Russell Prather
Marquette, MI
Visual Art
Russ Prather was born in Edmonton, Alberta to American parents and raised in Calgary. He studied philosophy and animation at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and earned graduate degrees in English from the University of Washington in Seattle. Though technically a self-taught visual artist, Prather’s creative practice has been influenced by his studies, particularly by the illuminated books of eighteenth-nineteenth century artist and poet William Blake. Prather uses transparent materials and layering techniques in his work, much of which straddles the line between painting and sculpture. Prather has exhibited nationally, including at the Dennos Museum in Traverse City, the Muskegon Art Museum, the Museum of Northwest Art, the Duluth Art Institute, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Truman State University, Finlandia University, the Chicago Art Department Gallery, Stephen F. Austin State University. He lives with his wife Carol and their two cats, Francis Bacon and Lola, in Marquette, Michigan.