Since 2000, I have been committed to developing my work - giving it space to breathe and sometimes gestate - and pursuing the potential of faith in uncertainty, along the dimly lit path of creativity that hopefully leads to discovery, learning, meaning, and vitality.
Major themes in my work include the duality of light and dark, logic and intuition, dialogue with art and ideas across time, and work that points to expansive ideas. The duality of light and dark has been present in my work for over two decades. It has roots in spirituality, ethics, power dynamics, social constructs, and the capacity for curiosity to arise from contrast. Logic and intuition has an equally long presence in my work, influenced by my reflection on the creative process itself, as well as their duality in ways of knowing. Dialogue with art and ideas across time informs my work by providing a springboard for thought, questions, and relationships that continue to be relevant and reimagined. And, I aim for all of these themes to work together as facets of seeing and thinking in expansive ways, rather than being a singular thesis or reductive.
My work began with a fascination of the power of art to open up new ways of seeing and thinking. When I began college, I was ignorant about art, especially regarding Modernism. My art professors opened the flood gates for me to the power and history of art and ideas, and I felt I had a lot of catching up to do. Learning about and experiencing that power sparked a desire to know more about how content, semiotics, color, and materials can work together in art. From there, I began exploring moments in the history of art and culture that have been transformative, and follow the thread of continuity of expansive ideas. Since, I have worked on a growing body of work that says “yes”, that seeks to expand dialogue through works that stand on their own, but also inform each other. I strive to get out of the way, in order to serve the ideas, as well as integrate craftsmanship of materials with concepts.
Selected Exhibitions
2024. Celestial Bodies, Group Exhibition, Curated by Kathryn Refi, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA
2023 SURFACE: 2023 Juried Exhibition, juried by Clay Aldridge and Josiah Golson, ATHICA, Athens, GA
Slaying The Badger, Special Project for Choco Pronto and Athens Twilight, Choco Pronto, Athens, GA
2021 Hope & Possibility, Group Exhibition, curated by Bridgette Mayer, Philadelphia, PA
2020 45th Juried Exhibition, juried by Larry Ossei-Mensah, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA
Energy Plan For New Horizons - Inside Of The Outside, Ciné, Athens, GA
2018 Into The Light, Group Exhibition, curated by Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2017 42nd Juried Exhibition, juried by Susan Krane, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA
2016 41st Juried Exhibition, juried by Jock Reynolds, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA
2015 Little Things Mean A Lot, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
J1:ATHICA’s First Juried Exhibition, juried by Michael Rooks, ATHICA, Athens, GA
Detour Thru Your Mind: An Illustrated Peoples’ History of Athens, GA, ATHICA, Athens, GA
40th Juried Exhibition, juried by Carter Foster, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA
2014 Equations, Gallery@Hotel Indigo Athens, Athens, GA
INTERIOR/EXTERIOR: Structural Constellations, collaborative exhibition by Vespucci, a collaborative founded with Cody VanderKaay, ATHICA, Athens, GA
2014-13 Rusty Wallace // Dialogue, Twin Kittens, Atlanta, GA
2013 Dialogue: Work by Rusty Wallace, Anne Wright Wilson Gallery, Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY
2012 Live/Work, Twin Kittens, Atlanta, GA
2011 Movers & Shakers: MOGA GA Salutes the Rising Stars of the Georgia Arts Scene, MOCA GA, Atlanta, GA
On Spirituality: Emerging Visions of the Spiritual, Marshall University, Huntington, WV
2010 Energy Plan For The Hopeful Man - New Work by Rusty Wallace, Twin Kittens, Atlanta, GA
2008 Ways of Seeing, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
2007 a place in space, presented by Vespucci, collaborative exhibition of Vespucci, Roy C. Moore Art Gallery, University of North Georgia, Gainesville, GA
2005 anonymous content, collaborative exhibition of Vespucci, a collaborative co-founded with Cody VanderKaay, Broad Street Gallery, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
2003 Atlanta Biennial, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA, Guest Curator: Franklin Sirmans
2001 Small Sculpture 2001, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
2001-00 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Awards, International Sculpture Center, Group Exhibition, Grounds for Sculpture, NJ
Honors and Awards
2015 Drawing purchased for the High Museum of Art’s Permanent Collection, Atlanta, GA
2015 Merit Award, 40th Juried Exhibition, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA
2010 Visiting Artist, Oakland University, Rochester, MI
White Columns Curated Artist Registry inclusion
2009 Visiting Artist/Sculpture Professor, Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2006 Visiting Artist in Drawing/Painting, Messiah College, Grantham, PA
2003 Career Awards Grant from National Society of Arts and Letters
2001 Jurors’ Award, Small Sculpture 2001, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
2000 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, International Sculpture Center
2000-98 Studio Assistant to Susan Hauptman, Lamar Dodd Professorial Chair, University of Georgia
Bibliography
'200 Words: Rusty Wallace's Dialogue at Twin Kittens,' Burnaway, Atlanta, GA, January 7, 2014
‘Reading Between The Signs - Exhibition Revisits a Now Classic Text About How to Look’, Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore, MD, February 6, 2008
‘Locals Only, Atlanta Biennial’s broad reach nets a mixed bag at the Contemporary’, Creative Loafing, Atlanta, GA, April 2- April 8, 2003
‘Small Sculpture 2001’, Forum Gallery, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, 2001
‘International Sculpture Center’s 2000 Outstanding Student Achievement In Contemporary Sculpture Awards’, Sculpture Magazine, NJ, October 2000
Education
2000 University of Georgia, Athens, GA, MFA
1998 University of Georgia Studies Abroad Program, Cortona, Italy (spring)
1996 University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, BFA
1993-91 Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY