REX AMOS

BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

P. O. Box 494
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
(503) 436-0936
direx@charter.net

"http://www.jwhamil.com/Rex Amos/provoke.html"

STATEMENT

Rex Amos brings to the art of collage boldness of spirit combined with delicate intricacy. The process of Chine Collé is ideal for enhancing Amos's exquisite technique and stunning combinations of images.

These hand-rubbed, pastel collages are run through a press on a larger plate sprayed with a thin layer of ink. They develop unity and richness when fused to a backing sheet of etching paper embossed by the edges of the plate.

Like visual poems, their form, imagery, and symbolism contribute to their meaning. Using an intuitive sense of composition combined with an appreciation of paradox and irony, Amos selects images from the thousands he meticulously cuts out with scissors intended for eye surgery. The results are unexpected juxtapositions that excite and provoke the viewer. Frequently the unifying symbol is a literal ribbon tying the universe of ideas together.

The collages are the result of a complex psyche developed through years of wide reading, intense experience, and thoughtful living. They are beautiful for their delicate craftsmanship, satisfying composition, and startling images. They are successful for the strength and depth of their statements.


HISTORY

In The Dome, Peter Voulkos's spacious studio complex for many of the San Francisco Bay Area's most prestigious artists, Rex Amos was referred to as "The Cutter." Amos's association with these artists goes back to 1959 when he became friends with abstract expressionist painter Matt Glavin, who later had a studio in The Dome.

Amos has never been satisfied with pure aesthetics. He has always been driven to make statements through his art. Extremely verbal and articulate by nature, he includes words or symbols for words in all his work. The violence of the images he selected during the Vietnam conflict clearly proclaimed his objection to America's role in that war. Other works represented the agony of the fight for civil rights of minorities.

Amos cannot pass a scrap of paper on the sidewalk without stooping over to pick it up and examine it for collage possibilities. His friends have been embarrassed repeatedly by his stopping to rip years' worth of pasted posters from public walls, layers of glutted paper and glue so heavy they wrapped themselves around him as he fought them into submission. These were the accumulated leavings of Vietnam protests, gay rights demonstrations, rock concerts, circuses, and political and religious meetings. As he returned from one trip to Europe, customs officials opened his suitcase to find no clothes, no underwear, no toothbrush-just piles of old scrap paper topped by a cardboard cutout of Spencer Tracy's head. These are the raw materials for Amos's expressions.

As his ideas have been refined, so has the precision of his art. From large, paint-splashed canvases and assemblages, he has moved to the delicate and precise form of collage. Precisely snipping out images, he glues them down so smoothly that few can tell where the edges are. Matt Glavin's influence is the flow of patiently rubbed pastels allowing figures to float as though independent of the surface.

Glavin also introduced Amos to Chine Collé. This medium represents a unification of Amos's vision. The work of the mature artist is achieved through images selected by an intellect developed by years of reading and diverse experiences.
These experiences have been as varied as building a log cabin in Idaho, fly fishing, jazz drumming, making candles in Mendocino, being an extra in Paint Your Wagon, digging clams on the Pacific Coast, and traveling throughout Britain and Europe.

Amos was born August 13, 1935, in Wallace, Idaho, and raised in Burke, Idaho, a little mining town featured in Ripley's "Believe It or Not" because it was in a canyon so narrow that store awnings had to be pulled up to let the trains pass through. At the beginning of World War II, the family moved to Portland, Oregon, where Amos attended Buckman Grade School and later graduated from Washington High School. Following that, he was drafted into the army and did his tour of duty in Germany. This gave him his first opportunity to travel through Europe wandering through the great museums and developing his first taste for art.

On returning home, he enrolled at Portland State University majoring in philosophy and literature. Meanwhile he took up jazz drumming, modeling his style after the jazz greats-Shelley Manne, Joe Morello and Philly Joe Jones. This culminated in his breaking the world record for marathon jazz drumming, 82 hours, in 1960.

During this time he began to experiment seriously with painting, producing some primitive figures and exciting abstractions in the manner of Jackson Pollock. Living in Big Sur and finding himself with no materials with which to work, he began to use found objects. This resulted in some of the first junk sculptures on the West Coast. Inspired by this new medium, he obtained a dump license in Portland so that his resources were virtually unlimited.

