View of work on left wall of exhibit area displaying work by David Niec

Amy Arntson

Artist Statement

My paintings are about spirit, as much as they are about a body of water. Growing up in the Great Lakes region, water has always been a powerful symbol for me. It is connected with the passage of time, with stability and change. It is both fragile and seemingly eternal. The paintings speak a visual
language that is simultaneously personal, regional and international. Most of my current paintings do not reference the surrounding land, instead, they focus on abstract design qualities of light, texture, shape and movement of water. Without a horizon line, viewers are encouraged to meditate on the
water; projecting themselves into the painting.

Influences on my work range from wash drawings of the 17th century illuminists, who addressed the relationship between landscape and the expression of feeling, to an array of 20th century abstract artwork. Color, shape and texture are an underpinning to all my realistic paintings, as is a
sense of place and time. I am an artist, author, art and design professor. My commitment to painting is enriched by a respect for art and design history, and the region where I live. The work is created from my sketches and photographs of many locations on and near water.

Throughout my career I've examined and taught a wide variety of media and concepts. These include electronic media (print, sound and installation), film-based and digital photography, graphic design, and a variety of paint-based media. Line and wash and transparent watercolor are consistently the most expressive and personal to my eye.

David Niec

Artist Statement 2013

David Niec is a visual artist who collaborates with nature in the production of his paintings. He routinely visits an area of wilderness in northern Wisconsin, a mixture of lakes, swamp, bogs and forest. His work begins with an interaction with this area and its environment and reaches a height
when he establishes a rhythm with one or several of natures’ patterns

Niec frequently concentrates on the cyclic activity of the night sky. With the aid of a small flashlight, he paints directly from the moon and stars and their fall of light on the landscape. Atmospheric effects, such as temperature, cloud activity, precipitation and wind become part of his experience. He has been routinely engaged in this procedure night after night throughout each season over several years and in so doing develops a cumulative understanding of the night. This understanding will inform his next experience under the night sky as well as work that is developed from memory in the studio.

Winter presents an excellent time for Niec to explore this process. Winter nights are long presenting a great deal of observation time. Snows’ reflective quality brightens the night and makes the observation painting experience more feasible and enchanted. The moon in its’ fuller phases gets much higher in the sky during the winter further brightening the night. For many reasons, Niec is able to establish a rhythm with the occurrences of the night during the winter season the most effectively and thus a large balance of work is inspired by this season.

Amy Arntson

Artist Resume

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Professor, Art Department, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 1982-2004
Interim Associate Dean UWW, College of Arts and Communication 1989-1990
Art Department Chairperson, UWW 1991-1996

PAINTING WORKSHOPS TAUGHT
Master Artist Workshop Wustum Museum 2010
Peninsula Art School, 2010 and 2012,
UW- Madison Extension, School of the Arts at Rhinelander 2003-2013

JUDGE
Madison Art Fair on the Square 2005
Lake Mills Art in the Park 2006-2012
Hoard Historical Museum 50th Mary Hoard Art Show 2010
Art of the Flower, Whitewater Arts Alliance, Cultural Arts Center, 2010
UW-Eau Claire Student Show Foster Gallery 2003

EDUCATION
MFA, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
BFA, Michigan State University
Various post-graduate classes.

PUBLICATIONS
Graphic Design Basics I-VI (author) 1988-2012
Digital Design Basics (author) 2005
American Artist Watercolor Magazine, Summer 2012, “Portraits of Water” 6 pages on my
paintings.
Paradise Lost? 2009 (art included)
The Island Within Us 2000 (art included)
New Art International 1998 (art included)

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
The Visual Dance, a Wisconsin Academy Evening, Wilson Center for the Arts 2009
The Things We Know Watrous Gallery, Overture Center 2008
Wisconsin Regional Art Program critique and presentation, Cultural Arts Center,
Whitewater, WI, 2010
Visiting Artist, Western Michigan University, 2005
Exploring Narrative and Artistic Discourses. World Communications Assoc. Stockholm,
Sweden, 2003 Images and Identities in a Global Society. WCA, Santander, Spain, 2001
At the Threshold of the Millennium: Technology and Visual Language. Sponsored by
UNESCO, Lima, Peru, 1999 Women Artists. Fourth International U.N. Conference on
Women, Beijing, China, 1995 FATE, Foundations in Art Theory and Education, Comparing
Form and Content in Art and Design, St. Louis, MOVisual Thinking and Cultural Values.
11th International Conference on Technology and Education. London, 1994

