David Becker

Straw Man

2014

-ARTIST STATEMENT- I depict my person in multiplicity with different selves representing dramatis personae. My likeness is both implicit and symbolic in the portrayal of my narrative; the drama involved in creating art and the artist’s role in society. I use realism to invite the viewer into mysterious inner worlds that are layered reflections of the outer. Dehumanizing environments are imbued with art historical references as a critique of power structures. The artist is an Everyman who is at odds with society and his self. Visually my work is a celebration of society’s dark undercurrents and its overlooked absurdities. I use charcoal and printmaking media as their tenebrous values add a fitting metaphor. The nuances of light and shadow seduce viewers into a world their better judgment would have them avoid. This provokes a sense of disquietude that causes viewers to assess our world through the austerity of a colorless, yet not humorless, light. -BIO- Christopher Ganz grew up in Northeast Ohio and from early on had a fertile imagination and an interest in art. Christopher's artistic education truly began at the University of Missouri, where his love of the human form led to many figure drawing classes and his exposure to the wonders of printmaking. Christopher's then went onto graduate school at Indiana University and a summer abroad program in Italy was a dream realized. Christopher then grasped charcoal with a renewed vigor and large, sfumato-laden drawings ensued. Christopher's artistic influences are many; from a seminal exposure to Dore's engravings of the Divine Comedy, to Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Goya, and up to Lucian Freud, Mark Tansey...

Born in small-town Wisconsin, Garek’s work is an exploration of his beginnings and experiences living in Metropolitan New York and Chicago and the people who affected his life. The h...

Born in small-town Wisconsin, Garek’s work is an exploration of his beginnings and experiences living in Metropolitan New York and Chicago and the people who affected his life. The h...

