MICHAEL JUDE RUSSO GREEN ART
CREATIVITY WAS ALWAYS MY DRIVING FORCE -
BUT I WAS 35 BEFORE I CALLED MYSELF AN
ARTIST
Originally from central New York State and then Manhattan, I moved to Miami Beach Florida in 1994. I now live and work in Wilton Manors, Florida as a South Florida artist/designer.
For several years I was in business as "Studio Russo Art & Design" at 417 Espanola Way in Miami Beach and later as Michael J. Russo & Associates in the Miami Design District. My entire inventory was purchased by an art dealer. This financed the redesign of my Miami Beach home as a showcase. In 2005 I sold the property and relocated to Wilton Manors. I built my studio and remodeled the house (a four year project completed in January of 2009). The home and grounds were completely transformed to represent my architectural and landscape design. The studio and house provide a gallery-like setting for art and furniture I create.
I have (from a very young age) been obsessed with the beauty of the world and how all things are connected. This has evolved to an appreciation of the intrinsic value in everything. Expanding the concept of "value" through discovering new applications and relationships is very exciting to me. What most people would consider as "limited use" objects and materials become an unlimited source for my work. In sculpture, my goal has always been to skillfully select and join recognizable artifacts to form intriguing versions of the familiar. Connecting disparate items to create realistic impressions is often an engineering challenge.
CREATIVE PUBLIC HISTORY & EMPLOYMENT
2015-2018 401 NE 26th Drive, Wilton Manors, FL....Ongoing sculpture / design projects
2014 Artserve Commission, Fort Lauderdale, FL....North Beach Chair Project: Eco-friendly chair design, fabrication
2006-2015 401 NE 26th Drive, Wilton Manors, FL....Art and Design Studio/Gallery Showcase
2004-2005 Adele Commission, Miami, FL....Art installation, custom furniture,interior design
2003-2004 Burke Commission, Miami Beach, FL....Animal-themed sculptural furniture
1999 Wynwood Art Studio, Miami, FL....Art and design project development
1998 Art and design collection purchased by private Miami / New York art dealer/collector/exhibitor
1997-2006 801 West Dilido Drive, Miami Beach, FL....Art and design showcase
1997 Adam West Commission, Miami Beach, FL....Design and fabrication (three chrome light fixtures)
1997-1998 Michael J. Russo & Associates, Miami Design District, FL....Art, sculpture, furniture showroom,
architectural design
1994-1996 Studio Russo Art & Design, Miami Beach, FL....Limited edition unique art concepts
1992 Studio Boing Commission, New York, NY....Interior design, fabrication (menswear fashion showroom)
1992 Lulu’s ll Commission, New York, NY....Interior design, fabrication (women's ready-to-wear retail boutique)
1991-1994 Studio Furnique, New York, NY....Sculpture, environmental art, architectural design, furniture commissions
1989-1994 “The Stingray House”, Marathon, FL.... Designed and directed from concept to completion (site plan,
architecture, all unique furniture and lighting fixtures (Furnique), exterior property features, landscaping)
1985-1986 Minus 12 Gallery, New York, NY....New art showcase by invitation only
1980 Lulu’s Commission, New York, NY....Interior design, fabrication (women's ready-to-wear retail boutique)
1980 Einhorn Commission, New York, NY....Sculptural bed design and fabrication
1979-1994 Schneider, Kleinick & Weitz PC, New York, NY....Design consulting, design of three homes and an office
1979-1985 Margaret Tag Commission, New York, NY....Six functional sculptures commissioned
1978 Zoran Commission, New York, NY....Sculptural gong frame design and fabrication
1976-1994 12 Macdougal Alley, New York, NY....Very detailed art/design: architectural, spatial, functional (interior/
exterior)
1974-1991 Gallery Furnique, New York, NY....Sculptural environmental art, design ( architectural, furniture, lighting,
interiors
EXHIBITION: ART, SCULPTURE, DESIGN
2017 June "Annual Pride Month Art Exhibit"....Magnetic Pompano Gallery, Pompano Beach, FL
2016 Aug. "Summer Sizzle Salon Exhibit"....Broward Art Guild, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2016 July "Summer Heat IV"....Rossetti Fine Art, Wilton Manors, FL
