Artist Statement:

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“Excuse My Scribbling, Please”, highlights a four-year development of a series of wall assemblages that utilize manipulated vintage photographs, letters, maps, and objects collected throughout the years. This work marks a return to collage and assemblage, a process I had explored earlier in my career.

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The work attempts to explore themes of fractured but connected family histories. These visual poems of unknown individuals depict splintered lives that allow the viewer to interpret the storyline in their own way.

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Biography:

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Dan Havel was born in St. Peter, Minnesota. After receiving his MFA in 1981, Havel spent two years in Queens, NY as part of the international artist residency program at PS1. After the residency, Havel moved back to Minneapolis where he was a part of the growing downtown art scene in the 1980s, known for their pop-up alternative art events.

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Havel moved to Houston, Texas in 1991. He was an active member of the 90’s era underground art scene in Houston and is best known for his large-scale installations in alternative public settings.

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Besides producing works on paper, sculpture, and installations, Havel creates public art, both individually and as part of Havel Ruck Projects, an artist collaborative he founded with Houston sculptor Dean Ruck.

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Dan Havel’s work and the work of Havel Ruck Projects have received numerous awards. Their work has been reviewed and published in many books, magazines, newspapers, and online blogs. Havel’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is part of numerous collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Havel’s awards include residencies at P.S.1, Edward Albee’s “The Barn” in Montauk, a Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant, and individual artist grants from Artadia and the Houston Arts Alliance.

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For the last 30 years, Havel has been an art educator; 26 of those years have been spent teaching art to upper school students at St. John’s School in Houston. He lives in the Houston Heights with his family.