Facial expressions are used to convey information from one person to another. Here the viewer has a sense of how the artist feels about celebrating his 80th birthday. A master with vine charcoal, David Becker uses it with precision. With a rich range of value and strong darks, Becker captures his own fine details with exacting clarity. This piece is floated and framed with a simple wooden frame. David Becker Self Portrait at 80 vine charcoal on paper 35.75h x 25w in 90.81h x 63.50w cm DB0031 David Becker Exhibitions 2017 Figure8, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2012 Eye Teeth Group Show, Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Rochester, MI 2011 Art Chicago 2011, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2010 Art Chicago 2010, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2009 David Becker Retrospective, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2009, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL The 184th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Art, National Academy Museum, NYC Selections, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2008 Art Chicago 2008, Represented by Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2007 Unruly Muse, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL SOFA NY (Sculptural Objects Functional Art), Ann Nathan Gallery, 7th Regiment Armory, NY, NY Art Chicago, Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2006 Palm Beach³, Ann Nathan Gallery, Palm Beach, FL 2005 SOFA NY (Sculptural Objects Functional Art), Ann Nathan Gallery, 7th Regiment Armory, NY, NY Art Chicago in the Park, Butler Field, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Palm Beach³, Ann Nathan Gallery, Palm Beach, FL 2004 Contemporary Prints: National Academy Museum Collection, National Academy of Design, NYC Art Chicago 2004, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Fantastic & Visionary Art, touring exhibit: Orange, Manning, Riddoch, & Ballart Gallery, Australia Return of the Men, Peltz Gallery, Milwaukee, WI 2003 Art Chicago 2003, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Fantastic & Visionary Art, touring exhibit: Orange Regional Gallery, New South Wales, Australia National Academy of Design 178th Annual Exhibition, NY, NY 2002 Art Chicago 2002, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art of the 20th Century, Ann Nathan Gallery, Park Ave. Armory, NY, NY Outsider Art Fair, The Puck Building @ Houston & Lafayette Sts., NYC Self and Other Portraits, Wisconsin Artists, Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI Return of the Men, Peltz Gallery, Milwaukee, WI 2001  Beyond the 50's, May 4 - July 1, Exhibit A, A Gallery of Art & Design, Birmingham, Michigan Outsider Art Fair, January 26-28, The Puck Building @ Houston & Lafayette Sts., NYC "FANTASTIC ART", April/May, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange NSW, Australia. David Becker: Etchings and Engravings, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, solo exhibition of prints, February. 2000  Four person exhibition, Columbus State University, Columbus, Georgia, Oct. 31 - Nov. 27, 2000. 1999 National Academy 174th Annual Exhibition, NY University of Wisconsin-Madison Faculty, Elvehjem Museum of Art, Madison, WI Treasures Revealed: 19th and 20th Century American Works on Paper, National Academy, NY 1995 Bharat Bhavan International Biennial of Prints, Bhopal, India Contemporary Prints, Selections from John Szoke Gallery, NYC, Drew University, Madison, NJ Collection Update, 1994, National Academy of Design Museum, NY 1994 David Becker and Robert Sholties, Peconic Gallery, Suffolk Community College, Riverhead, NY In Black and White: Works by Four Printmakers, Atrium Gallery, University of Connecticut, Storrs Aesthetics of Athletics: Sports, Games, and Exercise, Charles A. Wustum Musem, Racine, WI GMI IX Award Winners, Art Center Gallery, Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg 1993 Take Home a Nude benefit auction, NY Academy of Art Graduate School Of Figurative Art, NY 1993 American Prints: Last Half 20th Century, Jane Haslem Gallery, Washingtion, DC Outstanding American Prints, Anderson Arts Center, Kenosha,WI National Academy of Design 168th Annual Exhibition, NY David Becker: Etchings, Davidson Galleries, Seattle, WA Portraits, Davidson Galleries, Seattle, WA 1992 The Print Fair, 7th Regiment Armory, NY 1991 166th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, NY Alma College Collection, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan Modes of Expression, Potsdam College, SUNY, Potsdam, NY 1990 With Nothing On, Prints and Drawings of the Nude, New Orleans Museum of Art, LA Prints by Printmakers, Staller Art Center, SUNY-Stonybrook, NY Publications/Reviews 2007 November 60 Years of North American Prints: 1947-2007, Boston U. Art Gallery, Boston, MA 2003 July 11 Isthmus, Madison, “Welcome to My Nightmare,” by Robert Cozzolino. 2001 March 14 The Wall Street Journal, "Time Off: A Week of Diversions." Review of Progressive Printmakers (LVM) exhibition. 2001 February Isthmus, Madison, "America's Printland," by Jennifer Smith. 2001 February Capital Times, "The Crowned Prints," by Kevin Lynch. 1999 July Progressive Printmakers: Wisconsin Artists & the Print Renaissance. 1995 – 1999 Who’s Who in America. 1993 Summer The Journal of the Print World, review. March 14 The New York Times, review. March 12 The Daily Oklahoman, review. 1990 Dec. 13 The Capital Times, review. April 28 The Washingtion Post, review. March 25 The New York Times, review. Summer The Journal of the Print World, review. Selected Collections - additional collections available on requestArkansas Arts Center Foundation, Little Rock, AR Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Brooklyn Museum, NYC Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI Elvehjem Museum of Art, U of Wisconson-Madison Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI Library of Congress, Washington, DC Metropolitan Museum, Miami, FL Museo de Arte Moderno, Cali, Columbia National Academy, NY, NY National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC New York Public Library, NY Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, MA United States Information Agency, Prague, Czech. Alberta College of Art, Alberta, Canada Albion College, Albion, MI Alma College, Alma, MI Art Center, South Bend, IN AT&T Corporate HQ, Plainfield, NJ Boston Printmakers, Boston, MA Bradley University, Peoria, IL Columbia Green Community College, Hudson, NY Columbus State University, Columbus, GA Davidson College, Davidson, NC Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA Georgia State University – Atlanta Hope College, Holland, MI Hunterdon Art Center, Clinton, NJ Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS Madison Art Center, Madison, WI Marui Imai Inc., Sapporo, Japan Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, WI Minot Art Association, Minot, ND North Carolina Print/Drawing Society, Charlotte, NC North Texas State University – Denton Ohio University – Athens Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoma State University, OK Quad Graphics, Milwaukee, WI Silvermine Guild of Arts, New Canaan, CT Springfield College, Springfield, MA St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY State University of New York – Fredonia State University of New York – Potsdam Trenton State College, Trenton, NJ University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ University of Colorado-Boulder University of Dallas, TX University of Louisville, Louisville, KN University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada University of North Dakota – Grand Forks University of South Dakota – Vermillion University of Tennesse – Knoxville West Chester State College, West Chester, PA Western Kentucky University – Bowling Green Private Collections Carla Leighton, New York, NY Marc Hauser, Chicago, IL Michael John Hofer, Chicago, IL Drs. Mark & Helene Connolly, River Forest, IL Jamie Kalikow, New York, NY Dianne & Jim Blanco, Chicago, IL Denise Roberge, Palm Desert, CA Tish & Philip Messinger, Creskill, NJ Brian Wesphal & Michael McVicker, Chicago, IL Ralph Privoznik, Lafayette, IN Candice Groot, Evanston, IL Shomaker/Ruud Collection, Chicago, IL Braden Berkey and Robert Bartlett, Chicago, IL Bill and Karyn Silverstein, Highland Park, IL Steve Weitz, Lovettsville, VA Mary Allice Wimmer, Madison, WI Ann & Robert Avery...

