| Spartanburg Magazine - Spring 2005 Another World: By Emily
Crow Neely Chances are local artist Bob LoGrippo's work has caught your attention at one time or another. His paintings have appeared on magazine, book and album covers, as well as calendars, greeting cards and puzzles. The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Readers Digest, Six Flags Amusement Parks posters and Celestial Seasonings Tea boxes are just a few of the places you might find his artwork. The native New Yorker early on saw illustration as a viable career option for himself. He recalls, "I always felt more comfortable painting and drawing than expressing myself in other ways. ...Being an illustrator was the only way I could see making a living with art. I couldn't see doing it privately." Though his passion for art may have led him to illustration, his career choice has in turn influenced his style. Ed Emory of the Carolina Gallery in Spartanburg suggests, "With illustration work, you have to be able to cross over into the world of marketing and advertising. You have to be able to elicit a reaction. Bob knows how to evoke a response and emotion through his artwork." Yet with all of his work, LoGrippo takes his inspiration from within. Scott Cunningham, exhibits coordinator at the Spartanburg County Museum of Art, jokingly refers to this inspirational wellspring as "Bob's own private fantasy world." Take a look at one of LoGrippo's paintings, and you will understand what Cunningham means. Monsters, dragons, whales and fantastical city- and village-scapes often find their way into LoGrippo's creations. Other paintings show an America that many are nostalgic for: quaint, rural, small-town American life. Inspired by the Old Masters and genre paintings of 16th-century northern Europe, LoGrippo takes his cue from the works of two Flemish artists in particular: Hieronymous Bosch's haunting images of hell and sin, and Pieter Bruegel's depictions of peasant life - at first glance idyllic, but upon closer inspection, a bit troublesome as well. LoGrippo cites these painters as major influences, but art scholars often describe his work as "American naïve," or in the "American Crafts style" - reminiscent of American folk artists like Grandma Moses. LoGrippo does not see his work in this light, though. He explains, "In my mind what I'm painting is a lot more realistic than what it looks like when it's done. I visualize it almost as a photographic scene." He laughs:
"I would probably like my work a lot more if it were more realistic,
but people seem to enjoy the primitive look to it." He also devotes much of his time to the Spartanburg County Museum of Art, where he has served as the Art School Director since 1997. Cunningham, curator of the museum's recent exhibit, "Leaves of Grass," which featured some of LoGrippo's work, says of his colleague, "We're so lucky to have him. You take someone who's known nationally and internationally, who's taught at the Pratt Institute and Parsons School of Design - it's been a wonderful opportunity for us to have him head up the art school." And LoGrippo enjoys his role at the museum. A major draw is that it allows him to connect with other local artists. "Because of my association with the museum," he says, "I'm more involved in the arts community here than I ever was in New York. It's important; the artistic support encourages you to keep going as an artist, and it creates an excitement, so that you constantly want to paint." LoGrippo welcomes a boost every now and then, particularly when he struggles to complete a work. “When I'm painting and I start to see everything come together, that's when I'm most excited,” he explained. "It's a lot of fun. But I get aggravated and depressed when it's coming to an end. When I'm finished, I don't have any feelings left for it." While LoGrippo
is now a regular among the Spartanburg arts community, only recently has
he begun to show his work locally. "Not too long after we opened the gallery in February (2004)," Ed Emory says, "we had a few of Bob's pieces, and we've been gathering more. We've held back on showing too many, though, so we could have a full-blown show for him." The Emorys expect local interest in LoGrippo's work to grow as the community sees more of it. "This show will be the largest selection of Bob's work ever shown in the area," Ed Emory said. "We're hoping to really showcase his work and expose the market here to it." LoGrippo is also partnering with the Carolina Gallery on his current project: a "Not so Accurate Map," as he describes it, of Charleston. LoGrippo already has painted the map, and the Carolina Gallery is producing giclee prints of it, which they will market and distribute to other galleries. The map shows Charleston Harbor as Bob LoGrippo imagines it - a whale flips its tail at sea, a hot air balloon floats across the sky, and a variety of characters go about their daily activities in their homes and in the streets. |