James Todd Visiting Artist: Spring Semester, 2010

James Todd will be a visiting artist fall semester, 2009 & Spring Semester 2010. Jim will be working with Professor James Bailey and students to produce a series of editions from his recent woodcuts based on The Seven Deadly Sins. Proofs of the images are below:

James Todd, The Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony, 16"x 20" woodcut, 2009

James Todd, The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath, 16"x 20" woodcut, 2009

James Todd, The Seven Deadly Sins: Sloth, 16"x 20" woodcut, 2009

James Todd, The Seven Deadly Sins: Avarice, 16"x 20" woodcut, 2009

James Todd, The Seven Deadly Sins: Lust, 16"x 20" woodcut, 2009

James Todd, The Seven Deadly Sins: Vanity, 16"x 20" woodcut, 2009

James Todd, The Seven Deadly Sins: Envy, 16"x 20" woodcut, 2009

Born: 1937 in Minneapolis, MN

Education:

1959-1961: Chicago Art Institute and the University of Chicago, IL.

1964: B.A., Fine Art; History minor, College of Great Falls, Great Falls, MT.

1965: M.A., Fine Art: Painting, Printmaking, University of Montana, Missoula, MT.

1969: M.F.A., Painting, Printmaking, Murals (with honors), University of Montana, Missoula, MT.

Teaching:

English Assistant, Kepler Gymnasium, Freiburg, Germany (1965 - 1966). Instructor of Art, Oberndorf/N, Germany (1966 - 1968) Instructor, Art/History/Humanities, Okaloosa-Walton Junior College, Niceville, FL. Humanities Instructor, Montana State Prison (1973) Professor of Art and Humanities, University of Montana, Missoula, MT (1970-2000). Humanities Program Director (1973-1976); Art Department Chair (1979-1988)

In his own words:

”I made my decision long ago not to confine myself to any particular artistic approach or aesthetic philosophy. Picasso’s attitude toward creativity and work probably influenced me as much as that of any artist. He saw his art as an ongoing investigation, and was always ready to either analyze a single topic with endless variations or, if necessary, to change his approach and subject matter overnight. I saw Picasso’s creative flexibility as the freedom that was unique to Modernism. The Modern artist was for me an artist whose work was neither dictated by individual partons, a single style of the market place or traditional notions of ’fine’ and ’popular’ art; but whose expression could grow and change along with the couse of the artist’s life experiences and interest.... Despite the variation of my content and style, I have been largely committed to the traditional principles of design and composition. I believe that human art history from the Paleolithoic age to the present strongly suggests that these visual principles may be physiologically based and are not merely cultural.” James Todd, excerpted from exhibition catalog, 2002.