Fascinated by the complexities of both human form and the human mind. Charles Dwyer
finds inspiration for his art around any given corner and in potentially any face. “I’m always looking at people. I could be in a restaurant and say, ‘Boy that person looks interesting. ‘I’ve always loved portraiture it’s just you and the image.”
Dwyer utilizes a mixed-media approach to create paintings with both literal and figurative layers. Skilled in many areas of the creative process, drawing, however, remains closest to his heart. “Drawing is the foundation of everything, “Dwyer avers. “It’s kind of primal.”
Born in West Bend, WI, in 1961, Dwyer and his fraternal twin brother are the youngest of six children. Although twins, the brothers have opposing talents, one in art and one in engineering. Dwyer’s mother tells him he was interested in art from an early age. “ As a child you drew all the time, ‘she told me, not because she asked me to do it but because I enjoyed it.” Dwyer excelled art at West Bend East High School and received a scholarship from the West Bend Art Museum, a place that he frequented throughout his early years. At the Milwaukee School of Art and Design, where he majored in Fine Art, he “studied hard” and graduated Valedictorian.
Dwyer maintains that one of the most important things he learned in college was time management. He’s also discovered that a class he found unimportant at the time, photography, is now a critical part of his artistic process today. Much of the inspiration for his current work comes from photographs he takes of people, both anonymous and familial. It was also during college that Dwyer “fell in love” with printmaking and working with copper plates and etching.
Directly after college, Dwyer’s work was featured in a one-man exhibition at West Bend Art Museum. With money saved from the show, he backpacked with friends through Italy, Austria, Germany and Greece. Dwyer recalls being most impacted in Vienna where the Austrian artists and the moodiness brought on by frequent rain moved him. To this day, the overwhelming beauty of Europe remains an underlying inspiration. After his European sojourn, Dwyer stumbled into a job that helped formulate the artist he is today. His mother noticed a job listing that read, ’Wanted: decorative artist for stained glass company.’ Dwyer pursued the classified ad which led to a 12 year relationship with the restoration company, Conrad Schmitt Studios in New Berlin, WI. “This job was pretty influential in introducing me to all sorts of imagery and media like the spiritual, astrological, and classical.” explains Dwyer. “I did a lot of mural restoration, trompe l’oeil, marbleizing, and mosaic. This was one of the few jobs you could get and really apply your artwork skills to.” As Dwyer’s personal artwork grew in popularity, he juggled a full-time job with showing of his work at night.
CHARLES DWYER
Bio
1961 Born West Bend, Wisconsin
Educated
1984 Studied Milwaukee School of Art & Design/ Valedictorian
Studies include: drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, anatomy, history of art
and architecture
Period Influences
Impressionism 1840’s – 1890’s
Expressionism 1930’s – 1950’s
Awards/Exhibitions
1985 West Bend Art Museum West Bend, WI
1984-85 Kohler Arts Center Wisconsin
1985 Milwaukee Art Museum 1st Prize Print Gruenwald
1993 Special Editions Limited, Chicago, IL
1993 Chicago Artexpo, Show cover “Preview Magazine” Chicago, IL
1994-2004 New York Artepo
2000 KIA Institute of Arts
2004West Bend Art Museum West Bend, WI
Galleries
1996-2004 Vault Gallery Cambria, CA
1998 Eleanor Ettinger, Soho, NY
1999 Miranda Gallery Laguna, CA
1994- 2003 Emery Fine Arts Kalamazoo, MI
2000-2003 Gallery M Denver, CO
2002 R.Roberts Gallery Jacksonville, FL
2003 Kingsley Art Gallery Red Bank, NJ
2004 Newbury Fine Art, Boston , MA
2004 Hanson Gallery Sausalito, San Francisco, Car mel
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