Rice Gallery staff member has solo show

Day job makes passion possible
Rice Gallery staff member has solo show

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff

As the preparator of Rice Gallery, David Krueger helps others create art by researching subjects, purchasing supplies, providing materials, building walls, painting backdrops and installing lighting. Though he is focused on doing for others, his day job has also helped him develop as an artist, currently showcasing an exhibition at CUE Art Foundation in New York City.

“This is the perfect job for an artist,” Krueger said. “I have learned something — either use of materials,  types of materials, technique or work ethic — from every artist that I have worked with.”

	COURTESY PHOTO

Krueger’s installation at CUE, his first solo exhibition in New York, uses cardboard and paint to reconstruct images of post office stamps. Only, instead of the stamps commemorating great American heroes and accomplishments — the ones Krueger collected as a child — the exhibit showcases a message of disappointment and political disillusionment.

“Commemorative stamps were conceived as a way of celebrating great individuals, as well as high ideas, values and achievements of society,” Krueger said in his artist’s statement. “In my eyes, those values have disappeared, replaced instead by corruption, greed and cruelty.”

So, Krueger chose to “honor” those new values with an installation that juxtaposes the old post office with the new “commemorative” stamps.

“I find his work timely and personal,” said Judy Pfaff, curator of the exhibition, “talking and working out ideas within a structure variable enough to include all that passed in his life and the world at large.”

A MacArthur Fellow regarded as a pioneer of installation art, Pfaff herself is a celebrated artist. Krueger said her stature made the show even more special.

“It is a real honor having been selected by Judy for this show at CUE,” Krueger said. “Judy is an amazing artist, incredibly talented, knowledgeable, well-respected and at the same time down-to-earth. I will be eternally indebted to her for all she has done for me.”

Krueger first met Pfaff during the installation of her show at Rice Gallery last spring. He had some pieces in a group show and some in his office. When Pfaff saw his work, she was convinced to recommend Krueger for the solo show at CUE.

The installation runs through May 31 and will then be dissembled and sent back to Krueger in Houston. He plans to recreate it at some point, but not in the same format. He also has other exhibitions in the works that he would like to be able to show in the fall or spring.

“I will continue to make work as always,” Krueger said. “I am hoping it will lead to new opportunities, but I have never made work with the idea it will make me rich and famous. I make it because it keeps me sane and allows me to feel I can make a difference in the world around us.”

Krueger said his gig at Rice Gallery has given him the time and experience to create his own shows. He said that his colleagues, including Kimberly Davenport, director of the gallery, and Jaye Anderton, office manager, have been very supportive.

“It is a very nurturing environment and as such helps foster my creativity,” Krueger said. “In effect, my job has become part of my passion — making art.”