John Albert Armstrong

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John Albert Armstrong

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Born|  (1943-05-14) May 14, 1943 (age 82)

Billings, Montana

Nationality| American
Alma mater| University of Montana
Occupation| Printmaker, Exhibition curator, Fine art framer, Mixed-media artist

John Albert Armstrong (born May 14, 1943) is an American printmaker, exhibition curator, fine art framer, and mixed-media artist based in Phoenix, Arizona. Over a decades-long career, Armstrong has continually pushed the boundaries of printmaking and embraced dynamic materials, most notably aluminum and epoxy in his explorations.[1].

Armstrong’s early work primarily focused on traditional painting, but over time, he expanded his artistic repertoire to include sculptural works of steel and prints made with epoxy plates and aluminum as the painting surface. His aluminum pieces are notable for their interaction with light, where the artist employs various abrasives to create forms and shapes that shift in hue depending on the viewer’s perspective. This technique reflects his constant pursuit of new ideas in his art.

Armstrong holds an MFA from the University of Montana and has extensive experience in printmaking, curation, and instruction. Armstrong’s work has been exhibited at the Missoula Art Museum, Montana Museum of Arts and Crafts, Holter Museum, Paris Gibson Museum, Yuma Art Museum, Arizona State Museum of Art, Mesa Contemporary Museum of Art, City of Glendale Gallery, and other venues across the United States [2].

Throughout his career, Armstrong has also played significant roles in arts administration and education. He has served as director for the Yellowstone Art Center, curator for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and Visual Arts Manager at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts – in all roles passionately supporting undiscovered and emerging artists [3]. Additionally, he has led printmaking collaborations with many internationally recognized artists through the Armstrong-Prior Print Workshop in Phoenix, Arizona.

## Contents

* 1 Early life and Education
* 2 Career
* 2.1 Career in Montana
* 2.2 Transition to Arizona and New Beginnings
* 3 Business Endeavors
* 4 Collaborations
* 5 Artistic Philosophy and Practice
* 6 References
* 7 External links

## Early life and Education[edit]

Born in Billings, Montana in 1943, Armstrong grew up in a family of ten children [4]. He credits his childhood surroundings and experiences with sparking his early interest in art. In high school, he developed a lifelong work ethic through summer farm work and school projects. He taught himself the basics of making cartoons and Lino-cut printing as art editor for the school newspaper. He designed the annual cover and the class ring, thus honing various artistic skills at an early age.

Earning a bachelor’s degree in art education at Eastern Montana College in 1965, Armstrong studied painting, life-drawing, and stagecraft under mentor Ben C. Steele. Some of his basic philosophical beliefs originated studying with Steele, the foremost being to try something new every day. Steele also instilled a conservative bent and the importance of longevity in the artistic discipline. At Eastern Armstrong also studied with ceramicist and clay artist William D. Schulz, who opened his eyes to exploration of the abstract.

## Career[edit]

From 1965 to 1967, Armstrong taught drawing, painting, and stagecraft at C.M. Russell High School in Great Falls, Montana. There he developed an interest in constructing architectural furniture and accouterments while working with fellow teacher Ray W. Steele.

He then returned to Billings to teach at West High School, where he cultivated his personal iconography in painting. This inspired him to pursue graduate school. Thus Armstrong earned his Master of Fine Arts in painting and printmaking at the University of Montana in 1970 [5].

He was a trailblazer at the university, promoting the inclusion of nude models despite traditional ideals, painting a large mural, and exploring social and political art with artist friend, James Todd. Several of Armstrong’s paintings from this period reflect major global political events.

Initially reluctant to take the printmaking classes required by his program, Armstrong was soon making strides in his use of the collagraph, roll-up and silkscreen techniques.

After graduating, Armstrong returned to teaching at South Dakota State University where he taught life drawing and printmaking. After repairing the school’s etching press Armstrong wood-engraving, collagraph printmaking and mono-printing.