RECENT and SCHEDULED EXHIBITIONS

2013 Grace Chosy Gallery, 2 person show, “Being There”(Madison WI) April
Capitol Lakes Atrium (solo) (Madison, WI) May - June
Water Street Gallery, Featured Artist, “People’s Choice” (Douglas WI)
September

2012 Delafield Art Center 3 person show
Wilson Center for the Arts, (Brookfield, WI) group show
Wustum Museum, (Racine, WI) Watercolor WI, group show
Water Street Gallery Featured artist, (Douglas, MI)

2011 Piante Gallery, (Eureka, CA) solo show
Vertin Gallery, (Calumet MI) solo show
Water Street Gallery (Douglas, MI) Featured Artist
Peltz Gallery, (Milwaukee, WI) Women’s group show

2010 Wustum Art Museum (Racine, WI) Watercolor Wisconsin (award winner).
Charles Allis Art Museum (Milwaukee, WI) Forward: A Survey of Wisconsin Art Now.
Water Street Gallery (Douglas, MI) Intuitions: Featured Artist
Hoard Museum (Ft Atkinson) Exhibit of Juror’s work.
Cultural Arts Center, Whitewater, WI, Madison, WI (traveling exhibition)

2009 State of the Art 2009: National Biennial Watercolor Invitational, Champaign, IL
Beneath the Surface, Featured Artist, Water Street Gallery, Douglas, MI
The Visual Dance Solo Show, Wilson Art Center, Brookfield, WI
Summer Series Solo Show, Lake Mills, WI
Gallery Night Featured Artist, Peltz Gallery, Milwaukee, WI

2008 Solo Show, “The Things We Know” James Watrous Gallery, Madison, WI
2007 Solo Show, “Reflections” Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI

2006-09 “Paradise Lost?” Invitational touring exhibition on Climate Change. Many
venues in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois

2007-09 Gallery Artists, Hentschel Art Gallery, Des Moines, IA

2005 Florence Biennial, Florence, Italy
Solo Show, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI ”Forest, Rock, Wind,
Water”, Four Person Show, WM Bonifas Fine Arts Center, Escanaba, MI

2004 Solo Retrospective, “Second Nature”, Center Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
“Nature as Metaphor”, 3-person show, Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI

2003 “Wisconsin/Landscapes”, Invitational, UW-Eau Claire
2002 “Waters of Wisconsin”, Invitational, Wisconsin Academy Gallery, Madison, WI
The Elements Show, Invitational, Walkers Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee,
WIBrittingham Art Invitational, University of Wisconsin System, Madison, WI
Wisconsin Triennial, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI

2001 Arntson, Miotke, Wimmer, Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Gallery Artists, Mary Bell Gallery, Chicago, IL

2000 “Water Show”, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, 4-Person Invitational, Milwaukee, WI
“Water and Dreams”, 2 Person Show, Peltz Gallery, Milwaukee WI

1998 Solo Show, “Recent Work”, Wisconsin Union Galleries, University of Wisconsin- Madison
1983-2012 Biennial University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Faculty Exhibition

(Over 100 additional national shows)
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
1995 The Fourth United Nations Conference on Women, Beijing China
1994 Fifth International Symposium on the Arts, Helsinki Finland
1993 Fourth International Symposium on the Arts, Minneapolis, MN USA
1992 Summer Session Exhibition, Royal College of Art, London, England

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Racine Art Museum
Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
UW-Madison, Athletics Department, Madison, WI
UW-Madison Student Union, Madison, WI
Department of Transportation (DOT) University Hospital, Madison, WI
R.M. Bock Laboratories Voyageurs National Park, International Falls, MN
Isle Royale Natural History Association, Houghton, MI,
UW-Whitewater (WI) University Center

