www.andrewspeer.weebly.com

“Life is a Visual Language.
Sometimes it is undecipherable.
As an artist, I’m interested in the dualities that exist in our world. Geometric vs organic shapes. That which we can see vs what we can’t. For me, painting is a visual language. I find this visual language in biological sources, like plant forms and cellular structures. But I also see them in manufactured patterns, like mailing labels, QR codes and printing symbols. When you combine them, they form a new visual language that is undecipherable. My goal is to combine them in a way that somehow makes sense on an intuitive level.” Andrew Speer

 

 

 

About Andrew

Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Andrew earned his undergraduate degree and his MFA at the University of Kentucky. He continued his education with graduate studies at the University of New York. In the late 80s, he began a teaching career and taught at Universities and colleges in New York, California and Kentucky. In 1990 he moved to Colorado to begin a 25 year career as the chair of the art department at Metro State University (formerly Metro State College of Denver.) His work has been featured in numerous shows, has received national acclaim and is in many private collections.
Awards

• National Endowment for the Arts

• Colorado Council of the Arts

• Pollock-Krasner Foundation

• Reader’s Digest Artists at Giverny
Publications

• Albuquerque Arts

• The Louisville Courier-Journal

• Westword

• The Denver Post
Exhibitions
Andrew’s work has been exhibited in both solo and group shows in galleries across the country. Though much of his exposure has been in Colorado and Kentucky, he has also exhibited in New Mexico, California and as far away as the Museum of Modern Art of Casa de la Cultra, Cuenca, Ecuador. Exhibits

• The Pattern Shop, Denver

• Swanson-Cralle East Market, Louisville

• Thomas Neumaier Gallery, San Diego

• Coleman Gallery of Contemporary Art

Andrew has been an artist and art educator for more than 20 years
.

An Emeritus Professor of Art at Metropolitan State University (formerly Metro State College of Denver,) Andrew served as the chair of the painting department from 1990-2005. He also lectured at the College of Art at the University of Colorado. He has received all levels of regional and national grants and awards in support of his art. He was a Lecturer and Visiting Artist at The University of Louisville, Kentucky, and Lecturer at San Diego State University, California. A graduate of the University of Kentucky with a Masters of Fine Arts, he also attended State University of New York, Buffalo, for graduate studies. His artwork has been widely exhibited throughout the country and critical writing and reviews of his work have been featured in diverse sources.

Awards and Recognitions

COVision Recognition Award, Colorado Council on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts

Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant

Reader’s Digest Artists at Giverny

Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund

Kentucky Arts Council

National Endowment for the Arts / Southern Arts Federation Regional Award

Fulbright Teacher and Administrative Program

J.B. Speed Art Museum

Andrew Speer currently works as a full-time artist.

Collections

Hyatt Regency Hotel, O’Hare, Chicago, IL

J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY

Patricia N. Bechtholdt, Golden, CO

Mr. & Mrs. Saul Goldman, Colorado Springs, CO

Beverly Haverstock, Louisville, KY

Dr. Susan Josepher, Denver, CO

Mr. & Mrs. A. Martinez, Prospect, KY

Amanda & Scott Miller, Louisville, KY

Thomas Neumaier, St. Louis, MO

Lon & Nancy Seymour, Denver, CO

Hal Stopel, Louisville, KY

Skeet Jones, Louisville, KY

 Artist Statement

Painting is a summation of the creative process. Through the activity of painting, I endeavor to make visible that which is impalpable and experiential. The intrinsic nature of my paintings is a culmination of my search for the essential nature of reality. A painting will reveal the internal, sometimes enigmatic activity that is inherent at a given moment. This ontological approach is what appeals to me most in all painting.

The unlimited possibility of what painting can be is of great interest to me. I have a proclivity toward painting that reflects a pluralism and eclecticism in the evolution of thought and process. I aspire to a polygenetic approach to painting in which disparate aesthetic considerations and formal devices conjoin to create a consonance of pictorial unity. This format defies categorization and elicits multiple interpretations.

The equilibrium I seek is multifaceted and often transcendent. In order to attain unity, I employ many painterly devices. Among these concerns are logic/lyricism and analysis/intuition.

My paintings incorporate formal painting strategies that I enlist to create opposition and contrast. Through organization, I aim to achieve a balance of content that is metaphysical. The exploration and unification of antipodal concerns, although realized by imagery, are not often apparent. The relationships I explore include primal/sophisticated; subtlety/dramatic; conscious/unconscious; equivocal/unequivocal; spiritual/sensual; solemnity/exuberance; wholeness/division; and poetic/prosaic.

I consider these intensely personal issues to be as important as those within the realm of pictorial unity. They are infused into the process that makes what is internal, tangible. I hope to evoke content by association, albeit ephemeral.

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