, Southwest Juried Exhibition, juried by Susan Rothenberg, Terezita Romo, W. Jackson Rushing III, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2003 A Celebration of Creativity: Three Centuries of American Masterworks on Paper, The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia
2003 Pastels Only: The 31st Annual Open Exhibition, Pastel Society of America, Gramercy Park, New York, New York, awarded first prize from Art Spirit Foundation, Dianne B. Bernhard Gold Medal Award
2003 Works on Paper, art fair, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
2004 The Art Show, art fair, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
2004 50th Anniversary Exhibition, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2004 Art Chicago, art fair, Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois (Valley House Gallery)
2004 For Pastels Only, 32nd Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Pastel Society of America, New York, New York, Departure awarded 2nd prize, Herman Margulies Award for Excellence
2004 37th Annual Arts International Exhibition, International Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas (LIRR and Blue Arrow)
2004 Award Winners from The Pastel Society of America’s Annual Show, Giffuni Gallery of American Pastels, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
2005 Texas: Grassy Lake, Works by John Alexander, David Bates, and Brian Cobble, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, Louisiana
2005 Connection to the Collection, Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, Texas (South Broadway reproduced on the invitation)
2005 Works on Paper, art fair, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
2005 Valley House Exhibition, Masur Museum, Monroe, Louisiana
2006 Works on Paper, art fair, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
2006 McNay Print Fair, The Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas (Valley House Gallery)
2006 Summer Show, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2006 34th Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Pastel Society of America, New York, New York, Machine Gun Fun awarded The Herman Margulies Award for Excellence (silver medal)
2006 Art International, The Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, California (Valley House Gallery)
2006 Abundant Life, Juried Exhibition, Coalition for Valle Vidal, Taos Country Club, Toas, New Mexico
2007 The Art Show, Art Dealer’s Association of America, Park Avenue Armory, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
2007 Pastel Society of America, Eastern Shore Art Association, Fairhope, Alabama
2007 CADD Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas Inaugural Art Fair, Three Three Three First Avenue, Dallas, Texas (Valley House Gallery)
2007 35th Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Pastel Society of America, New York, New York
2007-08 Pastel Society of America: Members Show, Flora B. Giffuni Gallery of American Pastel Art, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
2008 CADD Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas Art Fair, Three Three Three First Avenue, Dallas, Texas (Valley House Gallery)
2008 36th Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Pastel Society of America, Bernhard Gallery, National Arts Club, New York, New York
2008 Twelfth Juried Exhibition: Web Show, International Association of Pastel Societies, www.pastelinternational.com, Falls Church, Virginia
2008-09 Pastel Society of America: Members Show, Flora B. Giffuni Gallery of American Pastel Art, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
2009 Thank You Fort Worth: An Appreciation from Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden, Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Fort Worth, Texas
2009 13th IAPS (International Association of Pastel Societies) Annual Juried Exhibition, Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2009 37th Annual Pastels Only Exhibition, Pastel Society of America, National Arts Club, New York, New York
2010 Shorelines, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2011 Fresh & Salty (a Valley House Gallery group exhibition), Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Fort Worth, Texas
Awards:
2001 Best of Show, El Paso in Roots & Routes, juried by Luis Jimenez, Truman Lowe, and Rebecca Solnit, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico
2003 First Place, Art Spirit Foundation, Dianne B. Bernhard Gold Medal Award for Hatch Alley, The 31st Annual Open Juried Exhibition for Pastels Only, Pastel Society of America, National Arts Club, New York, New York
2004 Second Place, Herman Margulies Award for Excellence, given for Departure, 32nd Annual Open Juried Exhibition for Pastels Only, Pastel Society of America, New York, New York
2006 Second Place, Herman Margulies Award for Excellence, given for Machine Gun Fun, 34nd Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Pastel Society of America, New York, New York
2006 Named Master Pastelist, 34nd Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Pastel Society of America, New York, New York
2007 The Pastel Journal Grand Prize Award for Tchoupitoulas, The Pastel Journal 9th Annual Pastel 100 Competition, Cincinnati, Ohio (with feature to run in The Pastel Journal April 2008 issue)
2007 National Arts Club Award for Lexington Alley, 35th Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Pastel Society of America, New York, New York
2008 First Place, Twelfth Juried Exhibition: Web Show, International Association of Pastel Societies, www.pastelinternational.com, Falls Church, Virginia
2009 Second Place, 10th Annual Pastel 100 Competition, The Pastel Journal, April 2009
Literature:
Wesley Pulkka, “Untouched by change,” The Albuquerque Journal (Venue), November 11, 1994, p. E 30.
