Resume and Bio
 
Biography Dave Seiler was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1960. He obtained his BFA, with an emphasis in sculpture and ceramics, from Metropolitan State College of Denver, with a junior year spent abroad studying art history at the University of London, Bloomsbury. Part of Seiler’s formative years as an artist was spent founding and managing a co-op gallery with his classmates. ILK Gallery became one of the premier spaces in Denver, Colorado, and was featured in an article in Art in America. His work portrays his strong interest in conceptual art, sociology, and political culture, and is often used as a platform from which to question corporate consumer culture and the destructive aspects of globalism. Employing the use of humor as a way to introduce the viewer to such difficult subjects without alienating the viewer. Much of Seiler’s work contains an interactive component, an influence that was inspired by his employment in museums, specifically as a security guard whose job was to prevent the viewers from touching the art. Using a combination of salvaged and manufactured gears, levers, springs, and keys, the viewer's touch becomes necessary to complete the aesthetic experience, often being rewarded for disobeying established gallery rules with sounds or movements.
 
Resume b. 1960, Grand Rapids, MI Education: BFA, Metropolitan State College of Denver, 1995 Selected Solo and Two Person Exhibitions: • 2009 Reduced Wholeness, Ironton Studios and Gallery, Denver, CO • 2008 Burn Baby Burn, Plastic Chapel, Denver, CO • 2005 Step Right Up, Studio Aiello, Denver, CO • 2003 Soundings, Dave Seiler and Joshua Bemelen, Arvada Center for the Arts, Arvada, CO, Curator, Susan Bolton • 2002 Ship of Fools, ILK @ Pirate, Denver, CO • 2000 Dis-count, ILK Gallery, Denver, CO • 1999 Denver Melt Down, ILK@ Pirate, Denver, CO • 1999 Have you Ever, ILK Gallery, Denver, CO • 1998 Age of the Audile, ILK@ Pirate, Denver, CO • 1998 History of Burden, ILK Gallery, Denver, CO • 1997 Just a Cup, ILK@ Pirate, Denver, CO • 1996 First Born, ILK @ Pirate, Denver, CO Selected Group Exhibitions: • 2009 Forms in Metal, Grossmont College, Hyde Art Gallery, El Cajon, CA, Co-Curator’s, Ben Aubert, Tom Fox and Ingrid Psuty • 2008 Contemporary Cast Iron II, National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis, TN, Curator, Mark Guilbeau • 2008 XL: Forty Years on the Frontier of Art, Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO, Curator, Michael Chavez • 2007 Addition / Reduction, Gail Harvey Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, Curator, Katherine Chang Liu • 2006 The Game Show, Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery Portland, OR, Curator, Namita Wiggers • 2006 Introspection, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Curator, Katherine Chang Liu • 2005 Inaugural Group Exhibition, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY • 2005 Metro Effect: Metro State Alumni Exhibition, Center for Visual Art, Denver, CO, Jurors, Greg Watts, Kathy Andrews and Yuko Yagisawa • 2004 Personal Artifacts, Studio Aiello, Denver, CO • 2002 Collage, Assemblage U.S.A. - The Sequel, Ventura College Galleries, Ventura, CA, Juror, Katherine Chang Liu • 2002 Colorado 2002, Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO, Juror Scott Snyder • 2002 North American Sculpture Exhibition, Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO, Juror, Donald Lipski • 2002 The Dream Mill, Lakewood Cultural Arts Center, Lakewood, CO, Curator, Simon Zaikind • 2001 Justifying the Means, Red Shift Gallery, Denver, CO • 2000 Ilk to ARC, ARC Gallery, Albuquerque, NM • 1999 PhILKadelphia, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA • 1999 Box Art, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY, Curator, Linda Leonhard Awards: 2006 – Best of Westword, Best Low-Tech Installation Show, “Step Right Up”, Studio Aiello, Denver, CO 2002 - Award of Excellence, Collage, Assemblage U.S.A., Ventura College Galleries, Ventura, CA Membership: 1996-2003 ILK Gallery, Founding Member 1992-1996 Genre Gallery, Founding Member 1992-1993 Student Advisory Committee, Metropolitan State College of Denver 1992-1993 Metropolitan State College of Denver Art Club President Experience: 2008 – Present, exhibit preparatory, art handler, Metropolitan State College of Denver Center for Visual Arts, Denver, CO 2002 - Present, exhibit preparatory, art handler, Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada, CO 2000 - Present, exhibit preparatory, art handler, Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO 1998-1999, Exhibitions Department, Denver Art Museum, Denver Selected Biography: “Political change leaves its prints in art”, Kyle MacMillan, Denver Post, March 6, 2009 “Form in Metal”, Artweek, Volume 39, Number 10, Dec 2008/Jan 2009 “In the galleries; Reduced Wholeness”, Mary Voelz Chandler, the Rocky Mountain News, January, 23, 2009 “Big Tops”, Michael Paglia, the Westword, October 20, 2005 “Big fun under Seiler’s big top”, Mary Voelz Chandler, the Rocky Mountain News, October 28, 2005 “Found objects find artistic home,” Kyle Macmillan, the Denver Post, February 27, 2004 "Every Fiber Tells a Story," Mary Voelz Chandler, the Rocky Mountain News, March 22, 2002 "Boxes Full of Art," Jeff Tollefsoni, the Casper Star Tribune, October 23, 1998 "As Sem Blage," Mary Voelz Chandler, the Rocky Mountain News, June 27, 1997 "Sculptor Loads Big Art...," Jeanie Straub, The Metropolitan, January 27, 1995 Residencies: 2005- Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, Nebraska