Human facial expressions help convey our stories from one person to another. However, David Becker presents this charcoal drawing with a flair for confusion. Throughout his career,...

Born in small-town Wisconsin, Garek’s work is an exploration of his beginnings and experiences living in Metropolitan New York and Chicago and the people who affected his life. The h...

"Marketplace Cashier #44" features hues of pink, blue, yellow and black. This work on paper is mounted to a wood panel and framed in a simple wood floater frame. The frame measures 13 by 9.75 inches. Eilis Crean is inspired by the works of Honoré-Victorin Daumier, Evie Hone, Patrick Pye, Milton Avery, William Kentridge, Joan Snyder, Jennifer Bartlett, Judy Pfaff and Sarah Sze...

"Abstraction #52" is a colorful abstract painting featuring hues of orange, green and brown. The framed dimensions are 11 by 13 inches. Eilis Crean is inspired by the works of Honoré-Victorin Daumier, Evie Hone, Patrick Pye, Milton Avery, William Kentridge, Joan Snyder, Jennifer Bartlett, Judy Pfaff and Sarah Sze...

"Abstraction #56" is a colorful abstract painting featuring hues of blue, mauve, green and red. The framed dimensions are 11 by 13 inches. Eilis Crean is inspired by the works of Honoré-Victorin Daumier, Evie Hone, Patrick Pye, Milton Avery, William Kentridge, Joan Snyder, Jennifer Bartlett, Judy Pfaff and Sarah Sze...

"Hospital Worker #3" features hues of pink, blue, yellow and black. This work on paper is mounted to a wood panel and framed in a simple wood floater frame. The frame measures 13 by ...

"Marketplace Cashier #46" features hues of pink, blue, yellow and black. This work on paper is mounted to a wood panel and framed in a simple wood floater frame. The frame measures 1...

Years of collecting books, travel archives and studying art in Europe, went hand in hand with visiting historical monuments and grand palaces, remnants of past golden eras. This nostalgic raking over the past encompasses these inspirational elements, weaved together with her own curiosity in loose charcoal lines depicting Baroque, whimsical and once decadent interiors. “The rooms in my paintings are small trips to the past. I look for an alternative reality through a fictional scenario, represented by a dystopian era of booms and declines.” Francisca Ahlers...