Statement
I jump back and forth between straight representational painting and more abstract collage-based compositions, most often exploring some aspect of the urban experience. I pursue these two separate modes because they satisfy different needs. The straight representational painting is a way to work through some imagery that has captured my interest, gotten under my skin, as might occur on a trip down the Mississippi River or driving along Chicago’s Lower Wacker Drive. The collage-based works satisfy my desire to approach painting as a more all encompassing activity where I am free to incorporate disparate elements in the composition.
In my more realistic works, I strive for a dynamic composition presented with as little detail as possible. Simplification, when done effectively, is the essence of storytelling.
As for the collage-based work, at first, this practice just took the form of fancifully juxtaposing different views of a subject together, a bit like cubism. For instance, in a couple of paintings of Lower Wacker Drive, I embedded a smaller-scale view within a larger one in a manner that might not at first appear evident. Soon, however, the collage compositions evolved into more ambitious, more abstract affairs, combining different forms of images, patches, or blocks of color, and perhaps even some text.
Working in Chicago during the summer when I was in college left me with a fascination with the urban landscape. Unlike my much smaller hometown of Champaign, Illinois, Chicago felt like a multifaceted gem: old and new, shiny and disheveled. This fascination influenced me when, in my late 30s, I started painting in earnest.
Like many artists, I tend to paint and draw in series. One of my first series of paintings was of billboards and light poles. That eventually gave way to somewhat monochromatic depictions of infrastructure like tunnels and expressway ramps. Which developed into a series about Chicago’s Lower Wacker Drive, which snakes darkly next to the Chicago River. Which developed into a series of bird’s-eye views of the city. Which gave way to a series based on trips to Antigua, Guatemala, with a detour somewhere in there to explore Illinois prairie environment in a suburban context. I suspect I will continue painting in series, because, as they say, “one thing leads to another.”
Curriculum Vitae
SOLO AND TWO PERSON SHOWS
2024 “Bridge and Carlson,” Quad City Arts, Rock Island, Illinois
2018 “Guatemalan Sojourn,” Depot Gallery, Beverly Shores, Indiana
2017 “Guatemalan Sojourn,” Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, Illinois
2016 “Guatemalan Sojourn,” Oak Park Public Library, Oak Park, Illlinois
2008 “Nick Bridge: Recent Paintings, Oak Park Public Library, Oak Park, Illinois
2008 “Macro,” Framing Mode and Gallery, Chicago
2007 “Workout Works,” Noyes Cultural Center, Evanston, Illinois
2006 “Urban Legends,” August House Studio, Chicago
2006 “Deeper,” Plan B Gallery, Forest Park, Illinois
2005 “Not One of a Kind,” Frame Warehouse, Oak Park, Illinois
2005 “Through a Car Darkly,” Barrington Area Arts Council Gallery, Barrington, Illinois
2003 “Recent Works,” University Club of Chicago
2003 “Fighting Gravity,” Old Town Art Center, Chicago
2003 “Subsurface,” University of Illinois at Chicago
2001 “Back Door Views: Chicago Landscapes,” August House Studio, Chicago
1997 “Nick Bridge,” Truman State College, Kirksville, Missouri
1996 “Drawings and Paintings,” South Suburban College, South Holland, Illinois
1995 “Urban Affections,” Contemporary Art Center of Arlington, Arlington Heights, Illinois
1995 “Big Paintings,” University Club of Chicago
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2024 20th Regional Juried Exhibition, Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, Illinois
2024 “Abstraction,” Oak Park Art League, Oak Park, Illinois
2023 “No Place to Show. Professional Artists,” Springfield Art Association, Springfield, Illinois
2023 “Landscape,” Stola Contemporary, Chicago, Illinois
2022 “Visions of the American Landscape,” St. Louis Artists’ Guild, St. Louis, Missouri
2021 “Paradigm,” Springboard Arts, Chicago
2021 Illinois State Fair Professional Art Exhibition, Springfield
2018 “Chicago INsideOUT,” Bridgeport Arts Center, Chicago
2015 “Painting the Town,” Beverly Arts Center, Chicago
2009 “The Artists of Dayton Street Studios,” Ferguson Gallery, Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, Illinois
2007 “Chicagoland People and Places,” Gallery Mornea, Evanston, Illinois
2006 “City Life,” Stolen Buick Gallery, Chicago
