David Schirm

Cracked Open, is a solo exhibition of paintings by David Schirm, UB Department of Art faculty member and Vietnam War veteran. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with On the Front Lines: Military Veterans at The Art Students League of New York. 

Blending history with personal experience, Schirm's paintings are formal yet abstracted investigations that explore the relationship between the natural and the man-made. Schirm's personal landscapes influence his painted ones — from downtown LA to Vietnam to the countryside of Western New York, his work has continued to address social, cultural, and environmental abuses. His imaginative aesthetic is showcased in a selected exhibition spanning 40 years of art making. The exhibition includes work based on research during travels in South Asia for which he received Fulbright Fellowships in 1994 and 2004. Indian miniatures, Eastern philosophies and mythologies as well as contemporary culture, narrative histories, and environmental concerns have influenced his current paintings and drawings.

David Schirm was born in Pittsburgh, PA, graduated with a BFA from Carnegie Mellon and earned his MFA from Indiana University. He is currently the program head of Painting in the Department of Art at the University at Buffalo. Prior to his tenure at Buffalo, Schirm was a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University, UCLA, USC, Otis College of Art and Design, and the University of Cincinnati. chirm has exhibited his work in numerous solo and group exhibitions including The Carnegie International at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Directions at the Hirshhorn Museum, and Painting and Sculpture Today at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. In addition to two Fulbright Fellowships, he has received two New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships and his work is in several major public and private collections.

Exhibition overview from museum website