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Susan Erickson, PH.D
Professor of Art History
University of Michigan-Dearborn
suerick@umich.edu

Picturing Places and Spaces

January 20 – April 1, 2022

Russell Keeter
American, 1935-1991
Untitled
n.d.
Oil on canvas
Gift of William and Electra Stamelos, 2017.15.34

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Russell Keeter's untitled painting transports the viewer to a place that appears to be situated in the Mediterranean because of the distinctive blue sky, the white marble structures, and the dark silhouettes of cypress trees. A haze obscures trees and hills in the distance, and in the middle space, bright sunlight falls on the green hillocks and stone surfaces in a serene, garden-like space. This impression changes when looking more closely at the form and placement of the stone structures that now seem unstable. In addition, the garden is not populated with figures, and weeds grow between the paving stones of the walkway suggesting the place is not being tended. Most perplexing is the white box in the lower right corner. It has an open side that is covered by a sheer curtain, and human legs emerge from the aperture. These elements convey a feeling that this is a place of dreams with whimsical, frightening, and unexplained aspects. The viewer is held in the darkness of the foreground unable to engage in the scene.

Russel Keeter taught at the Center for Creative Studies (now College of Creative Studies) from 1961 to 1991, and he is best known for his figural paintings. Keeter was active in solo and group exhibitions in the Detroit area. He inspired students as evident in an exhibition, A Teacher's Legacy: Russell Keeter & His Students, commemorating the twentieth anniversary of his death in 2011. Keeter was a mentor and friend to Electra Stamelos who taught at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. In 1985, Stamelos invited Keeter to make a presentation on campus about his approach to rendering the human form.

Bibliography

"Center Honors Watercolor Artist, Long-Loved Faculty Member." Legacy, Fall 2019, UM-Dearborn. Accessed November 9, 2021. https://umdearborn.edu/legacy-fall-2019/articles/center-honors-watercolor-artist-long-loved-faculty-member

Clark, Eugene. Blog Dedicated to Russell Keeter. Accessed November 9, 2021. http://russellkeeter.blogspot.com

Cohen, Keri Guten. "Exhibit Pays Tribute to Overlooked Detroit Painter: Russell Keeter was Teacher at CCS". Detroit Free Press, October 6, 2006.

Colby, Joy. "Russell Keeter, 56, Painter, Professor at Detroit's Center for Creative Studies." The Detroit News, December 26, 1991.

Electra Stamelos (Artist Website). Accessed November 9, 2021. https://www.electrastamelos.art/russell-keeter

"Northville Art House - Be a PART of It!" Northville Times, September 2011. https://doczz.net/doc/3672645/northville-times

Powers, Nancy Chapman. "A Teacher's Legacy: Russell Keeter & His Students." Detroit Free Press, September 7, 2011.