Brent Funderburk

Brent Funderburk, 'Flying World", watercolor on paper, 36" x 36", 2009, private collection

Thomas Brent Funderburk (born 1952 in Charlotte, North Carolina) is an awarded visual artist and W. L. Giles Distinguished Professor of Art at Mississippi State University where he has worked for over three decades receiving top academic honors for faculty, teaching and research excellence. He is known in the American art scene for his countless illustrated-lecture performances and workshops, as well as for many exhibitions of his complex, colorful watercolors and other visual artwork, which have taken place over the years at universities, galleries, museums and related centers across the U.S.. His art has been repeatedly featured in specialized art magazines.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} Funderburk is married to choreographer/dancer Deborah Funderburk. They have two sons, Wyatt and Jackson.^[7]

Career

Funderburk graduated from East Carolina University School of Art and Design (Greenville, NC), where he gained his Bachelor's (BFA) and Master's (MFA) degrees in Fine art/Painting in 1975 and 1978 respectively.

Brent Funderburk, "Today", watercolor on paper, 36" x 34'", 2009, private collection

He taught art at Nebraska Wesleyan University before joining the faculty at Mississippi State University, where he has remained since, stepping up the academic ladder from instructor (1982) to his current position as Distinguished Professor in the College of Architecture, Art, and Design’s Department of Art, , which he headed from 1995 to 2002. Apart from his regular work as a teacher of painting and drawing as well as thesis advisor at MSU, Funderburk has conducted illustrated lecture performances and art workshops, and displayed his artwork in galleries and museums in many U.S. cities such as Jackson, MS,^[8]Ocean Springs, MS,^[9] Chattanooga, TN,^[10] Memphis, TN,^[11] Golden, CO,^[12] Raleigh, NC,^[13] Charlotte, N.C.^[14] Punta Gorda, FL^[15] and Houston, TX,^[16] as well as in seven Chinese museums.^[17]

Brent Funderburk, "Before/After the Fall", 58" x 36", watercolor, acrylic and papier colle, from the series "New Solar Myths", 2015, private collection

Particular success accompanied Funderburk's watercolor series New Solar Myths and Flying World, both featured in Watercolor Artist magazine (August 2016).^[18][19] New Solar Myths was on display at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs, MS in 2014.^[20] It was also among works by 25 artists from around the world that were judged worthy of inclusion in the fine art category of Creative Quarterly: The Journal of Art and Design’s Best 100 Annual 2015.^[21][22] Having been on display at the 2015-16 International Watercolor Biennial^[23] at Shenzhen, China, Flying World was among 150 works selected for inclusion in a large competitive exhibit of water-based painting media which travelled to several Chinese museums. On this occasion Funderburk’s piece was chosen out of only 36 U.S. artist-produced works—from among nearly 3,800 entries submitted worldwide.^[17] Additionally, Funderburk’s watercolor/mixed-media painting A Dream of Flying was among more than 100 works—out of 430 submitted entries—chosen for the Houston, Texas-based Watercolor Art Society’s 2016 International Exhibition held in March 2016.^[16]

Research

Funderburk acknowledges influences by watercolor painters such as Edward Reep, Charles E. Burchfield and Walter Inglis Anderson.^[24] His research activity has engaged the life, art, and influence of 20th Century American master Walter Inglis Anderson, whose life and creations he has studied for more than three decades. He has also curated national touring exhibits of Anderson’s work, presented illustrated lectures, developed courses, and written on Anderson and his creative work. Funderburk has lectured on American early and mid-century modern visionary artists including Anderson, as well as Edward Reep, Charles E. Burchfield, Robert Henri, Will Henry Stevens, Oscar Bluemner, and others.^[25][26]

Awards

At MSU the artist was named William L. Giles Distinguished Professor (2015). He has equally received other academic awards including the Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award (2016),^[27] the Ralph E. Powe Research Excellence Award (2015),^[28] the John Grisham Faculty Excellence Award (1994), and the Burlington Northern Excellence in Teaching Award (1986). In 2010 he was named "Official Artist" for the 2010 USA International Ballet Competition.^[29]

Other professional Awards received in recent years include the First Prize at the 42nd Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition, Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO,^[30] and the Second Award at the National Biennial Art Exhibition, Visual Arts Center, Punta Gorda, FL (2012).^[15]

References

External links

• Brent Funderburk official website
• Brent Funderburk MSU website