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Item Name: Print
Title: Sunflowers
Maker: Russell Yuristy
Year: n.d.
Country: Canadian
Materials: lithograph 60/75
Measurements: in frame: 74.5 cm x 89.5 cm; work: 56.5 cm x 71 cm
ID Number: PC2017.6
Legal Status: PERMANENT COLLECTION


Extended Label Info: Though realistic in style, Russell Yuristy’s artistic approach is also a playful and unconventional one. His most well-known subjects are from the natural world such as plants and animals. His work has ranged from iconic playground structures and sculptures, to paintings, drawings, and printmaking. “Sunflowers” is an example of one of many of Yuristy’s drawing and printmaking styles that is realistic but also lighthearted in nature. Rendered naturalistically, a crop of late-summer sunflowers with heavy, drooping heads peek lazily out over a wood-slatted fence. Through use of colour, Yuristy gives the flowers center stage and with an element of humour the sunflowers take on the character of someone peeking over the fence with curiosity and mischievousness. Like much of Yuristy’s work, this piece is a playful look at we can identify with and appreciate nature. Russell Yuristy (1936- ) was born in Goodeve, Saskatchewan. He graduated with a degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of Saskatchewan (1959) before studying art at the University of Wisconsin (1967). Yuristy was part of a group of artists inspired by the irreverent humour of the Funk Art movement brought to Regina by ceramicist David Gilhooly in the 1970’s. After teaching art in Regina and coordinating workshops at Emma Lake, Yuristy moved to Stilton, Saskatchewan and began designing and constructing large playground structures. Yuristy’s playful designs defined many iconic spaces in the prairies, such as the red and white striped climbing “trees” in Regina’s Candy Cane Park, and the metal elephant Rusty on the north side of RPL Central Library. Although his sculptural play-spaces have been replaced as parks get updated, his approach was part of a revolution in public design. Today, Yuristy is known as a printmaker, painter and teacher whose works are based on the land and animal life around him. His artwork has been exhibited nationally and is held in numerous public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Mendel Art Gallery Collection at Remai Modern, and the Canada Council Art Bank.