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Born in 1948 in Illinois, Virgil Grotfeldt has
had a prolific, internationally recognized career. He graduated in 1971 with a
BS ED in Art Education from Eastern Illinois University, and continued his
education at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, earning a Master of Fine Arts
in 1974. Since then he has held a number of teaching positions at schools in
Illinois and Texas.
Grotfeldt’s career has progressed through a number
of phases that reflect connections to both American and European art and
philosophy. His early art focused largely on photorealistic paintings, but he
later turned to more mystical and anthropological imagery. His oeuvre consists
predominantly of experimental materials such as coal and metal dust on paper,
though he executes many works in a wide variety of media. For instance, the
artist will often incorporate in his paintings found documents such as nautical
charts and fragments of handwriting.
In the 1990’s, Grotfeldt turned to complex
expressions of natural phenomena. His creations became delicate, biomorphical
abstractions reminiscent of early works by Jackson Pollock. It was also at this
time that he became connected with the Free International University, and was
soon exhibited in its World Art Collection.
Grotfeldt has been shown nationally and internationally
in such places as Mexico, Europe, China and Japan. His work resides in the
permanent collections of many prestigious museums, including the Museum of Fine
Arts, Houston; Whitney Museum of Art, New York; El Paso Museum, El Paso; and the
Chengdu Museum, China. In 2003, a major publication of his work, Virgil
Grotfeldt, was published.
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