### Career in Montana[edit]

In 1971 Armstrong was granted a Comparative Art Fellowship at Ohio University, but rescinded it to accept the Director’s position at Yellowstone Art Center at Billings, Montana. Formerly a jailhouse, it is today the largest contemporary art museum in the state.

During this period, Armstrong was a staunch advocate for underrepresented outsider artists such as Lucille Ralston and Lee Steen. These artists deepened Armstrong’s appreciation for unconventional and self-taught art.

Armstrong worked tirelessly to preserve the legacy of Montana artist Lee Steen and his scavenged cottonwood sculptures, culminating in the inclusion of Steen’s works in the permanent collection at the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art in Great Falls, Montana [6]. Since this time Armstrong has continued to passionately promote the work of other artists.

### Transition to Arizona and New Beginnings[edit]

In 1975 Armstrong relocated to Phoenix to work as State Arts Program curator at the Arizona Commission on the Arts. There he encountered painter Dorothy Fratt, with whom he formed a life-long friendship. He curated several exhibitions across the state and developed equal opportunity grants for visual artists.

Working in Arizona, he continued to champion other artists, curating exhibitions that featured local and international talent. Notably, his exhibitions often juxtaposed recognized artists with new ones to give credibility to undiscovered voices.

Shortly after starting at the Arizona Commission on the Arts, he was elected to a board position with the Western Association of Art Museums, where he encouraged the organization to circulate an exhibition of Lee Steen’s work. The exhibit traveled throughout Canada and the United States.

From 1976 to 1980, he worked at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts as Visual Arts Manager. At first the large gallery building and open space presented challenges, so he expanded the gallery into the atrium and hallways to increase exhibition opportunities for artists.

With the help of Curator of Education, Kate Timmerman, Armstrong forged ahead with one of the most ambitious exhibition programs in the country, creating the Visual Arts Program from scratch. They exhibited little-known artists alike and expanded the Scottsdale Arts Festival with their inclusive approach through a national competition. The jurors were instructed with a single charge—to select only artists that they would include in their personal collections.

## Business Endeavors[edit]

In 1980 Armstrong created John Armstrong Press. In this venture he printed portfolios for a handful of promising artists that he believed would still be making art thirty years hence regardless of commercial success. This included Dorothy Fratt, James G. Davis, Denis Gillingwater, Ann Hubbard, Sue Tilger, Linda Mundwiler, Jim Waid, and Suzie Klotz.

During this time, Armstrong met his wife Joan Prior. In the early 80’s, they co-founded Armstrong-Prior, Inc., an arts business specializing in fine art printing, publishing, curation, presentation and installation. Initially based out of their living room in Phoenix, the business grew into a respected enterprise that worked with notable artists, including Rudy Autio, Jun Kaneko, Martin Mull, and Howard Ben Tre [7]. They have since curated many collections for commercial and private entities [8].

The firm has received numerous artist-donated archival prints which in turn were donated to the Arizona State University Museum of Art, where they are available for study [9].

In 1992, Armstrong-Prior, Inc. established its studio, which remains the company’s home to this day. The downtown Phoenix studio features a printmaking workshop, workshop, welding area, and exhibition space [10].

## Collaborations[edit]

A devoted mentor, Armstrong has spent much of his career sharing his expertise with students and fellow artists. Through printing workshops and collaborations, he has worked with a diverse roster of artists.

The vision of the partnership was to create a print shop to accommodate artists of diverse styles and backgrounds. Despite the shop being limited to intaglio, monoprints, and silkscreen, Armstrong was able to create much dynamic artwork with collaborators in imaginative ways [11] [12]..

Most of his collaborators had no experience in printmaking and visited the studio for a limited time. According to Armstrong, these constraints bolstered spontaneity and creativity in the studio, encouraging the use of found plates of rusted steel or scratched aluminum and inspiring Armstrong’s later art. Armstrong credits his numerous collaborations during this time with expanding his artistic perspective.

