Paul Wackers - Artist’s Statement & CV
Artist Statement
My work is first a response to the world and then a reaction to what it has to offer. Images surround me as abstract
concepts, presented by the curious interaction of forms, feelings, and situations. They offer a glimpse into the way
the world is constantly being reloaded with opportunities and options for reinterpretations and impressions. It might
start with a beam of light passing through a window in the afternoon and that within that beam there is the potential
of a full spectrum to appear. In my paintings I try to create the feeling of getting lost in the thoughts that are easily ignored
or put aside. Many of my paintings will come from moments seen in films or articles read in the newspaper or
simply from a walk down the street. The images tend to be of non-places where the specifics of them are not important
but how the elements within the picture interact as parts of another world that is sometimes jarringly familiar to
our own. It might be seconds away from becoming reality or lifetimes in the past as a fleeting memory.
CV
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, lives and works in San Francisco CA
Education:
MFA, painting, 2004 San Francisco Art Institute
BFA, Fine Arts, Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington D.C. 2001
Grants and Awards:
Tournesol Award, Headlands Center For the Arts, Sausalito, CA 2008/2009
Finalist for the 2008 SECA award, SFMOMA
SFAI grant 2003,2002
Dean’s Merit Scholarship, Corcoran College of Art 1997, 1999
Solo Exhibitions:
2009 “New Work” Tournesol award show, Luggage store gallery, San Francisco, Ca
2008 “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird” Eleanor Harwood Gallery San Francisco, Ca
2006 “Another side of this life”, Eleanor Harwood Gallery San Francisco Ca
2005 “Old bodies become crystal clear”, Record collector, San Francisco Ca
2001 “Eleven ways to cut an egg”, BFA Thesis show, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2009
Aqua art Miami, Eleanor Harwood Gallery Miami fl
“14 artists” New Image Art, Los Angeles Ca
“Hyperspaces” Park Life Gallery, San Francisco Ca
“Painting Group show” Ebersb9, Chicago, IL
2008
“One to Many, photocopy zine show”. Partisan Gallery, San Francisco, Ca
“Landscape, Portrait, Pattern part one” Hallway Bathroom Gallery, San Francisco, Ca
Aqua Art Miami , Eleanor Harwood Gallery
“Secret Life of Plants” Eleanor Harwood Gallery San Francisco, Ca curated by Dan Carlson
“Kick Out the Jams: Hot/Cold #2” Luggage Store, San Francisco, Ca
“Zombie Surfers” Cell Project Space, London, Uk
“Apocabliss” Alice Gallery, Brussels, Belgium. curated by Maya Hayuk
2007
Park Life Benefit Show, San Francisco, CA
“Landscape at the Limit”, 2nd Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
“Albedo” Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006
“West Coast Windows” Samson Projects, Boston Ma, curated by Oliver Halsman Rosenberg
Nova Art Chicago, Adobe Books backroom Gallery, Chicago, Il curated by Eleanor Harwood
“Monster Drawing Rally 2006”, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, Ca
2005
Aqua art Miami, Adobe Books Backroom Gallery, San Francisco Ca curated by Eleanor Harwood
“Let’s start a fire”, Fort Mason Hostel San Francisco Ca
2004
“Barely legal: Danger” Signal 66, Washington D.C.
“Monster Drawing Rally 2004” Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
“Trabajos del Corazon” The Lab, San Francisco CA
“San Francisco Art Institute MFA Exhibition” Fort Mason Herbst Pavillion, San Francisco, CA
“Field Trip” CalArts Student Galleries, Los Angeles, CA
“Group Show” 3479 18th St., San Francisco, CA
The Lab, “Inside of Inside Art Auction ”San Francisco, CA
2003
“Inside Out” Swell gallery San Francisco Ca
Group show 3479 18th St. San Francisco Ca
2002
“Fresh” Swell Gallery San Francisco Ca
2001
”The good news” Noma Art space 57 N St. Washington D.C.
“Emo-nauts” 7th St. space Washington D.C.
“Juvenile Delinquents” 7th St. space Washington D.C.
2000
“Thesis preview” White Walls Gallery, Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington D.C.
“Aroma” Washington D.C.
“Teenage Hoodlums” 7th St. space Washington D.C.
1999
“Lexiphantasism” Martin Luther King Library Washington D.C.
Publications
“Giving In To Live The Experience” published by seems books
“Apenest” volume two, Compilation of emerging artists in North America
http://apenest.com/Mediakit07.pdf
Press
San Francisco Bay Guardian
Picks spread week November 15-21, 2006
http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?catid=107&entry_id=2115
Web Press
“Artforum” Critics picks San Francisco online edition November 2006
By Glen Helfand
Featured in KQED Gallery Crawl
http://www.kqed.org/arts/places/profile.jsp?id=22460
http://www.eleanorharwood.com/Paul_Wackers.html
http://secondstreetgallery.org/exhibitions/landscape_at_the_limit.html
Other Projects
Album cover artwork for Thee Oh Sees “Dog Poison”
Album Cover Art for Octis “ment” album limited edition of 500 released through Brown Sound 2008
SFMOMA mailer panel design; Mar./Apr. 2008 museum calendar
Shows:
Tournesol Award Show (solo)
Stand Still Like the Hummingbird (solo)
Another Side of this Life (solo)
The Secret Life of Plants (group)