"Attack" - from 'Attack' series

Robert L. Cormack

Cormack's black and white image of a military invasion is powerful in its stark familiarity. The usual tools of war - guns and a tank - are not detailed to specify a certain war. The soldiers whose bodies are bent toward an unidentified enemy do not wear distinct uniforms. The purpose is not to recount history, but is an exploration of the individual's role and experience within the broader context of war and to illustrate the universal reality of the human condition and the blind, violent immediacy of armed conflict. While war is often portrayed in the past, the anonymity and timelessness of Cormack's "Attack" forces the viewer to ackowledge that such activity could be right upon your doorstep.

Employing a kind of highly stylized chiaroscuro, Cormack expertly communicates a strong feeling of unstoppable force in this monotype. Using the surface of the Plexiglas matrix, he layers shapes of solid black ink, white negative space, and grayscale texture achieved by scraping away at the ink with a piece of matboard or rag.

Robert Cormack's work often deals with memories of his early life in Cuthbert, Georgia, where he lived until transferring from the University of Georgia to Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, California, in the late 1950s. Additionally, his own experience in the U.S. Navy and as a blue-collar worker often influences his subject matter, his style echoing that of the WPA era regionalist muralists and graphic artists.

Robert L. Cormack was born in Cuthbert, Randolph County, Georgia on April 6, 1935. He graduated from Terrell County High School in Dawson, Georgia in June of 1953. Cormack joined the US Navy in July of 1953 where he was promoted to Petty Officer 2nd Class. He left the Navy in July of 1957 and entered the University of Georgia on the GI Bill.

After traveling around for a few years he returned to school, his formal art education began at the Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, at the height of Abstract Expressionism's fruition in the United States. He continued studying at Cal State Northridge where he received his MA in 1970. He then worked for CalArts (California Institute of the Arts), first as a janitor and then assisting with the Faculty Shows between 1970 and 1974. As his family grew he went to work the the US Post Office as a letter carrier, earning a union salary with benefits. Cormack retired in 1995 and took up art once again, turning his attention to the printmaking medium. He lives and and works in Santa Rosa, CA.