NUMEROUS PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

AWARDS and RECOGNITIONS
2010 Watercolor WI Award Winner, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
2004 Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin System, Awarded
2001, 2004, and 2005 Wisconsin Arts Board, Percent for Art Direct Purchase Awards 2000
Art/Design Consultant to the United Arab Emirates, the Ministry of Education
1999 Joseph A. Marino Memorial Purchase Award, Wustum Museum Permanent
Collection, Who's Who in America (included for several years)
Artist in Residence, Isle Royale National Park, MI Artist in Residence, Voyageurs National Park, MN

David J Niec

EDUCATION

1988 University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting and Drawing

ONE AND TWO PERSON SHOWS

2010 “Seasons in the Wild: Night and Day, The Vertin Gallery, Calumet, MI
2009 “Twenty Six Nights in the Desert”, Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2008 “Night Vision”, The Land Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2007 “Northwoods Nocturnes”, Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2007 “Nocturnal Light”, Finlandia University, Hancock, MI
2004 “David Niec, Painting and Sculpture”, University of Wisconsin - Manitowoc
2002 “Under Light Underlight”, Laura Drozek & David Niec, Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2001 “Earth↔Sky↔Time”, Elm Creative Arts Elementary School, Milwaukee, WI
1997 “Paintings & Sculpture of David Niec”, Concordia University Art Gallery, Mequon, WI
1995 “Paintings of David Niec”, Concordia University Art Gallery, Mequon, WI
1993 “David Niec, Portraits and Landscapes” Galeria del Conte, Milwaukee, WI
1989 “David Niec”, The Dorothy Bradley Gallery, Milwaukee, WI

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2012 “Up North” Gallery 224, Port Washington, WI
2012 “25 for 25: Silver Anniversary Exhibition Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2009 “Equation: A Balanced State?”, Gallery 516, Albuquerque, NM
2007-09“Paradise Lost, Climate Change in the Northwoods”, Rhinelander, Manitowish
Waters, Wausau, Madison and Milwaukee, WI, Ironwood and Calumet, MI, and Chicago, IL
2006 “Laurence Rathsack, Teacher of Us All”
2004 “A Forest Somewhere”, Joan Backes, David Niec and Pat Steir, Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2001 “David Niec, Christian Ricco, Jason Rohlf and Mai Wyn Schantz”, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
1998 “Nature as Composer”, Cardinal Stritch University Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
1997 “Summer Outdoor Sculpture Show”, David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
1997 “Innovative Processes”, Galeria del Conte, Milwaukee, WI
1997 “Shadows and Substance”, Giese, Niec and Rathsack, Galeria del Conte, Milwaukee, WI
1996 “Wisconsin Watercolor Exhibit”, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
1995 “Kantrowicz, Niec and Sargent”, Galeria del Conte, Milwaukee, WI
1993 “Friebert, Niec and Rathsack”, Galeria del Conte, Milwaukee, WI

RESIDENCIES

2008 The Land/ An Art Site
Observation and painting concerning the night sky in the desert for an entire moon cycle, Mountainair, NM
2000 The Land/ An Art Site, Mountainair, NM
1997 Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, Ten visual artists meet under “master artist” David Nash

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“David Niec Presents “Twenty-Six Nights in the Desert” at Dean Jensen Gallery”, Peggy Sue Dunigan, Shepherd Express, November 12, 2009
”Frozen Finger Astronomy”, Daniel Pendick, Astronomy, http://tinyurl.com/newv5m
March 3, 2009
“Nature shines and splashes its way into artists’ exhibit”, Mary Louise Schumacher,
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 15, 2007
“Trio plants environment in their art”, James Auer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 4, 2004
“Six Artists venture into wild in lyric, heartfelt ‘nature’ exhibit”, James Auer, Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, November 27, 1998
“Somewhere Past Post-Modern”, Nathan Guequierre, Shepherd Express, May 8 1997

COLLECTIONS

Concordia University Art Gallery, Mequon, WI
David Nash, private collector, Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales
The Land/An Art Site, Albuquerque, NM
Drew Ward, private collector, San Francisco, CA