Darrell is a painter and instructor who works in Chicago. He has a MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and teaches painting, drawing, design and color theory. His work is oil paint on canvas. Darrell’s work is excessive, compulsive and deals with the explosion of color. Darrell creates hundred of works on paper a year along with several series of oil paintings. The bright colorful oil painting may be reminiscent of landscape/cityscapes as Chicago construction sites, parks, gardens and the Lake near Lakeshore Drive, influence Darrell. Darrell has documented and reflects upon the photos of the sky, lake, and construction sites he has taken over the years. The colorful gardens in the parks and living by the lake in Chicago also explode in his works. He also creates small gesture portraits of people about 12"x12", oil on canvas. Darrell’s portraits are images of people he comes in everyday contact. They are his friends, people from his classes, co-workers, and family. He is questioning the validity of a portrait in our contemporary society and what a portrait needs to convey to a viewer. The portrait has been an important part of painting throughout antiquity and there have been many interpretations. From the Renaissance through Modernism the portrait has been painted from realism to abstraction. Capturing the lights and darkness of each figure, his images are characters of people and he wonders if their gestures identify to the viewer, their age, gender, and sexual orientation.
Darrell has shown in Chicago galleries such as Las Manos Gallery, The Betty Remer Gallery, mngallery, High Risk Gallery, Track House and other venues such as Midway Airport, The University of Northern Iowa, The Waterloo Center for the Arts and at Nordstrom’s on Michigan Avenue.
