Dean Meeker

Artist Biography:

(1920, Orchard, Colorado – 2002, Madison, WI)

Internationally renowned printmaker and sculptor, Dean Meeker, was involved in over 90 one-person art exhibitions during. He was also a celebrated instructor, teaching at the University of Wisconsin – Madison for 46 years.

Dean Meeker received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1945 and, two years later, his Master of Fine Arts from Northwestern University.

At the universities he studied painting and sculpture at SAIC, then to serigraphy . However, after being exposed to the silk-screening process at a signage shop, he shifted his focus to printmaking when he began educating at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1946. By 1948, he started teaching silk-screening to students in an unofficial and unaccredited course. Due to the class’s success, Meeker began teaching the first university affiliated course in serigraphy by 1950.

In 1954, Meeker was awarded the Graduate School Research Grant (the first ever awarded to Studio Art faculty). Three years later, he earned a one-person serigraphy show at the Print Department of the Art Institute of Chicago accelerating printmaking as a fine art medium.

In 1959, Meeker began investigating the combination of intaglio and serigraphy printmaking. As a result, he was awarded the first Guggenheim Fellowship in the UW Art Department to study in France for one year to learn more about the intaglio process. His studies led to a one-person exhibition at La Gravure Gallery in Paris.

Meeker was one of the first artists to overprint silkscreens with polymer intaglio which allowed for a higher three-dimensionality, hinting at his roots as a sculptor. Meeker’s constant exploration of the print medium led to his collaboration with engineer, John McFee, and the invention of the Meeker-McFee motorized etching process.

Meeker returned to sculpture during his later career working in a variety of mediums and creating small to monumental pieces.

Meeker is represented in over 100 private and public collections including the Milwaukee Art Museum; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Sources:

http://deanmeekerstudios.com/

http://wisconsinart.org/archives/artist/dean-jackson-meeker/profile-2315.aspx