Scott Stulen was born in Willmar, Minnesota in 1974 and lives and works in both Rochester and Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is mixed-media artist whose work explores issues of failure, loss, obsession, personal and collective memory, pop culture, and the Midwest.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is a reconstruction of memory, and the awkward, often false, associations within. I investigate fictitious memories often substituted for actual experience.My current work is based on memories of failure, loss and obsession. I work within the space between memory and the patterned landscape of popular culture. Emerging from a foggy haze of childhood recollections, my work is a delicately woven fabric of images, associations, and stories, a reconstruction of faint memories filtered through the “cabin culture” aesthetic of my childhood home and the landscape of the Midwest. For example, a memory based not on pure recollection but derived from a photograph of a place or event. Through painting, sculpture, installation, video and sound I combine, edit, and invent new environments, recontextulizing multiple references into a singular work. Like a DJ I select and sequence materials, images, and themes to create new associations and unexpected points of entry. Underlying my work is a sense of playfulness and humor, which questions authenticity, experience, and constructions of personal and collective memory.
A precisely drawn copy of worn sheet music, a reminder of my childhood failure as pianist, the loss of place as illustrated by a painting of a sprawling lake home built atop a former campsite, or the woodland creatures fighting over a scrap whilst Bambi hoards a mountain of geometric drawings. While the origin of each work is built upon my own memories and associations the use of collective pop culture references invites the viewer to construct personal narratives based on their own experiences.
EDUCATION
2004 MFA University of Minnesota-Twin Cities - drawing and painting / minor art history
1998 BFA University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire - sculpture
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008
Lead Guitar, No Vocals
Kiehle Gallery, St. Cloud State University , St. Cloud Minnesota
Glowmobile
Atwater, Minnesota
2007
Homecoming
Arthouse, New London, MN
2005
Carrie on my wayward one
Franklin Art Works, Minneapolis, Minnesota
stuff I made in my couchfort and my continuing obsession with Bridget Riley
Rochester Art Center, Rochester, Minnesota
2004
…still more paintings about nature, weather, and the mid-west
Ridgewater College, Hutchinson Campus, Hutchinson, Minnesota
2003
more paintings about buildings, food, and floating hands
University of Wisconsin-Marathon County, Wausau, Wisconsin
2000
New Abstractions for Modern Living
Ridgewater College, Willmar, Minnesota
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008
Draw Too
Soo Vac, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Arrested Development
Moreau Art Galleries, Saint Mary's College, South Bend, Indiana
2007
Festival of Appropriation
Soap Factory, Minneapolis, Minnesota
New American Paintings Midwest Exhibition
Biennial 24
South Bend Regional Museum of Art, South Bend, Indiana
Park in Bloom
Mall of America , Bloomington, Minnesota
2006
Recent Acquisitions
Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Juried Member Exhibition
Hopkins Center for Art, Hopkins, Minnesota
ID ME
Ephemeral Space Gallery, St. Paul, Minnesota
Diverse Connections
Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2005
Mythical Tales
Melanee Cooper Gallery, Chicago Illinois
Flora
South Bend Regional Museum of Art, South Bend, Indiana
Meticulum
VU Gallery, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
2004
Video Shorts Exhibition
Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Draw
Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Interplay:
Juried U of MN Alumni Exhibition, Katherine Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota
New American Paintings, Midwest Regional Juried Competition,
Open Studio Press, Boston MA Issue #53,
Painting Without Paint (or very little of it)
Hopkins Center for the Arts Hopkins, Minnesota
The Digital Revolution: New Media Art of the 21st Century
Schaefer Gallery, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN
Refresh
Katherine Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota
(a) drift
Hopkins Center for the Arts Hopkins, Minnesota
2003
Untitled II
Soo Visual Arts Center Minneapolis, Minnesota
Visible Fringe Benefit Exhibition
Thomas Barry Gallery Minneapolis, Minnesota
PERFORMANCES
2008
Third Annual Headphone Festival
Rochester Art Center, Rochester, Minnesota
Flux
Rochester Art Center, Rochester, Minnesota
2007
Second Annual Headphone Festival
Rochester Art Center, Rochester, Minnesota
Concert on the Plaza
Rochester, Minnesota
10,000 Arts Party
Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Spark Fest
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2006
First Annual Headphone Festival
Rochester Art Center, Rochester, Minnesota
2005
Carrie on my wayward one
Franklin Art Works, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2007
New American Paintings
Midwest Regional Juried Competition,
Open Studio Press, Boston MA Issue #71
Saatchi Online Magazine Critic's Choice top 10
chosen by Angela Roberts, June 11, 2007
Saatchi Online Magazine Critic's Choice top 10
chosen by Rebecca Geldard, June 4, 2007
2004
New American Paintings
Midwest Regional Juried Competition,
Open Studio Press, Boston MA Issue #53
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2008 - present Project Director mnartists.org, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2005 - 2008 Associate Curator Rochester Art Center, Rochester, Minnesota
2005 - 2008 Curator of Education Rochester Art Center, Rochester, Minnesota
2007 - present Writer mnartists.org, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2006 - 2007 Adjunct Professor College of Visual Art, St. Paul, Minnesota
2006 - present Graduate Mentor Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis
2005 - present Instructor of Art Split Rock Artist Program, Minneapolis, Minnesota
SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS
2006 Jerome Foundation Emerging Artist Fellowship Finalist
2005 Awarded a 2005 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Innitative Grant
2004 Awarded the 2004 Katherine E. Nash Purchase Prize
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2007
Olson, Chuck, Minnesota Stories/mnartists.org
video documentary
2006
Morstad, Marya “Mnartists Radio: Scott Stulen” Minnesota Public Radio and Mnartist.org
audio interview and online article January 28,
2005
Douglas, Kris, “Shared Memory”, Exhibition essay in conjunction with 3rd Floor emerging artist series
2004
Platow, Raphaela New American Paintings, Midwest Regional Juried Competition, Open Studio Press, Boston MA Issue #53,
COLLECTIONS
Weisman Art Museum
Coffman Union, University of Minnesota
numerous private collections