By permission of the artist, The Cyber Art Show is pleased to feature the first of two 12-piece exhibitions of works by American painter Joshua Cunningham (Born 1974 in Minnesota, USA).

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Joshua Cunningham lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with his wife Shannon and their children Greta and William. He grew up the third of five boys, in rural Isanti, Minnesota.  Joshua’s journey to art and oil painting started as a youngster, and continued in college at Saint Cloud State.  Art slowly took a back seat to other college pursuits at the time, but a year and half later, that inclination to make art was reborn in the wake of tragedy. The loss of his youngest brother, Ryan to a car accident shook the whole family. Seeing his brother’s life and dreams cut short, Joshua pursued his own with renewed vigor, shaping both his talent and motivation. 

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Joshua decided to start fresh at St. John’s University; there he found some solace from his grief in the surrounding woods, figure drawing, sculpture, but mostly in painting. As the school year wound down, he was offered an extraordinary opportunity to apprentice for Minnesota fresco and portrait painter Mark Balma. As the summer rolled into the fall, Joshua’s time with Balma transitioned from materials preparation to a formal drawing program. To focus on this new direction, Joshua decided against returning to university. This wonderful period of study with Balma was to last about 13 months. A door had opened to a challenging world of form and light and would set Joshua firmly on a lifetime pursuit of representational art.  

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After this, he studied figure drawing for two-and-a-half years with Dale Redpath at The Atelier (formerly Atelier Lack) in North East Minneapolis, Minnesota. During those drawing sessions a fellow student mentioned a school in St. Paul, Hurinenko and Paquet Studio. This conversation was followed up by a visit during an open studio event. Impressed by the work and the potential for a new direction Joshua enrolled. With a great deal of joy and humor Jeff Hurinenko taught Joshua to trust his drawing and build upon it with the beauty and value of indirect painting, oil painting of still life’s and portraits.  Jeff, an apprentice of another Minnesota fresco and portrait painter, Charles (Chuck) Kapsner, taught what he has come to understand to be the methods and techniques of the Flemish and Dutch masters. Jeff’s studio partner, Joe Paquet taught an ala prima method of oil painting through the landscape. Joe, a student of John Phillip Osborne, brought a passion for and understanding of the prismatic palette. He offered Joshua a principled approach to pursue the infinite beauty in the world of outdoor painting by capturing the light effect of a given moment with speed, accuracy, respect and humility. Through Joe’s teaching, painting outside would become the foundation for Joshua’s artistic pursuits.

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Joshua shares his work and life with his wife Shannon, without whom, none of this would be worthwhile or possible. The joy and depth they have in their life together with Greta and William, has become the counter point to the loss of his brother. This is the emotional landscape from which Joshua paints.

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Selected Exhibitions 

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2017

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- Gallery Artist, Grand Hill Gallery, St. Paul MN

- Gallery Artist, Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

June - Judge for The Redwing Plein Air Festival

July - Aug - Plein Air Invitational @ Groveland Gallery

Aug - Plein Air Smackdown @ Groveland Gallery

Sept - Hastings Plein Air Event - hosted by Andy Evansen Art Studio

Nov - Featured Artist, White Bear Center for the Arts, White Bear Lake, MN

Dec- Jan Spot Light Show, "Driftless"  @ Groveland Gallery

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2016 

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- Gallery Artist, Grand Hill Gallery, St. Paul MN

Apr - A Spring Show

Dec - Selected Works

- Guest Artist, Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis MN

Jan- March - Open Air, Plein Air Paintings

June-Aug - Sea to Sea, Art from the National Parks

Aug - Plein Air Smackdown

- Featured Artist, White Bear Center for the Arts, White Bear Lake, MN

July - Aug -  Truth in Nature, Plein Air Exhibition

Solo Show, Christ Lutheran Church, Marine on St Croix, MN

Apr - May - Show of work from 2015 Artist Residency at Pine Needles

Dec- Jan - OPM (Outdoor Painters of Mn) Group Show, Highland FrameWorks, St. Paul, MN

 

2015 

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- Gallery Artist, Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro MN

 Jan-Feb Gallery Artist, Grand Hill Gallery, St. Paul MN

March-April Edward C Curtis Featured Artist, Minneapolis Club, Mpls MN

April-May Featured Artist, FrameWorks Gallery, St. Paul MN

May - Gallery Artist, Gallery 360, Minneapolis MN

May - OPA 24th Annual Juried Show at Cutter & Cutter Fine Art, St Augustine FL

June -Aug ‘Open Road’ Juried Group Show, Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, MN

Aug Artist Residency at Pine Needles, MN Science Museum’s Watershed Research Station

Oct - Solo Show at Cambridge Center for the Arts,  Cambridge, MN

Nov - Jan OPM (Outdoor Painters of Mn) Group Show, Highland FrameWorks, St. Paul, 

Nov- Jan North, Grand Hill Gallery, St. Paul MN