Robert Alston:
Retrospective

Artist Bio

Robert Alston was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. In 1952, after he received a degree in Art Education from the University of Southern California in Painting and Drawing, he became an educator for the San Bernardino public school system. From 1958 to 1960 Bob attended Otis Art Institute and 1963 he earned his Master of Fine arts degree from the University of Southern California. Bob came to Southern Oregon State College as an Assistant Professor in Painting and Drawing in 1963, serving as Chair of the Art Department from 1978 to 1990. Bob retired from his teaching career at SOSC in 1992. Bob Alston’s contributions to the college and to the Ashland community are exemplified by his active role in the creation of the Schneider Museum as well as the Bachelor of Fine Arts program at SOSC.

Exhibition Statement

In the Spring of 1997, Bob Alston’s Retrospective Exhibition took place at the Schneider Museum. The exhibition included approximately 30 of the artist’s large oil and acrylic paintings, as well as his numerous drawings.

The exhibition featured in chronological order: his whimsical paintings of machine parts made during the early 60’s as a graduate student, his expressive paintings inspired by crosses seen during his trip to England, his sensual and seductive paint fogs of flowers from the Hawaii series, abstract paintings of geometric arrangements, gestural paintings inspired by the Jefferson Loop in San Francisco, structured and orderly paintings of vertical architectural studies made during the early 90’s, to his work involving mixed media.

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