Michael Krueger: 2007 Friends of the Beach Museum of Art Gift Print Artist

April 27, 2007 – July 1, 2007

An exhibition featuring the work of Michael Krueger, the Friends of the Beach Museum of Art’s 2007 gift print artist, will be on view in the Hempler Gallery from April 27 to July 1, 2007. Krueger was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He earned a BFA from the University of South Dakota in 1990 and an MFA from the University of Notre Dame in 1993. In 1995 Krueger joined the art department at the University of Kansas, where he is currently an associate professor of art and teaches printmaking, drawing, and digital art. His work can be found in many public collections throughout the country, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Fogg Museum, Harvard University; and the New York Public Library.

Krueger’s work is characterized by an insistence on narrative and line. He uses traditional printmaking techniques such as lithography and intaglio, as well as various digital technologies, often combining several techniques in a single print. His imagery reflects a deep interest in American history, the history of art, and contemporary American culture. While Krueger’s style often recalls nineteenth-century popular illustration, his graphic sensibility is rooted squarely in contemporary American visual culture. His idiosyncratic images often combine elements culled from both history and the present-day. A number of his recent prints and drawings include figures and subjects from the history of early Kansas as it relates to the American Civil War, such as William Quantrill, U.S. Senator James Lane, and the so-called “Wakarusa War.” As he has stated, Krueger is “interested in recanting history through art and creating narrative scenes that will provoke thoughtful repose.”

This exhibition is sponsored by the Friends of the Beach Museum of Art Business Partners: Art Craft Printers & Design; BG Consultants; Bluestem Bistro; Bruce McMillan AIA Architects P.A.; Capers Café and Bakery; Cereal Food Processors; Commerce Bank; Farrar Corporation; Grand Mere Development; Intrust Bank; Jacobson & Jacobson CHTD; Kansas Farm Bureau; Limbocker Enterprises; Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community; Mercy Regional Health Center; Realty Executive – Weis Real Estate; Strecker-Nelson Gallery; Sunny 102.5 FM; The Trust Company of Manhattan; UMB Bank n.a.; Varney’s Bookstore; Weary Davis, L.C. David P. Troup.