The University of Alabama Gallery is proud to present its summer exhibition, Tony Sturgis – Pulse & Color, June 2 – July 28, 2023. There will be a reception for the artist during Tuscaloosa’s First Friday Art Walk, June 2, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Selected from recent mixed media paintings, Pulse & Color will be Sturgis’ first solo exhibition in Tuscaloosa. Gallery director Daniel White said that Sturgis incorporates references to artists of the Modernist era in his abstract work, including Robert Rauschenberg, Jim Dine and Richard Diebenkorn. “Sturgis builds his paintings through layering paint – typically from 20-30 coats – and other materials to create texture such as sand and iridescent mediums. Often vague background figures are revealed, emerging from his paintings’ predominating explosions of color and pattern. Abstract forms and symbols emanate joyfulness, even as the artist asks larger visual questions such as “What is our place in the past, present and future?” Though Sturgis began his art studies in printmaking and has done commission work in portraits and murals for more than two decades, White explained, “a few years ago, his work took a decidedly abstract direction that he continues to hold steadfast to, giving the artist the cathartic and healing qualities from art he was looking for.”
Tony Sturgis holds a BFA in studio art from the University of Montevallo and works full-time as a Lieutenant Firefighter Paramedic with Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue. He is represented by Beverly McNeil Gallery in Birmingham, Alabama.