dave stein
David Stein
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Has lived in NY, MA, CA, OR, Baja MX, Sonora, MX, VA, IN, and NM.
Travels include Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, Israel, Germany, Denmark, Spain, New Zealand, Switzerland, France, and 46 US States
Dave is a contemporary artist living and working in Albuquerque, New Mexico since February of 2023. Dave summarizes many of his formative life experiences as those of an outsider looking in at life without membership in culture nor attachment to place. The son of an Ashkenazi Jewish father and a North Carolina protestant mother, roots on one side in Eastern Europe and Brooklyn NY, the other Huguenot French with many generations in Appalachia. Through divorce at age three he became the son of a gentile single mom and the “poor” kid (by comparison) in a relatively affluent Jewish suburb of Rochester, NY. Some of the experiences that shaped his unique creative sense include parental mental illness, violence, alternative religious education through the Unitarian Universalist church, and 4 years in a reform school in Western Massachusetts for at-risk youth. Perhaps most significantly, Dave credits the influence of his only sibling, his older half-brother, with introducing him at an early age to art, music, and biting sarcasm as ways to process the crazy and often painful world in which they lived.
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Dave is an art school dropout and has been painting and designing since his teens in the 1980s. He studied fine and applied art at Berkshire Community College in Western Massachusetts and Rochester Institute of Technology. He has worked in photography, graphic design, and painting, using oils, mixed media and acrylics at various stages of his career. He has exhibited his paintings in Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Tennessee, California, Indiana, and New Mexico.
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Dave relocated to New Mexico in 2023 having lived previously in every corner (and center) of the USA as well as Mexico. He loves to share the story of how he and his spouse were drawn to the land of enchantment as a potential place to call home in retirement but while visiting were given the treasure of a job opportunity which brought them to New Mexico much sooner than expected. He is enthralled with the sense of place and welcome. His work reflects wonder and respect for the land’s unique geology and rich, complex cultural history. He often thanks the mountain for allowing him to live on its slope and enjoy its gifts.
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BS Liberal Studies, Excelsior College
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Art Education
1985-1987 Berkshire Community College
1987-1991 Rochester Institute of Technology
Exhibitions & Shows
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5/3/2024 - 5/11/2024 OffCenter Community Arts Project Little Houses & Big Hearts, annual art exhibition and silent auction fundraiser, FUSION Theatre & Gallery Albuquerque, NM Artwork Contributor
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2/2/2024 - 2/23/2024 JETER | STEIN
Alexander-Heath Contemporary, Roanoke VA
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8/4/2023-9/3/2023- [POINTS IN INDIAN] Jesse Littlebird Lead artist & curator. https://www.lapisroom.com/jesselittlebird
A guided group show. FUSION Gallery presented by Lapis Room Albuquerque NM.
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6/1/2021-6/25/2021- PAREIDOLIA, PROPHETS, PRAIRIES, AND POLITICS: A SOJOURNER'S VISIONS IN HOOSIERLAND TAF's Wells Community Center, West Gallery. Lafayette, IN. Solo Exhibition.
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6/19/2019 & 9/27/2019 - THE ARTS FEDERATION Gallery Walk. R.P Venue, Lafayette, IN, Featured Artist.
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10/12/2018 - 11/4/2018 - STATE OF THE ART: ART OF THE STATE, Prairie Arts Council, Carnegie Center - Lillian Fendig Gallery, Rensselaer, IN. Juried exhibition..
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10/5/2018 - 10/26/2018 - 2nd Annual Trinity Episcopal Church National Juried Exhibition, "Who Is My Neighbor?" Sacramento, CA.
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11/3/2017 - 11/22/2017 - SOCIAL THOUGHTS EXHIBITION, Indiana University Union Street Gallery, Kokomo, IN. An exhibition curated by IU Kokomo student intern Janet Meek dealing with social issues.
6/1/2017 - 12/31/2017 -TRINARY EVOLUTION: A PUBLIC EXHIBITION; Roanoke, VA 16West Market Building & Gallery. Solo Artist
3/13/2017 - 4/7/12017 - 32nd ANNUAL POSITIVE/NEGATIVE NATIONAL JURIED ART EXHIBITION, Slocumb Gallery at Eastern Tennessee State University. Juror: Anja Foerschner, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.
12/2/2016 - 1/27/2017 - "The Gift" exhibit, Fleda A Ring Artworks, Roanoke VA contributing artist (curated exhibit); The Gift: La Liberte' Des Trois"
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11/1/2016 - 12/1/2016 - FL3TCH3R EXHIBIT - Socially & Politically Engaged Art, The Reece Museum, Eastern Tennessee State University. Juror- Selected Participating Artist. http://fl3tch3rexhibit.com/index.html
9/23/2016 - 11/22/2016 - COMMUNITY ARTS PROJECT; Roanoke, VA 16West Market Building & Gallery
Co-Featured Artist (Pareidoloian Series) https://www.facebook.com/events/314791368885618/
https://www.downtownroanoke.org/do/community-arts-project-pareidolia-and-ephemerality
6/4/2016 - 6/5/2016 - Taubman Museum Sidewalk Art Show; Roanoke VA
Participating Artist
3/4/2016 - 3/26/2016 - Alexander-Heath Contemporary
Solo Exhibition; Roanoke VA
https://www.facebook.com/AlexanderHeath-Contemporary-1412229045738477/?fref=ts
12/2015 - RED exhibit, Fleda A Ring Artworks, Roanoke VA contributing artist (by invitation).
https://www.facebook.com/fledaaringartworks/
10/2015 - {Lightwell Lounge and Gallery} @ Aurora Apartments and Art studios, "Hard Hat" exhibition, Roanoke VA. contributing artist (by invitation)
2013-2015 - 16 West Marketplace Roanoke, VA rotating artists/works.
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Online
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Instagram - https://instagram.com/dave.stein.artist/
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