## Artistic Philosophy and Practice[edit]

Armstrong’s artistic practice is defined by a philosophy he calls “engaged abstraction,” a process of responding intuitively to the materials and marks before him, as well as being aware of accidental occurrences during the process and how they might influence the work. He often retrieves discarded materials, finding inspiration in their accidental marks and imperfections. This spontaneity is central to his practice, as he strives to discover new things and continually reinvent himself.

While pursuing his MFA, Armstrong developed several new ways of working in collagraphy. His processes included isolating the figure or content from the background, using color blends on various plate puzzle pieces and silkscreen overlays using glass beads, flocking and foils. He pushed boundaries by removing layers of board, various paint or lacquer finishes to create lights and darks. Equally important was a willingness to replace plate passages, allowing the changing of composition or content of the print.

Following his opening of the studio, the artist found it necessary to work with numerous methods and materials. Twenty years of exploration accomplished served to benefit the artist and the clients with whom he worked.

Through these encounters Armstrong used materials and methods uncommon in general studio printing where time is less guarded. He developed means to create plates quickly with rotary tools, engravers, sandpaper, sand blaster, plasma cutters, natural rust, acids, paint, cardstock, and epoxy so the artist could produce work quickly. Two or three days were almost always the time limit.

Alongside Armstrong, collaborating artists would work quickly to satisfy the client and fulfill the print of choice. Together they created a plate that could be reprinted as an edition or changed each time through the press as a monoprint. It seemed to Armstrong that if an idea could be conceived or drawn, then it could be reproduced as a painting, sculpture, or construction. Printing paper could be handled in traditional methods or bent, folded, cut, torn, stamped, stapled, or glued to respond to how best the invited artist could realize an idea [13].

Finally, developing a print workshop at California State University, Chico in 2000, Armstrong was finally able to begin working again on his personal concepts along with artists including Bob Erickson [14]. He began with paper gilding as a monoprint method and turning the paper into three-dimensional figures. Following this he pursued more traditional methods in multiple runs through the press. He combined techniques and materials, built constructions of wood, paper, and wire using new or used elements [15]. He continues in this vein searching for ways to free the print from its historical limitations [16]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Matano, Angela. "A Master Arizona Printmaker Turns Aluminum Into Art". Luxe.
2. ↑ "Prints From The Armstrong-Prior Studio". Missoula Art Museum.
3. ↑ Bailey, James. "John Armstrong 2009". MATRIX Press.
4. ↑ "John Armstrong: Engaged Abstraction and Prior-Armstrong Studio". Art Artworks. 25 January 2009.
5. ↑ Bodah, Paula (February 2023). "Local Artist Works Wonders With Salvaged Aluminum". Phoenix Home+Garden.
6. ↑ Tran, Lindsay (25 March 2024). "The More You Do the More It Comes To You: Lee Steen and the Tree People". Distinctly Montana.
7. ↑ "Collaborations". John Albert Armstrong.
8. ↑ "Armstrong - Prior". Armstrong-Prior, Inc.
9. ↑ "The Gift: Selections from the Armstrong-Prior Archive". ASU Art Museum.
10. ↑ "Armstrong - Prior". Armstrong-Prior, Inc.
11. ↑ Matano, Angela. "A Master Arizona Printmaker Turns Aluminum Into Art". Luxe.
12. ↑ Bodah, Paula (February 2023). "Local Artist Works Wonders With Salvaged Aluminum". Phoenix Home+Garden.
13. ↑ Bodah, Paula (February 2023). "Local Artist Works Wonders With Salvaged Aluminum". Phoenix Home+Garden.
14. ↑ "Residencies & Workshops". Bob Erickson.
15. ↑ Matano, Angela. "A Master Arizona Printmaker Turns Aluminum Into Art". Luxe.
16. ↑ Bodah, Paula (February 2023). "Local Artist Works Wonders With Salvaged Aluminum". Phoenix Home+Garden.

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