Stuart L. Wagner

swag133@yahoo.com

Stuart Wagner, a native of Connecticut, has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for all but six years since 1964.  He served in the Marine Corps after high school and completed his undergraduate work at The University of Connecticut and his graduate studies at Stanford.  His Ph.D. dissertation research took him to Bogotá, Colombia where he lived for a year.  Stuart taught Latin American history and Chicano Studies at the University of Minnesota for five years.  He returned to the Bay Area in 1974 to begin an electronics business, which he administered until 1989, when he retired.  Stuart became an art student in 1992.  He considers himself primarily a 3 dimensional artist who works with a wide variety of materials from steel to digital images.

Artist Statement

If I could draw, I’d be a cartoonist.  Instead, I use more dimensional materials. Because the components are so critical to the content of my art, I have developed a broad palette which includes fiber, steel, ceramics, wood, precious metals, recycled materials and both conventional and digital photography.

I am essentially a 3-D artist; even my photography often has a third dimension.  I emphasize realism over abstraction and usually work in life size.  I consider myself a "local" artist and submit work regularly to nearby area exhibitions.  I have been honored with a number of awards at the Marin County Fair, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Berkeley's ACCI Gallery and from the Marin Society of Artists.

My art is conceptual in that I construct visual representations of thoughts, memories and ideas.  These, in turn, derive added meaning from the materials and construction techniques I use.  My work is rarely personal in the sense of being introspective, but it is subjective, nearly always evincing a strong point of view. In rare fits of sanctimony, in a quixotic delusion, I point a spear at some imagined or real injustice. During those times--when I realize that I've crossed the line from art to therapy--I hurry back to satire.  Actually, humor and irony underlie the vast majority of my work.  If my art simply makes someone smile--even if they do not go deeper into the underlying motivation for creating the piece--I feel that I have accomplished my purpose.  As I said, if I could draw I'd be a cartoonist.

Partial List of  Juried Shows

2019          Artelier Gallery, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA, 7th Annual Fleet Week Veterans Art  Exhibition
                     Museum of Northern California Art, Chico, CA, Points of Departure
                     Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA, Content Matters

2017           Marin Civic Center Gallery, San Rafael, CA, fiber Dimensions at the Marin Civic Center
                   Community Congregational Church, Tiburon, CA, EDGE Art Group at the CCC

2016            Marin Society of Artists, San Rafael, CA, Outside the Lines

2015            San Francisco Public Library, Main Branch, San Francisco, CA, Quotation Marks
                    Bank of Marin, San Rafael, CA, Artworks Downtown Benefit Exhibition
                    Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA, EDGE on EDGE
                    Marin Society of Artists, Ross, CA, Shapes and Edges

2014             Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA Collect!
                     Napa Valley Library, Napa, CA, Quotation Marks
                     Marin County Civic Center Galleries, San Rafael, CA, AWD Associate Artists at the Civic Center
                     Roseville Downtown Library. Roseville, CA, Quotation Marks
                     Martha Riley Community Library, Roseville, CA, Quotation Marks
                     Assemblage Gallery, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA, Thinking Inside the Box:
                          An Homage to Louise Nevelson
                     Marin County Fair, Terra Linda, CA, Fine Arts Exhibit

 2013            Herbst Pavilion at the Presidio of San Francisco: fiber Dimensions: Intersections 6
                     Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA, Small Works
                     Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA, Midnight in Paris
                     Mill Valley Library, Mill Valley, CA, Quotation Marks
                     Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA, Transitions
                     Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA, Drawing
                     ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, CA, National Juried Exhibition
                     Community Congregational Church, Tiburon, CA, fiber/Dimensions at the CCC
                     Works Gallery, San Jose CA, Beyond Gaga

2012            Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA Falkirk's 100
                 Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA, Art on the Farm
                    Chico Art Center Chico, CA, Small World, Small Works
                    Marin County Fair, Terra Linda, CA, Fine Arts Exhibit
                    Bekris Gallery, San Francisco, CA,  Hats Stand 4 Hope
                    Marin Society of Artists, Ross, CA, Open Craft and Sculpture Exhibition
                    ARC Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Consequences
                    Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA, Annual Juried Exhibition
                    University of San Francisco School of Law, Equal Justice Society, San Francisco, CA, Hunger Pains

