James Arthur Surls was born April 19, 1943, in
Terrell,
Texas. His father Joe William Surls was a carpenter and a cattle breeder. His mother Martha Lucille Surls (née Ramsey) had been made an honorary
Cherokee Nation elder as one of "The Wisdom Givers". Surls attended
Malakoff High School. He taught art at
Southern Methodist University, and
University of Houston. His drawings and prints are largely monotone. Surls' work is particularly organic and primal. Having built a career in the 1980s and 1990s as a Texas artist, Surls relocated to a Colorado ranch and removed his work from for-profit galleries. In 2009, five Surls bronze-and-steel bouquets were set up on
Park Avenue by the
New York City Parks Public Art Program and the fund for Park Avenue. Surls has his work in various public museum collections including the
Albright-Knox Art Gallery,
Dallas Museum of Art,
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Cleveland Museum of Art,
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art,
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth,
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma,
Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University, among many others. == Personal life ==