RICHARD WILLSON - Roads and Bridges Collection

Richard Willson is a plein air and landscape painter in Los Angeles, California. A co-founder of the Mount Washington Plein Air Painters, his work seeks to create empathetic observation of the interaction of the natural and built environments. The geographic focus of his work is the communities of Northeast Los Angeles.

Willson's art is influenced by the urgency of global environmental challenges. He sees plein air painting as a way of understanding and appreciating nature and human activity, leading to the view that "observation is environmentalism". Plein air painting places the artist in a context of changing light, weather, seasonal variations, and plant cycles. It also provides opportunity to observe human activity with nature. In Willson's case, a bridge, road, or building is often seen in relation to natural settings.  Willson's paintings are a parallel effort to his research and teaching activities on environmental sustainability as a professor at Cal Poly Pomona. Willson holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning and has studied art at Otis Parsons Institute in Los Angeles.

SELECT EXHIBITIONS

Alchemy | Pomona, solo exhibition, Metro Gallery, Pomona, CA 2014
Paved and Painted: Images of Urban Los Angeles, group show, Natures Brew, Los Angeles, CA 2014
Southwest Loop Show, 2-person show, Space Gallery, South Pasadena, CA 2012
Concrete, Streel and Trees, solo exhibition, Metro Gallery, Pomona, CA 2011
TRAFFIC show, group show, South Pasadena Pop Up Gallery, South Pasadena, CA 2010
Arroyo Arts Discovery Tour, Highland Park, CA 2003 – 2015