Paul Rung

Paul Rung

Durango, IA

Bio

Paul Rung Studio evolved out of Paul Rung Photography, Inc. which specialized in Still Life and Product Photography. Paul worked with Ad Agencies, Corporate Clients, Design Firms and Package Designers for over 25 years. Some of Paul’s clients included H20 Plus, Jim Beam, Unilever, Tropicana and Craftsmen along with a number of Chicago based banks and financial institutions. As time went on Paul started making metal and copper frames to display some of his fine art photography. 

Initially I just made things for fun as a diversion from my day to day commercial assignments. I had big sheets of metal and copper at my studio that I had used as backgrounds for some of my assignment work. I started playing around with painting on metal, grinding it, treating it with various chemicals, all of this with photography in mind. Slowly the things I'm making now began to take shape. I started selling some of the frames in galleries to be used as mirror frames. The nearby neighborhoods of Wicker Park and Bucktown had a lot of independent galleries and a strong artist community at the time. I was encouraged by quick sales and this new creative outlet I had discovered. Working with wood, metal copper and glass was a much less restrictive creative process than I was used to. So after over 25 years of doing only photography and living in the city, I decided to start working and living in a different way.” Paul now has work in South Africa, Europe, Mexico, South America, Canada, Hawaii, Australia and all over the United States. Paul participates in select art shows around the midwest, he lives and works In Durango, Iowa.

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Artist Statement

These Murals are an interpretation of the northeastern Iowa landscape. Creating murals started when I lived in northern Illinois about ten years ago. Illinois was quite different from the rolling hills, cliffs, meandering streams and rivers where I live now. The new Iowa murals have acquired a more three dimensional quality incorporating found objects along with metal, copper, paint and photography. I have found the northeast Iowa landscape to be far more varied, more abrupt and textured. Hills, wooded areas and rocky cliffs interrupting light and color with shadows and walls.

Paul Rung, Iowa Landscape, 2021, Mixed media collage. Painted metal, distressed copper, steel, brass, found objects, photography, 63.5" x 30.5" x 2"