2011           Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA, Associate Artists Show
                Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA, Small Works Show
                   STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Tiny
                   Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA, Falkirk's 100
                   Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA, Dia de los Muertos:  An Exhibit of Altars
                   ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, CA, Can Do
                   Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA, Bi-Annual Juried Exhibition
                   Marin Community Foundation, Novato, CA, COLLECTIVES: Unique Artist Groups of Marin
                   2nd City Council Art Gallery, Long Beach, CA, AMERICA
                   fiber/Dimensions at 500 Howard, San Francisco, CA
                   Marin County Fair, Terra Linda, CA, Fine Arts Exhibit
                   fiber/Dimensions at the Bay Model, Sausalito, CA
                   fiber/Dimensions at the Blue Line Gallery, Roseville, CA
                   Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA, Re: Value
                   Marin MOCA, Novato, CA, Artfully Reclaimed
                   University of San Francisco School of Law, Equal Justice Society, San Francisco, CA, Fostering Dreams of Equality
                   Marin Society of Artists, Ross, CA, Open Craft and Sculpture Exhibition
                   Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA, Can Do
            
 2010          Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA, Small Works
                   Marin Arts Council Gallery, San Rafael, CA, Small Wonders, Large Luxuries 
                     STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Tiny
                   Presidio Officer's Club Gallery, San Francisco, CA, fiber/Dimensions Intersections 5: Colors_Concepts_Contours
                   Zero Breast Cancer, Mill Valley, CA, Honor The Healer
                   Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY, The Green Wave
                   STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Delicious
                   ACCI Gallery, Berkeley, CA, Fiber 2010
                   Art at the Cheese Factory, Petaluma, CA, Journeys
                  Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA, Mosaics
                   University of San Francisco School of Law, Equal Justice Society, San Francisco, CA, Yearning to  Breathe Free
                  Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA,  1 in 100:  America Behind Bars

Art in Public Places

                    College of Marin, Kentfield, CA, Fine Arts Building, Puzzle Totem

Publications
                    Richmond Art Center Catalog, Body as Agent: Changing Fashion Art (2015)
                    Documentary film short, "Mondays at Racine" (2012)
                    Marin Independent Journal, Lifestyles, September 27, 2012
                    San Francisco Examiner, October 28, 2012
                    Marin Independent Journal, Lifestyles, June 16, 2011
                    Ross Valley Reporter, June 8-June 14, 2011
                    The Jewish Forward, April 21, 2011
                    Pacific Sun, January 28 - February 3, 2011
                    Point Reyes Light, April 8, 2010
                    West Marin Citizen, April 1, 2010
                    www.Jweekly.com, January 7, 2010
                    Pacific Sun. October 31-November 6, 2008
                    San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook. November 2. 2008
                    Fort Mason Center Monthly, October, 2008
                    Marin Independent Journal, Lifestyles, October 4, 2008 
                    Benicia Herald, April 8, 2008
                    Inside Benicia, March 2008
                    Times Herald (Solano County, CA),  March 21, 2008
                    Listen & Be Heard Weekly, March 12-19, 2008
                    Pacific Sun, September 7, 2007
                    The California Aggie Online, March 14, 2006
                    Surface Design Journal, Spring 2005 
                    www.edgeartgroup.com (site designer)
                    Marin Independent Journal, October 28, 2004
                    Pacific Sun, December 29, 2004
                    Artweek, October 2004
                    San Rafael Focus Magazine, Fall 2004
                    Surface Design Journal, Winter 2002
                    The Echo Times (College of Marin), May 7, 2001
                    The Echo Times (College of Marin), October 16, 2000
                    Ross Valley Reporter, October 13-19, 1999

Gallery Representation

                   Various & Sundries, San Anselmo, CA
                   Virginia Breier, San Francisco, CA

Arts Memberships & Service

                  Advisor, San Quentin News and sanquentinnews.com
                  Juror, Marin Society of Artists, Open Craft and Sculpture Exhibit, 2016
                  Artist Member, Berkeley Art Center
                  Associate Artist, Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA
                  Marin Arts Council
                  Plexus Art Group
                  Judge, Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, 2006
                  American Craft Council
                  fiber/Dimensions
                  Edge Art Group
                  Pacific Rim Sculpture Group
                  Board of Directors Artisan Gallery, Mill Valley, CA 1994-1998

Web Sites

                   www.stuartwagner.com
                   www.fiberdimensions.com
                   www.plexusartgroup.com
                   www.edgeartgroup.com
                   www.pacificrimsculptors.org
                   www.landfillart.org
                   www.fiberscene.com
                   www.artslant.com                    
                   www.turtlebay.org/exhibitions/transforming_trash_exhibition/index.html
                   www.sanchezartcenter.org/ARCHIVES/2004_FiberArts.html
                   www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk

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