Joshua Cunningham
We are here, just for a time. Barns are here, just for a time. Cities are here, just for a time. The practice of paintingon location deepens this understanding. It isn’t long before I find myself defending my work against mercurialskiesand the constant march of the sun. Shadows move, and colors change, leaving me to paint from memory.
Selected Works
Biography
Joshua Cunningham lives in St. Paul with his wife Shannon, their children, Greta, William, and a sheepdog He hasbeen a professional artist for 20 years. He is a member of the Outdoor Painters of Minnesota, Oil Painters ofAmerica, and a signature member of the American Impressionist Society. His work has been featured as a St. PaulArt Crawl Poster award winner, on the cover of Plein AirMagazine, and has won awards in international juriedshows in New York and Spain. He has exhibited with the Science Museum of Minnesota, The Bell Museum ofNatural History, and The Minnesota Marine Art Museum. In 2024, his work was archived as part of a cultural timecapsule on the moon, in the Lunar Codex, aboard the Odysseus Lander
Joshua grew up the third of five boys on 60 acres of woods, wetlands, and pastures in Isanti, Minnesota. His pathto becoming a professional artist was as winding as the country roads and nameless creeks from his hometown. Itbegan in the abstract art departments of St. Cloud State and St. John’s University. The summer break offered aunique opportunity to apprentice with Minnesota fresco painter Mark Balma. Joshua continuedhis training withMark and later at The Atelier in Minneapolis, focusing on figure and portrait drawing for two years. He spent thenext five years at Hurinenko and Paquet Studio in St. Paul, studying portraiture, still life, figure drawing, and Pleinairlandscape painting. Landscape painting began as an afterthought, but that changed under Joe Paquet’stutelage. For Joshua, few experiences are as challenging or enriching as painting on location. Landscapes bring himback to his rural roots
Artist Statement
We are here, just for a time. Barns are here, just for a time. Cities are here, just for a time. The practice of paintingon location deepens this understanding. It isn’t long before I find myself defending my work against mercurial skiesand the constant march of the sun. Shadows move, and colors change, leaving me to paint from memory.
Oil Painting is how I seek to understand what interests me, stirs my faith, and awakens memories. I paint what Isee because representational painting offers a humanexpression of the world around us in a language we allshare. My understanding and empathy for what can constitute a ‘subject’ continues to grow. As an artist, myprimary goal is to keep getting better so that I may do better by my subjects. If I have done right by them, thepaintings have a chance to stir you as the scene has stirred me.
The field studies are finished works in their own right. They hold in them the intense experience of their creation.In the studio, these paintings return me to the scene, bringing back not only what I saw but also the sounds,smells, and stories shared by the passing stranger. It is all in the paint—along with dust from the fields and gritfrom the road. The work reflects the visual and visceral experiences of a vibrantand spontaneous exploration ofour connection to the natural world.