Justus Cotterill received his BFA in photography from the Cleveland Institute of Art and an MFA in printmaking from what was once Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He keeps an active studio practice in downtown Erie, Pa. and has shown his work both regionally and nationally. His most recent solo exhibition, Emotional Rescue, was held at the Weyers-Sampson Gallery at Thiel College in 2019.

Mr. Cotterill cites sex, drugs, and the Rolling Stones as influences to his life and artwork. Along with this current exhibition, he is producing a series of graphite and colored pencil drawings that continue to explore the themes contained in I Should Have Seen It Coming. These drawings will published in a book format sometime next year.

Mr. Cotterill enjoys New York style pizza, 60’s garage rock, and the sculptures of Swiss artist Not Vital.

Statement:

“There are moments when things come together. A particular setting, the colors surrounding you, the music playing…all these elements converge to create a feeling. That feeling is what makes that moment in time stand out. It takes a perfect storm of occurrences to cement that flash into you but once it’s there, it tends to stick, only to be revisited when that particular color or song is encountered again and triggers a rush of memory.

Maybe in some ways I’m trying to do the impossible…to recreate a feeling visually, and to paint a tangible version of a perception. Will every viewer have the same response? No, but the experience of seeing the work may invoke a moment from a person’s own life and we may find common ground.

My title, I Should Have Seen It Coming is a nod to both being unaware of the passage of time and of being unprepared for what lies ahead.

I’m guilty of both.” - Justus Cotterill