A woodcut he did during this time inspired bookstore-owner Walter Powell to ask him to paint a series of icons for Saint John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The technique employed, building up the hard-edged figures from dark to light with small brushes, became an influence on Amos's later work.

In 1969 he accompanied Professor Graham P. Conroy to Ireland to help with research on Bishop Berkeley. This project allowed him to finish the philosophy degree on which he had been working for ten years at Portland State. Amos's contribution to philosophy is Preliminism, the theory and practice of practice. Rather than keeping it to himself, he gave it to Dr. Conroy, making it the first philosophy ever given away. A bibliophile and voracious reader, Amos has continued to expand his knowledge and ideas. This is evident in his art.

His works are composed of ironically juxtaposed images rich with literary, historical, religious, and philosophical allusions that provoke the viewer to participate in their interpretations.

After thirty-two years of filling a large Northwest Portland home with books, art, and the miscellany necessary for his artistic inspiration and expression, Amos now lives in Cannon Beach, Oregon, with his wife Diane, a retired secondary English teacher. In 2012 The Pacific Northwest Art and Artist Archive at Willamette University/ Hallie Ford Museum in Salem, Oregon, accepted a donation of Amos's lifetime ephemera composed of over fifty years of journals, diaries, scrolls, notebooks, drawings, and articles.


ONE-MAN SHOWS

Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University. "Scissor Cuts," 2012

Cannon Beach Arts Association. (Collage), 2005

Cannon Beach Arts Association. Collage & Chine Collé), 2001

Cannon Beach Arts Association. "inaccrochable", (Mixed Media), 1999

Cannon Beach Arts Association. "Non Sequiturs", (Mixed Media), 1998

Coaster Theater Playhouse, Cannon Beach, Oregon. (Chine Collé), 1996

Erickson & Elins / Fine Art, "Contemporary Romanticism", (Collage and Chine Collé), 1995

Augen Gallery, Portland, Oregon. "Men in Love Series", (Collage and Chine Collé), 1994

Augen Gallery, Portland, Oregon. "Women in Love Series", (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1992

Corvallis Arts Center, Corvallis, Oregon. "A Rextrospective: Works by Rex Amos 1962-1992"

Erickson & Elins / Fine Art, San Francisco, California. "Collage and Chine Collé", 1992

Augen Gallery, Portland, Oregon (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1991

Simon James Gallery, Berkeley, California. (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1989

West Hills Unitarian Fellowship, Portland, Oregon. "Rejected Icons, Gutterscapes, Pizza Pies, and Chine Collés", 1988

Magnolia Editions, Oakland, California. "Chine Collé Works", 1986

Portland State University: White Gallery, Portland, Oregon. "Classical Collage Series", 1985

The Blue Moon, Portland, Oregon. (Assemblage), 1985

Emily Thorpe Gallery, Sisters, Oregon. (Pastel Collage), 1984

First Unitarian Church, Portland, Oregon. (Pastel Collage and Drawings), 1983

White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, Oregon. "Classical Collage", 1980

West Hills Unitarian Fellowship, Portland, Oregon. (Collage, Drawings, and Prints), 1979

Portland, State College: Off-White Gallery, Portland, Oregon. (Paintings and Assemblage), 1966

Spatenhaus, Portland, Oregon. (Assemblage), 1964-65

Aladdin Theater, Portland, Oregon. Five Shows: 1962-65

Cafe Trieste, Portland, Oregon. (Paintings, Drawings, and Assemblage), 1963


GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Hallie Ford Museum. Salem, Oregon. “Singular Visions: Self-taught artists from the permanent collection.” (Sample of 70 small boxed collages titled “LIFE”), 2024

RiverSea Gallery. Astoria, Oregon. “AND/OR.” (Assemblage and Collage), 2024

Cannon Beach Gallery. “Miniatures Exhibition.” (Collage), 2023

Cannon Beach Arts Association. "Invitational." (Collage), 2004

Cannon Beach Arts Association. "Artist's Palate Show." (Collage), 2003

Art Slate. Condon, Oregon. Mixed Media Collage, 2003

Mirror Pond Gallery. Bend, Oregon. "Northwest Notables" (Chine Collé), 2002

Cannon Beach Arts Association. "Haystack Rock Show." (Collage), 2002

Cannon Beach Arts Association. Miniature Show. (Collage), 1999

NextMonet.com, Inc. San Francisco, California. (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1999