2006 “Art in the Environment,” Doubletree Conference Center, Downers Grove, Illinois
2006 “Chicago Show,” Look Gallery, Chicago
2005 Illinois State Fair Professional Art Exhibition, Springfield
2005 “The Modern Landscape,” Springfield Art Association, Springfield, Illinois
2005 “Quad State Exibition,” Quincy Art Center, Quincy, Illinois
2004 “Chicago Expressions,” Brickton Art Center, Park Ridge, Illinois
2004 “Portraits of Imagination,” Chicago Community Trust Gallery, Chicago
2004 “Chicago Images,” Frederick Baker Fine Art, Chicago
2003 “Identity,” Peninsula Art School, Fish Creek, Wisconsin
2003 Annual Juried Art Competition, Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Michigan City, Indiana
2003 “Alice & Arthur Baer Art Competition,” Beverly Art Center, Chicago(juror: Greg Knight, Chicago Cultural Center)
2003 “Illinois State Fair Invitational Art Exhibition,” Springfield
2003 “Chicago Works on the Run,” Orleans Street Gallery, St. Charles, Illinois
2002 “Industrial Beauty,” Lake County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Hammond, Indiana
2002 “Skyscraper,” California Building Gallery, Minneapolis
2002 Illinois State Fair Professional Art Exhibition, Springfield
2002 “Quad State Juried Exhibition,” Quincy Art Center, Quincy, Illinois
2001 “Alice and Arthur Baer Art Competition,” Beverly Art Center, Chicago
1998 “New Works: Four Artists,” Art St. Louis(curator: Mark Spencer, Director of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, St. Joseph, Missouri
1997 “Inside/Out: Three Realist Landscape Painters,” Indianapolis Art Center
1996 “About Painting,” Judith Racht Gallery, Harbert, Michigan
1996 “Sense of Place,” two-person show, Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Missouri
1995 “Urbicul*ture,” August House Studio gallery, Chicago
AWARDS
2023 Best of Show, 46th Annual Art Competition, Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, Illinois
2021 Winner, Mini Mural Competition, Oak Park Area Arts Council, Oak Park, Illinois
2019 Winner, Mini Mural Competition, Oak Park Area Arts Council, Oak Park, Illinois
2005 Best of Show, “The Modern Landscape,” Springfield Art Association, Springfield, Illinois
2002 Honorable Mention, 17th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, John G. Blank Center for the Arts, Michigan City,
Indiana
2002 2nd Place, Illinois State Fair Professional Art Exhibition
1997 First Prize, Ninth Annual National Art Competition, Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri (Jack Beal,
juror)
1995 Honorable Mention, Bi-State Competition, Davenport Museum of Art, Davenport, Iowa(juror: Neal Benezra, Chief Curator, Hirshorn Museum)
1995 Honorable Mention, Schoharie County Arts Council National Small Works Exhibition, Cobbleskill, New York(juror: Jon Ippolito, Guggenheim Museum)
1992 Jurors Special Mention, New Horizons in Art
1990 Winner, “Portrait of Illinois” drawing competition for New State Library Collection, Springfield
1990 The Dyrely Award, Northern National Art Competition, Nicolet College, Rhinelander, Wisconsin
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Ascend Real Estate Group, Chicago
Barks Publishing Company, Chicago
R. Thomas Jaeger, architect, Park Ridge
John Buck Company, Chicago
Village of Glen Ellyn
Community Bank, Glen Ellyn, IL
J.G. Hoppe Real Property Consultants, Oak Park, IL
LaMajada Restaurant, Oak Park
Alan B. Castator & Associates, LaGrange, IL
Chadwell & Kayser, Ltd., Chicago
Illinois State Library, Springfield, IL
Draper & Kramer, Chicago
Deloitte & Company, Chicago
Bear Stearns & Company, Chicago
Chittenden Murday & Novotny
ARTICLES AND PUBLICATIONS
2001 “Bridging the Artistic Gap,” by Kevin Nesburg, April 11 edition of Wednesday Journal, Oak Park,
Illinois
1998 Review by Susan Kelly of “New Works/Four Artists” in the Oct. 14 issue, Riverfront Times, St. Louis,
Missouri
1998 “Through the Artist’s Eyes,” by Elise Zwicky for the December edition, Illinois Issues Magazine
1997 “Portrait of Illinois” Photo Essay by Linda Classen Anderson on the Illinois State Library collection for the
December issue of “Illinois Issues Magazine
1997 Catalogue by Ann Wiens of the “eee! Motional” show at DePaul University Art Gallery, Chicago
1995 “1995 Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market,” p.313
1995 Catalogue, Bi-State Competition, Davenport Museum of Art, Davenport, Iowa
FILM and TV PLACEMENTS of ARTWORK
1993 “Watch It,” a Skouras Pictures release
2006 “Prison Breaks,” a 6 Fox Network television show
2010 “Matadors,” an ABC-TV movie
2013 “Chicago Fire,” an NBC-TV series
2014-15 “Sirens,” a USA cable TV series