Sri Whipple is an American visual artist, born in Los Angeles and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He received his education from the University of Utah, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2000. He is currently based in Salt Lake City, with his wife and six year old twins. Sri is recognized for his distinctive style, be it painting, drawing, silkscreen printing or mural work. He is well versed in virtually any medium, but his true love is oil paint. From youth Sri has had a keen interest in art history. His obsession with the masters from around the globe is balanced by a love of pop culture, animation, comic books, graffiti, hip hop and punk rock.
Sri's subject matter includes an ever evolving myriad of surreal characters, symbolic narratives and abstract flowing imagery rooted in the subconscious. His painting process begins organic, gestural and free form. His pieces resolve in an academic Western tradition.
Sri's current body of work is rich with figures influenced by pictorial language, asemic writing, glyphs and cross-cultural symbolic archetypes. These increasingly prevalent forms have appeared in Sri's work in some way or another since he was a child.
Sri's work is enjoyed by many private collectors and the Salt Lake County art collection. He was selected by the Salt Lake Art Design Board for inclusion in the Salt Lake City 2020-22 Pre-Qualified Public Art Pool. He has done illustrations for album covers, books, magazine covers, posters, t-shirts and more. Sri's work has been shown in many galleries, public art institutions and projects locally, nationally and internationally, including: (locally) 337 Project, Alpine Fine Art, Bountiful Davis Art Center, CUAC/Central Utah Arts Center, Copper Palate Press, Downtown SLC Public Library, God Hates Robots, KRCL 90.9 FM, Kayo Gallery, Ken Sanders Rare Books, The Leonardo Museum, Mestizo Institute for Culture & Arts, The Neighborhood House, Rio Gallery, Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake Film Society, Signed & Numbered, Springville Museum of Art, University of Utah, Urban Arts Gallery, Utah Arts Alliance, Utah Committee for the Advocacy of Contemporary Art, Utah Division of Arts and Museums, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Brett Wesley Gallery (Las Vegas), Clark's Fine Art & Auctioneers (Los Angeles), La Luz de Jesus (Los Angeles), Mirus Gallery (Denver), Sally Centigrade Gallery (Denver), Varnish Fine Art (San Francisco), Carhartt Store (Berlin) and Strychnin Gallery, (Berlin).
www.sriwhipple.com
Artist Statement:
"In every piece of art I create, I uncover another piece of my story. I am fascinated by the mystery of the connection between the past, present and future, male and female, animate and inanimate, humanity and the other. In there lies the connection between myself and creation. This exploration pushes me to make the choices I make in my process, from the first open strokes of oil paint to the classic, polished finish I strive to achieve through layer after delicate layer of gently glazed paint over surface. The power of language to solidify intentions creates a caution in me to not over-define, and therefore constrain, my current understanding of my life’s work to only the words I know to describe it with today. My art continues to create me as much as I create it, carving an ever-winding pathway from each chapter to the next. I am excited to see where my path leads in the future and I hope you are, too."
