Artist Statement
My career as an artist was born early and out of adversity. As a very young child I contracted polio and spent long hours in hospitals and at home. Drawing became a way to pass the time and explore what my imagination urged me to create.
Art became more than a pastime, as I went to college and earned a degree in art – dedicating 14 years to teaching it. My real challenge began when I left teaching to build a career on what I had been preaching.
I think of my work as abstracted realism – realism imbued with a sense of narrative intrigue. I am drawn to the concepts of reflection, light and color – as they can be made illusive, confusing and mysterious. I am an observer by nature – with the human condition a theme I return to often. I am always considering and shifting my technique in order to conquer challenges in the craft – which creates a freshness in my work. The current of consistency that flows through my work is design and composition.
Most people look at my work and see me as a figurative painter. Which makes my watercolors – often focused on nature – a surprise. This is why, to me, painting is like life – it needs balance but an infusion of the spice of variety.
Selective Resumé
Cantrell has been a professional studio artist in Bardstown since 1971. He earned his BFA in Art Education from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1958 and his MA from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley in 1965 with a double emphasis in ceramics & painting. He began his distinguished career as a teacher, but after 14 years he left the academic world to pursue his passion and “practice what he had been preaching”.
Cantrell’s paintings can be seen in major public, private and now over 20 museum collections around the country. Participating in over 300 solo, group, and juried exhibitions, he has been the recipient of many awards, including fellowship grants from the Kentucky Arts Council and from the Southern Arts Federation. He was named Alumna of the Year for Creative Achievement from the University of Northern Colorado in 2000 and from the University of Nebraska in 2012. He has also juried numerous competitive exhibitions around the region.
WORK IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS: SELECTED PUBLIC LIST:
Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, St. Joseph, Missouri
Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee
Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art, David City, Nebraska
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
Capital University Shumacher Gallery Collection, Ohio
Cedar Rapids Art Museum, Iowa
Columbus Art Museum, Columbus, Ohio
Evansville Museum of Arts & Science, Evansville, Indiana
Huntington Museum of Art, West Virginia
Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, Indiana
International Bluegrass Music Museum, Owensboro, Kentucky
Kentucky Railway Museum, New Haven, Kentucky
Lafayette Art Museum, Indiana
Mississippi Museum of Fine Art, Jackson, Mississippi
Museum of Nebraska Art, Kearney, Nebraska
Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Owensboro, Kentucky
Richmond Art Museum, Indiana
Sheldon Art Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska
Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky
His work has been represented by galleries in major cities such as New York City; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Washington, DC; Ogunquit, ME; Louisville, KY; St Louis, MO; New Orleans, LA; & Santa Fe, NM. One of his paintings was exhibited for three years in Riga, Latvia as part of the Art in Embassies Program.
In 2017 he was selected as the first ever Kentucky artist commissioned by Churchill Downs to create the artworks for the 143rd Oaks and Derby posters. In 2021 he was the first studio artist to be selected to create the artwork for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival’s 30 Year Anniversary print & poster!