IN EXILE Artist Info

IN EXILE | MICHEAL SWANK

NOV/18 - JAN/7

47 SOUTH OAK STREET VENTURA, CA 93001

HOURS: MON-SAT 11-6

 

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Micheal Swank b.1970

Micheal Swank graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a BFA - Printmaking and Design in 1998. In his design career he has been Art Director for California Tan (packaging), San Francisco Examiner (Hearst), Miller Huber Marketing, Joie de Vivre Hotels, S.F. Business Times, Disney, Dance Magazine, Pasadena Weekly, and others. 

Micheal began to teach Graphic and Web Design in 2001 and decided to pursue teaching as a full time profession. In 2006, he completed his Masters in Technology from Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA. He led within the design education community as Academic Department Director, Graphic Design and Web Design Interactive Medias at the Art Institute of California Inland Empire, Art Institute of California San Francisco, and Associate Dean of Academics Art Institute of Houston - North. 

In January 2012, after a significant car accident caused him to reflect on his dreams to pursue his art, he left his position as Dean to live abroad, travel, learn, create, and ignite his studio art. He has since lived in China, Mexico City DF, spent two years focussing his practice in Ventura, CA and in 2018 reestablished his studio in Mexico City DF. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

I recall throughout my life feeling disconnected by the reality of photographs and seeing hidden details in their surface. Long before Instagram filters and smart phone apps, I manipulated images on paper to explore altering reality to reveal my hidden self. I began to scratch, draw, mark, tear, and paint over magazine pictures and family memories.

I discovered that beyond the shallow pixel I could manipulate materials in response to my chromatic and textural observations. Memories could be reborn by my hand and capture the feeling of that moment. Emotions could be revealed at a safe distance and displayed in public. Living, creating, destroying, scratching, rubbing, layering, and pushing materials on the surface to reveal beauty

I share these interventions, transported from place, captured in a moment, and display before you as a biography of my queer experiences of the world.

-MICHEAL SWANK

Education:

2005-2006 Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA

Master of Arts -Technology

1994-1998 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Bachelor of Fine Arts – Drawing and Printmaking

Continued Education:

2013-2014 Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA

Master of Fine Arts -18 credits in Graphic Design

2009-2010 Academy of Art, San Francisco, CA

Master of Fine Arts -18 credits in Interactive Media Design

Solo Exhibitions:

2017 IN EXILE, NAMBA Performing Arts Space, Ventura, CA

2014 Observacions en Luz, Rio Mississippi Project Space, Mexico City DF, MX

2013 SOY AQUI, Fuente Cibelles Café, Mexico City DF, MX

2012 Punto de Reunion, El Viking Gallery, Mexico City DF, MX

Group Exhibitions:

2017 Art Walk Ventura, Ventura County Museum, Ventura, CA

2017 Dear President, South Bay Contemporary, San Pedro, CA

2017 First Friday (January-May), Bell Arts Factory, Ventura, CA

2016 First Friday (October -December), Bell Arts Factory, Ventura, CA

2016 Art Walk Ventura, Bell Arts Factory, Ventura, CA

2016 Color, Providence Art Club, Providence, RI

Residencies:

2017 H Gallery + Studios, Ventura, CA

2016-2017 Bell Arts Factory, Ventura, CA

2015 Harms Art Colony, Grand Junction, CO

2015 Ouzo, Mexico City DF, MX

AVAILABLE WORKS