Art Friendly, Friendly House Community Center, Portland, Oregon. (Chine Collé), 1996

The Rutgers Archives for Printmaking Studios, Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1994

Magnolia Editions, California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, California. "Ten Years of Printmaking", (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1993

Augen Gallery, Portland, Oregon. "Erotic Exhibit", (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1993

Art Slate '93, Condon, Oregon. (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1993

Olga Dollar Gallery, San Franscisco, California. "Magnolia Editions Selected Prints by California Artists", (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1992

Doll Gardner Gallery, West Hills Unitarian Fellowship, Portland, Oregon. "Friends & Founders 1970 to the Present", (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1992

Augen Gallery, Portland, Oregon. (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1992

White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, Oregon. "Three at the White Bird", 1992

Erickson & Elins / Fine Art, San Francisco, California. (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1991

Artists of Willamette Heights, Portland, Oregon. "A Centennial Exhibition 1891-1991", (Mixed Media Chine Collé), 1991

Wentz Gallery, Pacific NW College of Art, Portland, Oregon. "The Stendhal Effect. Research & Exhibition", 1990

Northwest Artists Workshop, Portland, Oregon. "Erotic '88", (Chine Collé and Pastel Collage), 1988

University of Oregon Traveling Exhibition. "The Layered Look: West Coast Collage", 1986-88

White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, Oregon. (Chine Collé), 1986

White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, Oregon. "The Sea and Art", 1983

Harris Gallery, Houston, Texas. (Pastel Collage), 1982

Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon. "Oregon Biennial", 1981 (Illustration in Catalogue)

Northwest Artists Workshop, Portland, Oregon. "Other Artists of Oregon L'Exhibition Des Refuses", 1979

Arts Place Gallery, Portland, Oregon. (Collage), 1978

Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon. "Artists of Oregon", 1977

Northwest District Association, Portland, Oregon. "Splash", 1975

Mudlark Gallery, Portland, Oregon. "80th Anniversary Artists of Oregon Invitational Exhibition", 1973

Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon. "Artists of Oregon Paintings and Sculptures", 1971

Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon. "Artists of Oregon, 1970

University of Oregon Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon. "9 Pacific Northwest Artists/3 Dimensions/1966", 1966

Tangent Gallery, Portland, Oregon. (Assemblage), 1966

Fountain Gallery of Art, Portland, Oregon. "Supplement 66", 1966

Long Alley Gallery, Lake Oswego, Oregon. 1966

University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. "Living with Art", 1965

Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon. "Artists of Oregon", 1964

Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon. "Wall Sculptures by Oregon Artists", (Assemblage), 1963

Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon. "Artists of Oregon Exhibition", 1962-63


RENTAL SALES GALLERIES

Portland Art Association, Portland, Oregon. 1966-1997

University of Oregon Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon 1965


PUBLISHED WORK

Collaboration, poetry by Ursula K. Le Guin, photo credit: Rex Amos, "Corvidic Collection"   copyright 2012 by Ursula K. Le Guin

Sayre, Henry M. A World of Art. Fourth Edition. Prentice Hall, 2002 (Discussion and reproduction of the assemblage 911, end pages)

"Exploring the 'Rock'". Cannon Beach Gazette, March 28, 2002, 2nd Section.

