American Photorealist, Linda Bacon (born September 8, 1942), creates works of art that give the viewer much to see and consider; works that invite the viewer to reflect more deeply about familiar, easily recognizable objects.

Biography
Linda Bacon (1942 - ): Personal Biography

I was born in Hillsboro, Texas, and lived there, in the same house where my mother still lives, until I went to college. I attended the University of Texas in Austin and graduated with a double major in English and History, and a minor in Philosophy. After teaching 7th and 8th grade English for two years in Port Aransas, Texas, I returned to Austin and enrolled in the Graduate School of Library Science.

In 1966, the call of San Francisco's cool summers, liberal attitudes, and great rock and blues music reached Austin, and I just loaded up my car with all my possessions and moved to California. After working for a year as the record librarian for "underground rock" station KMPX-FM, I moved to the country near Santa Cruz, where I grew organic vegetables, studied esoteric Eastern religions, and embroidered everything in sight.

My children, Starrs and Emil, were born in Marin County, California, in the early 1970's. While raising my children, I decided that I had always wanted to be a "real" artist: one that painted on canvas instead of drawing on and embroidering clothing. After marrying Charles McBurney in 1975, I started to pursue this goal, and I had my first gallery show in 1979. The ensuing years have been spent perfecting my artistic abilities while raising our children and spending time with family and friends. When I'm not in the studio, I am often sailing or traveling with my husband, reading a good book, playing some low-key bridge, or dancing to some great blues music.

Curriculum Vitae
Linda Bacon

1942 Born, September 8, in Hillsboro, TX
1964 Bachelor of Arts Degree, University of Texas, Austin, TX
1966 Moved from Texas to California
1975 Married Charles McBurney
1996 Marin Arts Council Individual Artist Grant
1997 Winner Open Studios Pacific Coast Competition

Selected Exhibitions
2004 American Photorealism, Japan traveling exhibition: Iwate Museum of Art, Iwaki City Art Museum, Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art, Hakodate Museum of Art, Hokkaido. Also to Jane Vorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
2003 Iperrealisti, Chiostro del Bramante, Rome, Italy
2002 Photorealism at the Millennium: New Generation Photorealists, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
2001 This is America: American Photorealists, Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Arhus, Denmark
2001 Interiors Observed, Pinnacle Gallery, Savannah College of Art and Design, GA
2000 Illusions, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
2000 The Photorealists, Center For the Arts, Vero Beach, FL
1999 Photorealism - The Next Generation, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
1998 Realism Knows No Bounds, van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1998 Recent Works, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
1997 The New Photorealists, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
1997 Hot Time, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, NY
1997 Marin Arts Council Grantees Show, Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
1994 Recent Works, Bruce R. Lewin Gallery, New York, NY
1993 New Paintings and Monotypes, Edith Caldwell Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993 Small Wonders, I. Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA
1991 A Palette of Vision, Mountain View Art Center, Mountain View, CA
1991 Inaugural Group Show, Edith Caldwill Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1990 Recent Works, Capricorn Galleries, Bethesda, MD
1990 54th Annual National Mid-Year Exhibition, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
1990 Finalists Show for Marin Arts Council Grants, Artisans Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
1989 100 Artists - 100 Ways, Artisans Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
1988 Foliage - Three Watercolor Approaches, Creative Arts Center Gallery of the City of Sunnyvale, CA
1988 Works on Paper, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998 Ten Artists from the William Sawyer Gallery, Shasta College Gallery, Reading, CA
1998 Watercolor - Ten Points of View, Banaker Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
1998 National Watercolor Society Invitational, Western Colorado Center for the Arts, Grand Junction, CO
1988 52nd Annual National Mid-Year Exhibition, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
1987 Realism, The Art Museum of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
1987 Works on Paper, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1986 Still Life Show: Three Artists, Olive Hyde Art Gallery, Fremont, CA
1986 Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition, Golden, CO
1986 Excellence in Watercolor: West Coast Watercolor Society, Marin County Civic Center, CA
1986 Texas Watercolor Society 37th Annual Show, San Antonio, TX
1985 Works on Paper, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1985 American Realism, 75 Contemporary Artists, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1985 National Watercolor Society 65th Annual Exhibition, Brea, CA
1984 National Watercolor Society 64th Annual Exhibition, Brea, CA
1984 38th Annual Art Show, San Francisco Arts Commission, CA
1984 Marin County Fair Annual Juried Art Show, CA
1984 Marin Arts Council First Annual Invitational, CA
1984 The Subject is Objects: Contemporary Bay Area Still Life Paintings, Hearst Art Gallery, St. Mary's College, Moraga, CA
1983 American Watercolor Society, 116th Annual Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY
1982 Thirty Approaches to Realism, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1982 Recent Works, Festoon Gallery, Waco, TX
1982 Liquid Light: Watercolor Beyond the Traditional, Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA
1982 Featured Artist: Bond's Alley Art Festival, Hillsboro, TX
1982 National Watermedia Biennial, Rochester, NY
1981 Recent Works - Watercolor, Allport Associates Gallery, Larkspur, CA
1981 San Francisco Women Artists Small Format Show, Crown-Zellerbach Building, San Francisco, CA
1980 27th Annual Painting Show, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
1980 Gallery Show, Allport Associates Gallery, Larkspur, CA
1980 Watercolor: Three Points of View, Falkirk Community Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA
1980 Flower Show, Allport Associates Gallery, Larkspur, CA
1980 San Francisco Women Artists Large Format Show, American Institute of Architects, San Francisco, CA
1979 Small Paintings & Paperworks, Allport Associates Gallery, Larkspur, CA
1979 Northern California Arts 25th Annual Silver Jubilee Show, Sacramento, CA
1979 Works of Marin, Allport Associates Gallery, Larkspur, CA
1979 Marin County Fair Annual Juried Art Show, CA
1978 Marin County Fair Annual Juried Art Show, CA

Statement
Linda Bacon

The purpose of my art is to educate, stimulate, and entertain both myself and the viewers of my work. I paint realistic still lifes, using objects that I either own or borrow. I select objects that trigger a strong emotional or intellectual response in me: objects with color, shape, texture, design, and content that deserve hours of studying and painting. I create works that invite the viewer to reflect more deeply about familiar, easily recognizable objects, works that feature compositional complexity, fine detail, rich color, and my own expanding technical ability. A painting may deliver an overall philosophical message or emotion, yet on another level it might also investigate the relationship between certain colors, and in some corner there might be an exploration of abstraction within reality, perhaps through distorted reflections in the highly polished fender of a silvery toy car. Recently I created a series of paintings of beat-up old toys. I spent months with many wonderful borrowed toys that I would love to own, yet by thoroughly examining and painting them, I now in a very real sense do own them, and have given them and all that they evoke to everyone who views those paintings. Currently I am exploring new but similar subject matter: some is biographical, such as music memorabilia from the fifties and my uncle's old fishing lures, and some is just nostalgic, such as old unexploded fireworks and stage magic paraphernalia.