SHAWN KREUGER
CircaArts Gallery 528 East Colfax Avenue Suite 1 South Bend Indiana 46617 574.233.8400
Michigan artist, Shawn Krueger, was born in South Bend and is a 1991 graduate of Adams High School. He went on to study at Oak Hill College in London and Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI, graduating from the latter with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1997. In the years since, Krueger has shown his landscape paintings in museums and galleries throughout the Midwest and East Coast, earning numerous awards along the way.
“It’s a tremendous pleasure to finally be able to show work in my hometown. There seems to be a bit of a scene forming in South Bend. I find it very exciting, because it’s something that was sorely lacking when I lived here.”
“Growing up, I never had a sense of there being any culture outside of Notre Dame. The older I got, the more I saw that there wasn’t much going on there either. I think there is a strong musical aesthetic at the school, but I think the visual arts are squeezed to the periphery. Business, Law and Football will always be king, sad to say.”
Krueger finds his greatest inspiration in 19th Century Tonalist and Luminist artists such as George Inness and Frederic Church. “They had an eye for exact depiction, but in a way which transcends mere documentation. Their work is quite striking, because they worked with either a limited color palette, or a seemingly invented one. It makes for an art that has a mysterious and romantic quality, but remains grounded with elements of realism.”
Many of Krueger’s small-scale pieces begin as plein air studies. “I find it important to start outside, on site. Color and composition may change once I am in the studio, but I need that knowledge of the structural elements within the landscape to inform me as I begin. When I feel good about the initial study, I feel confident about seeing a finished painting that will be pleasing.”
Further information about Shawn Krueger’s work can be found on the artist’s website: http://www.shawnkrueger.net
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