Brooke, Sandy, Hooked on Drawing! Illustrated Lessons & Exercises for Grades 4 and Up. Prentice Hall, 1996. (Two color plates, pages 221 and 241)

Magnolia Editions Works on Paper 1981-1992, Magnolia Editions, Inc., p. 2

The Rutgers Archives for Printmaking Studios Catalogue of the Acquisitions 1991-1993 No. 173 Magnolia Editions, p. 60


AWARDS AND COMMISSIONS

Art Slate, Condon, Oregon. 1st Prize Juror's Award, 1993

Goose Hollow Inn, Portland, Oregon. "Rubber Ducky", Commission, 1986

Tuttles Candles International, Warrenton, Oregon. "Tricky Dick and Old Trapper Candle Design", Commission, 1973

Saint John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Portland, Oregon. "Icon Paintings", Commission, 1963

Oregon State Fair, Salem, Oregon. Painting, 1st Prize, "Crux Ansanta", 1960

The Shadows, Portland, Oregon. Marathon Jazz Drumming: World Record, 1960


EVENTS

Columbian Theater, Astoria, Oregon. Astoria International Film Festival, (Documentary “Rex Amos: Man of Many Hats” produced and directed by Audrey Daniel, 2023

Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University. MK Guth featuring the first ten pages from "Tentative Notes Toward an Archive of Preliminism", 2018

McMenamins Tavern & Pool, Portland, Oregon. "Expose Art to Yourself", (Wall Painting: Tat Tvam Asi), 1984

Portland, Oregon. "The Professional Virgin", (Street Sculpture), 1971

Portland, Oregon. "Urban Refusal No. 1...A Resting Place", (Street Sculpture), 1964


PERSONAL PUBLICATIONS

Written on the Run. "Travels with Greg Stone in 1962", 2007

The Rexerection (poems), blurb.com, 2011

The Stendhal Effect, "Stalking the Stendhal Effect", Dadadady, Portland, Oregon. February 1990

The North CoastTimes Eagle, Cannon Beach, Oregon. "Final Agony Series", (Notes and Drawings), July 16, 1982

The North Coast times Eagle. Cannon Beach, Oregon. "The Preliminist Manifesto" Text and Drawings by Prof. Graham P. Conroy and Rex Amos. June 13, 1980.

Provoke 1 Volume 1, Number 2, Portland, Oregon. November 1966

Provoke 1 Volume 1, Number 1, Portland, Oregon. July 1965

Black Panther in Fat City, Sausalito, California. 1964


PROFILES

The Oregon Historical Society's Oregon Encyclopedia profile, "Rex (1935-)", "https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/amos-rex/", Dec. 27, 2023

The Astorian Coast Weekend, Astoria, Oregon. “‘A MAN OF MANY HATS’ Documentary on local artist among Astoria festival shorts,” by Marianne Monson, October 19, 2023

The Daily Astorian, Astoria, Oregon. "The Art of Collage," by Nancy McCarthy, June 14, 2012

"The 'respectable one' and the 'village idiot' find their 'Nirvana'," This is Cannon Beach, Spring 2002, p. 5

Cannon Beach Gazette, Cannon Beach, Oregon. "Amos" refilling the tank... by Cat Mauldin, December 23, 1999

The Sunday Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. In One Ear by Bev Butterworth, July 14, 1991

The Sunday Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. About Town, "Déjà vu Visionary" by Jonathan Nicholas, June 30, 1991

The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. "Rex Redux" by Jonathan Nicholas, January 29, 1990

The Northwest Examiner, Portland, Oregon. "Tale of a Rubber Ducky", (Photo). May 1987

The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. "Columnist Hattacked" by Jonathan Nicholas. October 4, 1984

The Neighbor, Portland, Oregon. "Pair Pursues the Practice of Practice" by James Hunt Miller. (Photo), February 1985

The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. "The Practice of Practice" by Jonathan Nicholas. October 4, 1984

WillametteWeek, Portland, Oregon. "A Dry Fly Tirade" by Rick Rubin. August 10-16, 1982

Willamette Week, Portland, Oregon. "An Urban Thoreau on Fly Fishing" by Rick Rubin. June 29-July 5, 1982

The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. "Sculptor Adds Humor to Festival", (Street Sculpture with Photo). June 10, 1971

The Sunday Oregonian: Northwest Magazine, Portland, Oregon. "The New Art and Portland" by Jack Eyerly. (Photo), January 7, 1968

The Oregon Journal, Portland, Oregon. "Hollywood Action Brings Another Gold Rush to Baker", (Photo). June 27, 1968

The Sunday Oregonian: Northwest Magazine, Portland, Oregon. "Rex Amos: The Artist as a Man of Many Hats" by Rick Rubin, (Photos). July 17, 1966

