ARTIST

The paintings of Bruce Cody are the culminations of over forty years of devotion to visual art. Mr. Cody's work has always contained a reference to the world seen by the artist, even during the years in which he painted in an abstract or expressionistic manner.

After many years devoted to drawing and fine art printmaking Mr. Cody returned to painting as his major focus in 1972. As early as 1961 Mr. Cody painted outdoors on location. He focused his efforts en Plein-aire in 1975 prior to a sabbatical leave from teaching in 1976-77 in London, England where he did extensive outdoor painting.  By 1983, after resigning his tenured teaching position at Colorado State University, and moving to Denver he shifted to highly developed studio paintings. Employing photographic references focused on the urban and rural forms experienced by all of us, he developed a broader, looser style than the works by the Photo Realist artists. The works of Denver subjects became widely collected but by 1992 Bruce and his wife Charlene moved to New Mexico to increase the artist's exposure and collector base. By 1994 he and Charlene opened the widely respected Charlene Cody Gallery that they maintained until the fall of 2005.

Mr. Cody's current work is the result of road trips, often on the lesser traveled roads throughout the southwest and southern California. The subjects that have caught his attention are old movie theatres, cafes and diners, motels, gas stations and their colorful signage. His works are reflections of the American penchant to find new places of opportunity and the subjects currently exist.

His subjects are familiar but at the same time contain strong visual intrigue. Cody is quick to point out his work is not about nostalgia. It is an effort to capture the places we all encounter but often fail to fully appreciate as significant parts of our daily lives. He simply seeks elegance and subtle beauty in the commonplace.

Mr. Cody has work included in over thirty public collections including the Jack Blanton Museum in Dallas, TX, The Seattle Art Museum. Additionally his work has been acquired for over fifty corporate collections across the U.S. including Citicorp, Exxon-Mobil, Qwest, and Hilton Hotels. His work is in nearly five hundred private collections in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Among his collectors are the actors Burt Reynolds and Paul Newman, and the widely read American historians Douglas Brinkley, Gary Gallagher and Joan Waugh and the author Dianne Gabaldon.