Janet Kutner, “Valley House Gallery marks 40 years in style,” The Dallas Morning News, November 13, 1994, p. 7C.
“Exhibitions: In Texas II,” Tyler Museum of Art Review, September - November, 1997.
Mike Daniel, “Gallery Walk,” The Dallas Morning News Guide, September 15, 2000, p. 49.
Frederick Turner, “Visionary Realism,” American Arts Quarterly, Summer/Fall 2000, p. 13.
Kim Alexander, “One Man’s Landscape: The Work of Brian Cobble,” unpublished essay, Richardson, Texas, September 2000.
Editors, "The Art of Drawing," Southwest Art, February 200l, pp. 102-107, South Broadway reproduced.
“Third Annual Pastel 100 Finalists: Landscape Category,” The Pastel Journal, March-April 2002, p. 38., El Paso; Almost Spring, Morgan Beach; and Hernandez Gulf reproduced.
Jon Carver, “Art of Albuquerque 2002 13th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition Presented by 516 Magnifico Artspace,” The Magazine: Santa Fe’s Montly Magazine of the Arts, October 2002, p. 49.
J. R. Compton, “2003 Short Reviews,” Dallas Arts Revue, found at http://www.dallasartsrevue.com/shows/short-shows-2003/short-shows-2003.shtml in November 2003.
Brian Cobble, “A New Beginning,” The Artist’s Magazine, December 2003, pp. 57-61.
J. Sanders Eaton, “At the National Arts Club, “Pastels Only” Celebrates a Major Medium,” Gallery & Studio, Nov-Dec 2003/Jan 2004, p. 27, Hatch Alley reproduced.
50th Anniversary, catalogue, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas, 2004, color illustration.
Kentaro Tomio, Editor-in-Chief, “Recent Acquisitions: Highlights from the Permanent Collection,” Preview: The Tyler Museum of Art, August-December 2004, p. 14.
Alice Laputka, “The 32nd Annual Juried Exhibit: From Subtle to Bold, Artwork Not to be Missed, Pastelgram, Winter 2005, pp. 3-5, Departure reproduced.
“Pastels and Charcoals,” Southwest Art, May 2005, page 78, Departure reproduced.
Loraine Crouch, “Brian Cobble: From storefronts in Manhattan to small town streets in the heartland, an artist renders the contemporary landscape in painstaking detail,” The Pastel Journal, April 2006, pp. 30-33.
Jane Albritton, “The Accidental Pastelist,” Southwest Art, June 2006, pp. 118-123.
Jane Durrell, “Brian Cobble,” The Pastel Journal, April 2008, pp. 26-29.
Brian Cobble, “More Than Just a Landscape,” Pastelagram, Winter/Spring 2009, pp. 12-15
Brian Cobble, Exhibition Catalogue, Valley House Gallery, essay by Roger Winter, “Brian Cobble: The Poetry of Facts,” 2010.
A+C Magazine, “Weekend Planner from A+C,” A+C Magazine email to subscribers, May 20, 2010.
“Art | Valley House | ‘The Edge of Town’ by Brian Cobble,” The Dallas Morning News Guide, May 21, 2010, page 35, Prom Nite reproduced.
Scoreboard (The Ebby Halliday Family of Companies), Sandra Hughes, Editor, 2nd Qtr 2010, Dallas, Texas, page 5, Nuestra Senora de Lexington reproduced.
Michael Granberry, “Arts | Art Notes | Focus on art, not the heat,” The Dallas Morning News, Sunday, June 27, 2010, page 4E, Prom Nite reproduced.
Frederick Turner, “The Eyes of Texas: Texas Art and Texas Light,” American Arts Quarterly, published by The Newington-Cropsey Cultural Studies Center (Hastings-on-Hudson, New York), Summer 2010, Volume 27, Number 3, pages 27-33, Central Park reproduced.
Michael Granberry, “2010: The Year in Art,” The Dallas Morning News, page 9E, December 26, 2010.
Public Collections:
El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas
Exxon Corporation, Irving, Texas
Hallmark, Kansas City, Missouri
Marc R. Stanley, PC, Dallas, Texas
McKenzie & Co., Dallas, Texas
Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Scott, Douglass, & McConnico, Austin, Texas
The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia
Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, Texas
Vinson & Elkins, Austin, Texas |
| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
|
|
|
|
|
|