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Michael PaukerAbstracted Vanitas with Goldfish and Skullcirca 2010
circa 2010
About the Item
Large-scale abstracted vanitas with goldfish, table, candle and skull by Bay Area artist Michael Pauker (American, b.1957). Unsigned, but was acquired with a collection of his work. Unframed. Image size: 67"H x 47"W.
Per Wikipedia: "A vanitas is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-known are vanitas still lifes, a common genre in Low Countries of the 16th and 17th centuries; they have also been created at other times and in other media and genres."
“I’m driven by curiosity...where it comes from I can’t tell you; it’s just there. And early 20th-century modernist art is the thing that I keep returning to.” - Michael Pauker
Bay Area artist and art educator Michael Pauker was born in New York in 1957 and knew he wanted to be an artist from the age of 15. He earned a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts at SUNY Purchase in his native state of New York. In 1989 he went on to earn an M.F.A at Mills College in Oakland and was awarded the City of Oakland Artist Fellowship in Painting. He has been a Bay Area resident since 1988. His work has been exhibited widely across the U.S., as well as in Japan and Costa Rica, and is included in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Exhibitions include:
2007 Contemporary Art Museum, San Jose, Costa Rica
2007 “The Ebay Art Project,” Works/San Jose, San Jose, CA
2003 “Found Imagery: The Art of Collage,” Fresno Art Museum,Fresno, CA
2003 “Cut, Copy, Paste,” De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA
2003 “20th Annual Exhibition,” Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
2002 “40 by 40,” Adam Baumgold Gallery, N.Y., NY
2002 “Works on Paper,” Bryant St. Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
2002 Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA (solo)
2002 Judith Litvich Contemporary Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA (solo)
2001 William Turner Gallery, Venice, CA
2001 “22nd Annual Paper in Particular,” Columbia College, Columbia, MO
2000 “Variations on a Theme,” Century Gallery, L.A. Mission College, Sylmar, CA
2000 “Altars and Installations,” Huntington Beach Art Center, Huntington Beach, CA
2000 “Text,” Ron Breeden Gallery, Orange, CA
2000 Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA (solo)
2000 Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV (solo)
1999 “Pieced Together: Explorations in Collage,” San Francisco, Museum of Modern Art Rental
1999 “Artist Book Show,” Gusto Gallery, Osaka, Japan
1999 “15th Annual Exhibition,” Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
1999 Two Person Exhibition, Smallworks Gallery, Las Vegas, NV
1997 Judith Litvich Contemporary Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA (solo)
1996 Southern Oregon State College, Ashland, OR (solo)
1994 Mace Space for Art, San Francisco, CA (solo)
1993 Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA (solo)
- Creator:Michael Pauker (1957, American)
- Creation Year:circa 2010
- Dimensions:Height: 67 in (170.18 cm)Width: 47 in (119.38 cm)Depth: 1.75 in (4.45 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Very good to excellent.
- Gallery Location:Soquel, CA
- Reference Number:
Michael Pauker
Inspired by Abstract Expressionism and driven by deep curiosity, artist Michael Pauker has created an expansive oeuvre that is inclusive of abstract and figurative paintings, landscapes, sculptures, prints and collages constructed with scraps of aging historical documents, watercolor paints and found objects.
“As an artist, I am not a one-trick pony,” he has said. “Some artists find success doing one thing and stick just with it. But my curiosity is omnivorous. I’m driven by images I’ve never seen before, both abstract and figurative.”
Born in 1957 in New York, Pauker knew he wanted to be an artist from the age of 15. He earned his BFA from the State University of New York (SUNY), then in 1989, completed his MFA at Mills College (now Mills College at Northeastern University) in Oakland where he was awarded the City of Oakland Fellowship in Painting.
Since 1988, Pauker has lived and worked in the Bay Area, teaching art in various venues such as schools, colleges and institutions including the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, the state’s prison hospital, for several years. When he isn’t teaching, Pauker focuses on creating art — the mediums of which can change by the moment.
While he works in oil on canvas for most of his paintings, Pauker is also known for his “Miniature Collage” series. He has worked on this series for more than a decade. Other works include abstract drawings and figurative watercolors blended with collages of vintage paper, stamps and found objects — his Oesterreich II is an example of the latter.
Pauker has exhibited widely across the United States, Japan and Costa Rica, and his works are held in the public collections of many institutions including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
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