Eric Swangstu is a painter, educator, curator and arts administrator with over 12 years in higher education. His paintings are perceptually-based, formal meditations on found objects and portraiture. His subjects include people in his life, the occasional landscape and objects that hold personal meaning. Swangstu consistently uses classical painting methods as a means of undermining the tradition of object painting from the inside out. The resulting work is often re-contextualized through a veneer of abstract and experimental techniques. Helen Harrison, critic for the New York Times, has written of his paintings as, “an effective strategy for testing the boundary between objectivity and invention.”
Swangstu participated as a member in Mel Chin’s artist collective, the GALA Committee, in the late 90’s for the project In the Name of the Place, where the artist group conducted a conceptually-based, public art project on the set of the television show, Melrose Place. Historically, this is considered the first public art project to use prime-time television as a venue.
He currently serves as Associate Director of Admission at Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle; Curator at the OK Hotel; and Adjunct Instructor at DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, WA. As a curator, he has produced, curated or juried over 70 exhibitions in the New England, Kansas City, and Seattle areas. Prior to Cornish, he was Director of Academic Marketing and Adjunct Instructor at Pratt Institute in New York City; as well as Associate Director of Admissions at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. His artwork is included in the permanent collections of Government Employees Hospital Association, Kansas City, MO and the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
b. 1970, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
B.F.A., 1992, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
M.P.S. 2004, Pratt Institute, New York, NY
Solo Exhibitions
2012 AOT, Port Townsend, WA
2011 FXFowle Gallery, New York, NY
2009 Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Kansas City, MO
2005 Molloy College Art Gallery, Rockville Centre, NY
1997 1331 Union Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1992 Yako Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Group Exhibitions
2012 Short Days, The OK Hotel Gallery, Seattle, WA
2011 Hot Wood Vol III, Public Assembly, Brooklyn, NY
Hot Wood Vol II, The OK Hotel Gallery, Seattle, WA
2009 Short Days, The OK Hotel Gallery, Seattle, WA
2007 Seasons, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Kansas City, MO
Counterproof: Group Drawing Show, The Art Mine, Port Hadlock, WA
2006 Disaster, Port Angeles Fine Art Center, Port Angeles, WA
2005 Faculty Exhibition, Pratt Institute, New York, NY
2004 Girls Against Boys, DC Art Center, Washington DC
Inaugural Exhibition, Crave77, Seattle, WA
2003 New, New, Karolyn Sherwood Gallery, Des Moines, IA
Group Exhibition, CODA Gallery, New York, NY
2002 Reactions, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
Reactions, Exit Art, New York, NY
Snapshot, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
2001 Tele(visions), GALA Committee, Kunsthalle Wien, Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria
Staff Exhibition, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Eric, Holly, and Troy Swangstu, The Late Show, Kansas City, MO
Snapshot, Arcadia University, Fine Arts Gallery, Glenside, PA
2000 Fast: Five Years at Grand Arts (GALA Committee), Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO
Snapshot, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD
The GALA Committee, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany
1999 Prince Street Artists Invite..., Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
1998 OPIE Anniversary Show, OPIE Gallery, Kansas City, MO
The GALA Committee, Lawing Gallery, Houston, TX
1997 The GALA Committee and Mel Chin, Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO
Un-mapping the Earth: Hybrid Section, In the Name of the Place (GALA Committee), Kwangju Biennale, Kwanju, Korea Uncommon Sense, In The Name Of The Place, (Gala Committee) The Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Swangstu participated as a member in Mel Chin’s artist collective, the GALA Committee, in the late 90’s for the project In the Name of the Place, where the artist group conducted a conceptually-based, public art project on the set of the television show, Melrose Place. Historically, this is considered the first public art project to use prime-time television as a venue.
He currently serves as Associate Director of Admission at Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle; Curator at the OK Hotel; and Adjunct Instructor at DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, WA. As a curator, he has produced, curated or juried over 70 exhibitions in the New England, Kansas City, and Seattle areas. Prior to Cornish, he was Director of Academic Marketing and Adjunct Instructor at Pratt Institute in New York City; as well as Associate Director of Admissions at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. His artwork is included in the permanent collections of Government Employees Hospital Association, Kansas City, MO and the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
b. 1970, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
B.F.A., 1992, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
M.P.S. 2004, Pratt Institute, New York, NY
Solo Exhibitions
2012 AOT, Port Townsend, WA
2011 FXFowle Gallery, New York, NY
2009 Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Kansas City, MO
2005 Molloy College Art Gallery, Rockville Centre, NY
1997 1331 Union Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1992 Yako Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Group Exhibitions
2012 Short Days, The OK Hotel Gallery, Seattle, WA
2011 Hot Wood Vol III, Public Assembly, Brooklyn, NY
Hot Wood Vol II, The OK Hotel Gallery, Seattle, WA
2009 Short Days, The OK Hotel Gallery, Seattle, WA
2007 Seasons, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Kansas City, MO
Counterproof: Group Drawing Show, The Art Mine, Port Hadlock, WA
2006 Disaster, Port Angeles Fine Art Center, Port Angeles, WA
2005 Faculty Exhibition, Pratt Institute, New York, NY
2004 Girls Against Boys, DC Art Center, Washington DC
Inaugural Exhibition, Crave77, Seattle, WA
2003 New, New, Karolyn Sherwood Gallery, Des Moines, IA
Group Exhibition, CODA Gallery, New York, NY
2002 Reactions, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
Reactions, Exit Art, New York, NY
Snapshot, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
2001 Tele(visions), GALA Committee, Kunsthalle Wien, Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria
Staff Exhibition, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Eric, Holly, and Troy Swangstu, The Late Show, Kansas City, MO
Snapshot, Arcadia University, Fine Arts Gallery, Glenside, PA
2000 Fast: Five Years at Grand Arts (GALA Committee), Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO
Snapshot, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD
The GALA Committee, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany
1999 Prince Street Artists Invite..., Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
1998 OPIE Anniversary Show, OPIE Gallery, Kansas City, MO
The GALA Committee, Lawing Gallery, Houston, TX
1997 The GALA Committee and Mel Chin, Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO
Un-mapping the Earth: Hybrid Section, In the Name of the Place (GALA Committee), Kwangju Biennale, Kwanju, Korea Uncommon Sense, In The Name Of The Place, (Gala Committee) The Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