The Vanguard, Portland, Oregon. "Former PSC Student's Sculpture to Be on Display at Art Museum" by John Wendeborn, (Photo). November 1, 1963


REVIEWS

The NW Examiner, Portland, Oregon. "Art Depreciation," by Allan Classen. September 2010

Seaside Signal Leisure, Seaside, Oregon. "The Artwork of Rex Amos on Display at Coaster Theater Playhouse", March 14, 1996

Artspirit, Corvallis Arts Center, Corvallis, Oregon. "30-Year Rex-trospective Look in Collage", (Photo). June 1992

The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. Arts & Entertainment, "Art of Desire" by Randy Gragg. (Photo). July 19, 1991

Willamette Week, Portland, Oregon. Art by Greg Morris. July 11-17. 1991.

The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. "Mixed Media Show Adds to Coast Allure" by Beth Fagan. (Photo). May 23, 1980

Coast Tidings, Cannon Beach, Oregon. "Show Features Collages...", (Photo). Summer 1980

The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. "Amos Returns with 'Inaccrochable' Show Featuring 1st Embossings" by Beth Fagan. January 12, 1979

The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. "Preliminism Exhibit" by Beth Fagan. (Impromptu, Nonsponsored, Nonjuried show in the Portland Art Museum Basement). (Photo). March 17, 1976

The Sunday Oregonian, Portland, Oregon. "Artist Turns Discarded Objects into Rhythmic Assemblages" by Beth Fagan. (Photos). May 22, 1966.


WORKS IN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

Al and Michelle Abramson, Clinton Amos, Harry Ayres, Kelly Ayres, Cynthia Bathurst, Barbara Brockway, Tom Ayres, Janit Brockway, Sandy Brooke, Christen and Christian Brooke-Gladu, Louis Bunce, Chester M. Burger, Beverly Butterworth, Bud and Sigrid Clark, Nicolas Clark, Rachel Clark Beil, Marcia Congdon, Graham Conroy, Mary Constans, Audrey Daniel, Jane Dillon, Colette and Joe Draegert, Rick Dula, Danielle Elins, Mel Elins and Sandra Erickson, Joe Erceg, Beth Fagan, Donald Farnsworth, Susan Ferguson, Ferguson Autobody, Ann Wall Frank, Roger and Sarah Friedel, Byron Gardner, Elwynne Garvey, Leslie Wood Garvin, Maurice and Evelyn Georges, Matt Glavin, Craig and Jeanne Gostnell, Gary Gretencort, Rachael Griffin, Gary and Karen Guy, Robert Gwinn, Norma Heyser, Hallie Ford Museum, John Hamil, Judy Hatton, Lori Hope, Lynnette Hubert, Billy Hults, Bill Ittman, Peter and Linda Janke, Daryl 'Hank' Johnson, Joel and Susan Keizer, C. A. Keller, Barbara Kerr, David Kimball, Suzanne Kindland, Jim and Peg Kingery, Herb Kirshrot, LaVerne Krause, Margo Lalich, Lauren Leigh, Kathy Lind, Peter Lindsey, Frank and Sally Little, Emilio Lobato, Ron Logan, Steve MacDonald, Magnolia Editions, Petra and Michael Mathers, Peter McGill, Mike McMenamin, Cara Mico, Francis Newton, Jimmy Onstott, Staci Paley-Buchal, Tamara Paulat, Noelle Penn, H.F. Peters, David Pinson, Michael Powell, Carmen Ramos and Bruce Kennedy, Marc Rappaport, Charles and Judy Raymond, David Resnick, Robin Risley, Gerald Robinson, Rick and Charlotte Rubin, The Rutgers Archives for Printmaking Studios, Lisa and Albert Saporta, Henry Sayre, Ron Schmidt, Jim and Barbara Sevde, Carl Smith, David Spence, Dana Stanich, Mike and Christina Stanley, Edgar and Susan Storms, Dan and Kathleen Taggart, J.P. Teets, Barbara Temple, Herk Van Tongeren, Peter Voulkos, Joy Walker, Elsa Warnick, Edwin and Grace Weinstein, John Wendeborn, Harriet White, Peter Wiley