Gallery Audio Tour
Grayslake Campus: A-Wing
James D. Butler
Black Pot/White Pot | 2004.10Gr
Audio Tour
This audio clip describes James Butler's piece, "Black Pot/White Pot".
Narration by: Gwethalyn Bronner
Length: 0:2:41 (two minutes and forty-one seconds)
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About the Piece
Black Pot/White Pot, 1982Lithograph; 25/50
Number: 2004.10Gr
To make a lithograph (Greek for “stone drawing”), the artist draws on stone with a grease crayon. The stone is dampened and then ink is rolled on. The greasy image repels the water and holds the oily ink while the rest of the stone's surface does the opposite. To print the image, the stone is placed on a bed that carries it through the press and the paper is placed on top of the stone. 25/50 refers to the print number and the number of prints in the series.
From 1970 to 1976, Butler was Professor of Art at Southern Illinois University, and has been teaching lithography from 1976-present at Illinois State University. Butler has exhibited nationally and his works are included in Art Institute of Chicago, The Butler Institute of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Narration Text
James Butler is one of the foremost realist artists in Illinois. He has established a reputation as both a painter and a printmaker. His favorite subject for both mediums is the rolling landscapes of the rural mid-west. However, Butler also delves into still-lifes, a subject that relates back to his landscapes.Black Pot/White Pot is a lithographic print of a table top still-life. The title refers to two flower pots that are part of this dynamic composition. Butler is the consummate realist artist rendering forms on a lithographic stone with a grease pencil. The other objects in the print include exquisitely drawn glass vessels, ceramic pots and fruit. They seem casually placed, however Butler has exercised a formal, geometric arrangement of the objects. There is a grouping of round objects on both the left side and the right side of the table. Between the two groupings is a small hook rug hanging on the wall above. Thus, the composition forms a pyramid with the rug as its apex. The wall has rectangular paper shapes that continue the geometry of the design. The table top meets the wall in much the same fashion as the land meets the sky in Butler’s landscapes. Adding to the drama of the piece is the lighting. There are two light sources that produce patterns of double shadows on the walls.
Butler has said, “All of my choices of sites for paintings, drawings and prints begin with a passionate attachment to the subject. Decisions about composition and scale come in response to my personal experience with the site (Illinois State University).“
The mid-western roots of Butler go deep. He was born in Iowa and received his MFA degree from the University of Nebraska in 1970. From 1970 to ‘76, he was Professor of Art at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and has been teaching lithography from 1976 to the present at Illinois State University at Normal. James Butler's prints and lithographs can be found in more than 80 public and private collections including the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and the Smithsonian Institute.
Written by Steven Jones, Curator, Robert T. Wright Gallery, College of Lake County.
Works cited:
Rives, Veda. “Artists List.” Normal Editions Workshop. College of Fine Arts, Illinois State University, Normal. IL. 10 November 2008. <http://www.cfa.ilstu.edu/normal_editions/butlebio.html>.
