Visiting artist, author Jonathan Twingley delivers lecture Oct. 28
New York artist and author of “The Badlands Saloon” Jonathan Twingley will be a visiting artist-in-residence at Minnesota State University Moorhead Oct. 28 and 29. As part of his campus visit, he will deliver a free public lecture on “Words and Pictures” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28 in the Center for Business room 109. He will conclude his talk by showing images and reading selections from “The Badlands Saloon.”
Twingley, a Bismarck, N.D., native, earned his bachelor of fine arts degree from MSU Moorhead in 1996. He also completed his MFA in illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York and has been a working illustrator/artist for the past 11 years.
His work appears regularly in many national publications, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic and The Progressive, among many others. Twingley’s first solo exhibition was at Moorhead’s Rourke Art Gallery and he continues to exhibit his work there or in the Rourke Art Museum on a regular basis.
In 2003, PRINT magazine featured his work in a showcase of 20 artists under the age of 30. His work has also been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, Communication Arts magazine and the Society of Publication Designers. He is a senior lecturer at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pa.
Scribner published his debut, illustrated novel, “The Badlands Saloon,” in July 2009. The 224-page
hardcover is a story about a young man’s restless and life-changing summer spent in a small North Dakota tourist town. The New York Times Book Review writes: “Before the summer’s out, young Ollie will learn the usual life lessons, amid much faux wisdom that crumbles under the glare of the trailer-park lights. The book’s chief attraction is Twingley’s sketchbook of illustrations, whose broad outsider-art strokes work in concert with Ollie’s naïve ruminations.”
Twingley’s visit is funded by a grant from the Solomon G. Comstock Memorial Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation and the MSUM Alumni Foundation.