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"I
do not believe a painting should be only about emotional expression
and feeling, or that it should be exclusively symbolic and
intellectual; a great painting uses a rich balance of deep
emotion and inspired meaning to affect the viewer on many
levels simultaneously. The subconscious allows free associations
between thought and emotion, which cannot be accomplished
by the conscious mind. It is also the mystical repository
of human dreams, fears, anxieties... perhaps even of, as Carl
Jung postulated, the 'collective unconscious'; as such, it
is (as the surrealists believed) the origin of all human creativity.
By utilizing dream imagery and allowing the subconscious mind
to initiate the creative process, I bring into being a painting
of strong psychological content, powerful emotion, personal
symbolism, and multi-layered meaning."
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Birthplace:
Rochester,
New York, 1968 (Now residing in Kalamazoo, Michigan)
Education:
While
David Jay Spyker studied locally for brief periods, he is
mostly self-taught through critical study of the works of
the world's most skilled artists. The modern painter has
the luxury of being able to study hundreds of years of paintings,
drawings, sculpture, architecture, and writings on art,
and he takes full advantage of that luxury; he feels it
is perhaps the best way to learn advanced technique, composition,
and usage of color.
"We
are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life
is rounded with a sleep."
-Shakespeare, from "The
Tempest", Act 4, Scene 1
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Exhibitions:
Solo
Exhibitions:
2003
- 2004
- South Bend Regional Museum of Art;
South Bend, Indiana, USA
2002
- Mixed Media Gallery, Douglas, Michigan,
USA
2002
- "Mythos", Carnegie Center for the Arts;
Three Rivers, Michigan, USA
2001 - Wood Street Gallery
and Sculpture Garden; Chicago, Illinois,
USA
1999 - "The Beauty Between
Myth and Reality", The Nines Gallery;
Holland, Michigan, USA
1996 - Carnegie Center for
the Arts; Three Rivers, Michigan,
USA
1996 - Dumont Gallery;
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
1995 - Inner Images Galley;
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
Group
Exhibitions:
2005
- Joyce
Petter Gallery, Saugatuck/Douglas,
Michigan, USA
2004
- Mixed
Media Gallery, Douglas, Michigan,
USA
2002 - Mixed
Media Gallery, Douglas, Michigan,
USA
2001 - "Small Packages" Wood
Street Gallery and Sculpture Garden;
Chicago, Illinois, USA
2001 - Past/Present: Twenty-Year
Retrospective Exhibition, Fontana
Festival of Music and Art; Shelbyville, Michigan, USA
2000 - "Past as Prologue: Emerging
Landscape Painters" (three-person show),
Grand Rapids Art Museum; Grand Rapids, Michigan,
USA
2000 - "Small Packages", Wood
Street Gallery and Sculpture Garden;
Chicago, Illinois, USA
2000 - "Petite Art by Colossal
Artists", Small Format Invitational, The Nines Gallery;
Holland, Michigan, USA
1999
- "Petite
Art by Colossal Artists", Small Format Invitational, The
Nines Gallery; Holland, Michigan, USA
1999 - "Prairie Narratives",1999
Fontana Festival of Music and Art;
Shelbyville, Michigan, USA
1999 - "Realms of the Subconscious:
Post-Modern Surrealists" (five-person show), The Art Center
of Battle Creek; Battle Creek, Michigan,
USA
1998 - "Seen from the Other
Side (visions)" (four person show), Carlson Tower Gallery, North Park University; Chicago, Illinois,
USA
1998 - The Nines Gallery;
Holland, Michigan, USA
1997 - Dumont Gallery;
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
1996 - Dumont Gallery;
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
1995 - Dumont Gallery;
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
1995
- Ongoing
- Kalamazoo Institute of Arts' "Artreach" traveling exhibit
program; Southwest Michigan
1994 - John Fetzer Institute,
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts' Corporate Benefactor Program
1993
- Allied
Capital Corporation, Kalamazoo Institute
of Arts' Corporate Benefactor Program
Competitions:
2006
- Regional Fine Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for
the Arts; Three Rivers, Michigan,
USA
-
27th Michigan Artists' Competition,
Art
Center of Battle Creek; Battle Creek,
Michigan, USA
-
Kalamazoo Area Show, Kalamazoo
Institute of Arts; Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
2005
- Regional Fine Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for
the Arts; Three Rivers, Michigan,
USA
2003
- 24th
Michigan Artists' Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek;
Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
- Regional
Fine Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for the Arts;
Three Rivers, Michigan, USA
2002
-
Regional Fine Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for the
Arts; Three Rivers, Michigan,
USA
- 2002 Biennial,
Fort Wayne Museum of Art; Fort Wayne,
Indiana, USA
2001
- 22nd Michigan Artists' Competition, Art Center of
Battle Creek; Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
- Kalamazoo
Area Show, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts;
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
- Regional
Fine Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for the Arts;
