FR AN K S C H WA IG E R MEDITATIONS
FRANK SCHWAIGER Meditations
May 4 - September 29, 2018 Bruno David Projects 1245 S. Vandeventer Saint Louis, Missouri 63110, U.S.A. info@brunodavidgallery.com www.brunodavidgallery.com Owner/Director: Bruno L. David This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition “Frank Schwaiger: Meditations” at Bruno David Projects. Editor: Bruno L. David Catalogue Designer: Haleigh Givens Designer Assistant: Claudia David Printed in USA
All works courtesy of Frank Schwaiger, Bruno David Gallery and Bruno David Projects Photographs by Bruno David Gallery Cover image: Water Lilies and Leaf First Edition Copyright © 2018 Bruno David Gallery All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of Bruno David Gallery
CONTENTS
THAT IS WHO I AM BY FRANK SCHWAIGER AFTERWORD BY BRUNO L. DAVID CHECKLIST AND IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION BIOGRAPHY
1
THAT IS WHO I AM BY FRANK SCHWAIGER
2
Artists should not be talking about their work like salesmen or politicians but instead, be making it. Yet, leaving interpretations to others is like pitching horseshoes... One benefit of getting old is that the artist may better see where he stands in the evolving flow of where art is going. Art is always going, it is an ever-evolving language that we use to understand ourselves as we change alongside it. Art is also, and must be, unscripted and undirected. When art becomes a vehicle for the political or the unpremeditated impulse, the result is usually propaganda or a visual mess, like Pollack or Twombly; history will take care of all that. Or, when art is highjacked by the machine from the artist’s hand, that timeless conduit of instinct and spirit that connects the inside to the outside of us, the machine usually gets in the way and something gets lost. I think that art is essentially, “tribal: we are shaped by our village and its needs. We make things with our hands- that unique ability makes us ‘human’, and even more amazingly, earns us an awareness of our spirit. All art is riven with this quest for, ‘who we are’. The root of my iconography can be traced back, like Paul Klee’s, to 17th century Bavarian folk art and the making of things with the hand. That is who I am.
This text is one in a series of the gallery’s exhibitions written by fellow gallery artists and friends.
3
AFTERWORD BY BRUNO L. DAVID 4
I am pleased to present a new exhibition titled “Meditations” by Frank Schwaiger at the Bruno David Projects (Grove location). This is the artist’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery. The “Meditations” exhibition includes works made in the last 3 years in St. Louis. Frank Schwaiger’s work has been widely exhibited. He is a graduate of the Washington University in St. Louis, School of Architecture (Now the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts), and received his Master from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where he worked with Buckminster Fuller. Support for the creation of significant new works of art has been the core to the mission and program of the Bruno David Gallery since its founding in 2005. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Frank Schwaiger for a very thoughtful essay. I am deeply grateful to Haleigh Givens, who gave much time, talent, and expertise to the production of this catalogue. Invaluable gallery staff support for the exhibition was provided by Peter Finley, Thomas Fruhauf, Lauren Mann, Haleigh Givens, Ruoyi Gan, and Helen Fox.