2016 July "Red, White & Blue Exhibit"....Broward Art Guild, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2016 June "United & Proud"....Pride Center at Equality Park, Wilton Manors, FL
2016 Mar. "Art Florida 2016"....Broward Art Guild, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2016 Mar. "Reclamation Personified"....Theatre Lab Gallery, FAU, West Palm Beach, FL
2015 Nov. "The Naughty Show"....Broward Art Guild, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2015 July " The Naked Show"....University of Miami Art Gallery, Miami, FL
2015 Jan. "Third Annual Island City Juried Art Exhibition"....Art Gallery 21, Wilton Manors, FL
2015 Jan. “Flamingo Fest"....Flamingo Gardens, Davie, FL
2015 Jan. “Art Bravo 2014”....Artserve, Ft. Lauderdale,FL
2015 Jan. “Broward Art Guild Winter Spectacular”....Broward Art Guild, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2014 Dec. “Basil Broward 2014”....Rossetti Fine Art, Wilton Manors, FL
2014 Dec. “Flamboyance”....Tedd's Art Works, Wilton Manors, FL
2014 Nov “Thrown On The Beach”....Artserve, North Beach Chair Project, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2014 Nov. “64th Anniversary Members Exhibit”....Broward Art Guild, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2014 Oct. “The Naughty Show”....Broward Art Guild Gallery, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2014 Oct. “Bees Waxing Poetic"....Tedd's Art Works, Wilton Manors, FL
2014 July “Bees / Flowers – Summer Show”....Tedd's Art Works, Wilton Manors, FL
2014 June “Little House On The Ferry” (charity exhibit).... Broward Center, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2014 June “Ask - Tell” (Oil-Based Society”)....Tedd's Art Works, Wilton Manors, FL
2014 May “The Human Condition”....Tedd's Art Works, Wilton Manors, FL
2014 May “Twelve By 12”....Artserve, Ft. lauderdale, FL
2014 April “Geometric Spectrum”....Tedd's Art Works, Wilton Manors, FL
2014 April “Earth”....Broward Art Guild Gallery, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2014 Mar. “Repo Man”....Tedd's Art Works, Wilton Manors, FL
2014 Mar. "Island City Art Walk”, Wilton Manors, FL
2014 Feb. “Fluidity”....Artserve, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2014 Jan. “Art explosion 2014”....Arts United, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2013 Dec. “Affordable Local Art – Member Showcase”....Artserve, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2013 Nov. “Art Bravo 2013 Juried Fine Art Competition”....Artserve, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2012 Mar. “Michael J. Russo – A Show of Heads”....Dennis Dean Gallery, Wilton Manors,FL
2012 Mar. “Appearances Provincetown Green Arts Festival”....Provincetown, MA
2011 June “Studio 18 In The Pines” (benefit group show)....Pembroke Pines, FL
2010 June “Broward Art Guild Summer Exhibit”....Broward Art Guild, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2010 Sept. “60th Anniversary Exhibit”....Broward Art Guild, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2010 Oct. “New Art Exhibit” (International Show)....Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, FL
2010 Oct. "Human Image and Portrait Exhibit”....Broward Art Guild at Rossetti, Pompano, FL
2010 Dec. “Art Bravo 2010”....Artserve, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
2010 Dec. “Home Gallery/Art Studio of Michael J. Russo - A Benefit for Gay American Heroes"
2004 Feb. "Art To Heart"....Damien B. Art Center, Miami, FL
2003-2004 “One Ear Galley (multiple shows)....Coconut Grove, FL
2001 Jan. “Art & Design of Michael J. Russo – Open House”....Miami Beach, FL
2000 June “Art And Soul”....Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL
1999 Mar. “Private Thingies – objets d’art”....Exhibit Gallery, Miami Design District, Miami, FL
1996-1998 “Sobee”....Beehive Restaurant, Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL
1995 Feb. “Spirituality in Materialism”....Studio Russo Art & Design, Miami Beach, FL
1992 Oct. “Materiality Revisited”....Raritan Valley College, North Beach, New Jersey
1992 Mar. “Visions of Unreality: Surreal, Fantastic and Outsider Art”....Limner Gallery, Soho, NYC
1987 “New Designers”....Furniture of the 21st Century, New York, NY