Three Rivers, Michigan, USA
2000
- Kalamazoo Area Show, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts;
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
- The Holland
Friends of Art 37th Annual Exhibition, Holland Area Arts
Council; Holland, Michigan, USA
- 72nd Annual
Regional Fine Art Competition, Muskegon Museum of Art;
Muskegon, Michigan, USA
- 21st Michigan
Artist's Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek;
Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
- Regional
Fine Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for the Arts;
Three Rivers, Michigan, USA
1999
- 20th Michigan Artists' Competition, Art Center of
Battle Creek; Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
- Regional Fine
Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for the Arts;
Three Rivers, Michigan, USA
1998
- Paw Paw Art Association, Juried Area Show;
Paw Paw, Michigan, USA
- 19th Michigan
Artists' Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek;
Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
- Regional
Fine Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for the Arts;
Three Rivers, Michigan, USA
- National
Juried All Media Exhibition, Paint Creek Center for the
Arts; Rochester, Michigan, USA
1997
- 10th Annual Michigan Art Competition, Holland Area Arts
Council; Holland, Michigan, USA
- 18th Michigan
Artists' Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek;
Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
- Regional
Fine Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for the Arts;
Three Rivers, Michigan, USA
- Kalamazoo
Area Show, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts;
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
1996
- 9th Annual Michigan Art Competition, Holland Area
Arts Council; Holland, Michigan, USA
- Paw Paw
Art Association, Juried Area Show;
Paw Paw, Michigan, USA
- Regional
Fine Arts Competition, Carnegie Center for the Arts;
Three Rivers, Michigan, USA
- Kalamazoo
Area Show, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts;
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
1995
- 8th Annual Michigan Art Competition, Holland Area Arts
Council; Holland, Michigan, USA
- 2nd Biennial
"Hands-On!" Exhibit, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts;
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
1994
- Kalamazoo Area Show, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts;
Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
1993
- 1st Biennial "Hands-On!" Exhibit, Kalamazoo Institute
of Arts; Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
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Awards
and Honors:
2006
- The Martin Maddox Prize for Imaginative Realist Painting,
Kalamazoo Area Show; Kalamazoo Insittue of Arts, Kalamazoo,
Michigan,
USA
2003
- Artist's Honorarium, South Bend
Regional Museum of Art; South Bend, Indiana, USA
2002
- Artist's Honorarium, 2002 Biennial,
Fort Wayne Museum of Art; Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
2001
- First Place, Carnegie Center for
the Arts, Regional Fine Arts Competition; Three Rivers,
Michigan, USA (Juror: Vince Torano, Professor
of Art, Western Michigan University)
2000
- Pharmacia Corporation Purchase Award,
21st Michigan Artist's Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek;
Battle Creek, Michigan,
USA
- Award
of Merit, The Holland Friends of Art
37th Annual Exhibition, Holland Area Arts Council;Holland, Michigan,
USA
- Artist's
Honorarium, Grand Rapids Art Museum;
Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
1999
- Second Place, Carnegie Center for
the Arts, Regional Fine Arts Competition; Three Rivers,
Michigan, USA (Juror Karl H. Wolter,
Professor of Art, Michigan State University)
- Award
of Merit (4th place), 20th Michigan
Artist's Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek; Battle Creek, MI
(Juror: Tara Robinson,
Curator/Coordinator of Exhibitions, Detroit Institute of
Arts)
1998
- Award
for Artistic Excellence (2nd place),
19th Michigan Artist's Competition, Art Center of Battle Creek;
Battle Creek, Michigan,
USA (Juror: Tim
Lowly, Artist and Educator)
- First
Place, Carnegie Center for the Arts,
Regional Fine Arts Competition; Three Rivers, Michigan, USA
(Juror: Mark A. Francisco,
Director, Midland Art Center; Midland, MI)
- Artist's
Honorarium, North Park University;
Chicago, Illinois, USA
1997
- Best of Show, Holland Area Arts
Council, 10th Annual Michigan Art Competition; Holland,
Michigan, USA (Juror: Jerry Peart, Artist)
- Award
of Merit, 18th Michigan Artist's Competition
Art Center of Battle Creek; Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
(Juror: Julia Muney Moore,
Director of Exhibitions and Artist Services Indianapolis
Art Center)
1996
- Second Place, Paw Paw Art Association
Juried Area Show; Paw Paw, Michigan, USA (Juror: Martha Mayer-Erlebacher,
Artist and
Educator)
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A
zipped .doc file (Microsoft Word 2000) of this Curriculum Vitae may
be downloaded by clicking
here.
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and All Images ©
David Jay Spyker All Rights Reserved
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