5
6
CHECKLIST & IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION
7
Nipple (the most unexploited erotic zone!) 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 30 1/4 × 31 1/2 in (76.8 × 80 cm)
8
Planet of Zed 2016 Oil on fabric on anvas Board 31 x 29 inches (78.7 Ă— 73.7 cm)
9
Fireworks 2016 Oil on Fabric on Canvas Board 22 3/4 × 19 1/2 in (57.8 × 49.5 cm)
10
Portrait of Mary 2015 Oil on Fabric on Canvas Board 39 × 33 in (99.1 × 83.8 cm)
11
X-Ray 2016 Oil on Fabric on Canvas Board 30 × 34 in (76.2 × 86.4 cm)
12
Sunset Over the Lake 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 21 1/4 × 25 1/4 × 1 1/4 in (54 × 64.1 × 3.2 cm)
13
Pure 2016 Oil on Canvas 30 1/4 x 30 1/2 in (76.8 × 77.5 cm)
14
Snails 2016 Oil on Fabric on Board 30 1/2 × 30 1/2 in (77.5 × 77.5 cm)
15
Exit 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 41 1/2 × 53 1/2 in (105.4 × 135.9 cm)
16
Storm 2016 Oil on Fabric on Canvas Board 31 1/4 × 43 1/4 in (79.4 × 109.9 cm)
17
Still-Life 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 46 1/2 × 35 in (118.1 × 88.9 cm)
18
Sky 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 40 × 32 1/2 in (101.6 × 82.6 cm)
19
Runes 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 29 × 36 1/4 in (73.66 × 92.07 cm)
20
Pond 2011 Oil on Fabric on Board 29 1/2 × 45 1/2 in (74.9 × 115.6 cm)
21
Sea, 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 46 1/2 × 40 1/2 in (118.1 × 102.9 cm)
22
Ghost 2017 Oil on Panel 30 × 22 1/2 in (76.2 × 57.2 cm)
23
Licorice, 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 54 1/2 × 42 1/2 in (138.4 × 108 cm)
24
Strange Music 2017 Oil on fabric on Canvas Board 41 1/2 × 33 1/2 in (105.4 × 85.1 cm)
25
Vine, 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 34 × 31 3/4 in (86.4 × 80.6 cm)
26
Night Sky 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 37 × 31 in (94 × 78.7 cm)
27
Lake Storm 2017 Oil on Fabric on Canvas Board 16 3/4 × 19 in (42.5 × 48.3 cm)
28
Moon with Clouds 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 33 × 31 in (83.8 × 78.7 cm)
29
Summer Sky 2016 Oil on Fabric on Canvas Board 25 1/4 × 31 in (64.1 × 78.7 cm)
30
Echo 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 33 1/2 × 46 1/2 in (85.1 × 118.1 cm)
31
Contrails 2017 Oil on Fabric on Board 37 1/4 × 34 1/2 in (94.6 × 87.6 cm)
32
A Portrait of the Artist 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 43 x 37 in (109.22 x 93.98 cm)
33
Summer 2016 Oil on Fabric on Canvas Board 17 × 20 in (43.2 × 50.8 cm)
34
Schwaiger’s Toys 2016 Oil on Fabric on Canvas Board 38 1/2 × 66 in (97.8 × 167.6 cm)
35
Cosmos 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 30 1/2 × 26 1/2 in (77.5 × 67.3 cm)
36
Galaxy 2016 Oil on Board 25 1/4 × 25 3/4 × 5 in (64.1 × 65.4 × 12.7 cm)
37
Pop 2017 Acrylic on panel 43 × 37 in (109.2 × 94 cm)
38
Quilt 2017 Acrylic on panel 57 3/4 × 45 1/2 in (146.7 × 115.6 cm)
39
The Kiss, 2016 Oil on Canvas Board 32 1/2 × 102 1/2 in (82.6 × 260.4 cm)
40
41
Jack 2017 Acrylic on panel 40 x 36 in (101.6 x 91.4
42
Water Lilies 1991-2017 Acrylic on panel 31 3/4 × 90 in (80.6 × 228.6 cm)
43
Axe 2017 Cahokia Granite 18 × 7 × 5 3/4 in 45.7 × 17.8 × 14.6 cm
44
Altar 2018 Limestone and Polished Bronze 6 elements 23 1/2 × 34 × 19 1/2 in 59.7 × 86.4 × 49.5 cm)
45
Leaf 2018 White Marble 13 3/4 × 24 x 6 1/2 in (34.9 x 61 × 16.5 cm)
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
brunodavidgallery.com brunodavidprojects.com @bdavidgallery #BrunoDavidGallery #FrankSchwaiger #Meditations #GoSeeArt #ArtExhibition #ArtBook #ArtCatalog instagram.com/brunodavidgallery/ facebook.com/bruno.david.gallery twitter.com/bdavidgallery goodartnews.com/
58
ARTISTS Laura Beard Heather Bennett Lisa K. Blatt Michael Byron Bunny Burson Judy Child Carmon Colangelo Alex Couwenberg Jill Downen Yvette Drury Dubinsky Damon Freed Douglass Freed
Michael Jantzen Kelley Johnson Howard Jones (Estate) Chris Kahler Xizi Liu Kahlil Robert Irving Bill Kohn (Estate) Leslie Laskey Yvonne Osei Patricia Olynyk Gary Passanise Judy Pfaff
Charles P. Reay Daniel Raedeke Tom Reed Frank Schwaiger Charles Schwall Christina Shmigel Thomas Sleet Shane Simmons Buzz Spector Cindy Tower Ann Wimsatt Monika Wulfers
Ellen Jantzen
59