Painter and Photographer

ARTIST STATEMENT

...The boundaries of knowledge about our universe are expanding so rapidly we are not even sure of the most basic questions to ask; for example: Is space even three-dimensional? Even as the Hubble space telescope sends us new and unprecedented information, we are looking through pixels and the flat plane of a viewing surface. The canvas, the Hubble itself, is the flat plane drawing us in and inviting our scrutiny, like so much else in the 20th century has been examined through the flat plane of the T.V. Screen.

...The information is so new and untested we cannot even be sure what we are seeing. Like that experience, this art is confined by the canvas but bridges painting/sculpture representationalism and the American art of the gesture. Each painting is not a universe enclosed by its borders but rather a snapshot of a small portion of a past riddle measured in light years and questioning even the concept of infinite borders.

...When the Hubble was launched it had the theoretical capability to see beyond the limits of all matter. What have been redefined are those theoretical limits. We are finding answers in our time at an unprecedented rate, but also finding questions at an even faster rate.

BIOGRAPHY

James F. Dicke II was born in 1945 in San Angelo, Texas. Raised in Ohio and Indiana, he returned to Texas for college at Trinity University and has built a thriving career as a businessman in Ohio.  Dicke is also an artist. A photographer from the age of five, he started painting at Culver Military Academy in 1963 under the tutelage of the late Warner Williams, a bas-relief, realist artist.  Later, he studied with Nelson Shanks of Pennsylvania.

Dicke's work has been influenced by his extensive collection of 19th century, 2Oth century and contemporary art. Other decisive influences are Nature and the Hubble Space Telescope. Built to see beyond what scientists had previously calculated as the edge of all material existence, the Hubble has had an incredible impact on the scientific world. New and spectacular images and information arrive each week, challenging our fundamental ideas about galaxies, space, limitless boundaries and the universe. Dicke asserts that these wonders are reflected in our backyard via the beauty of overgrown nature.

Dicke believes that a work of art should engage viewers, draw them into its surface and share with them the wonder and experience of the artist.

EDUCATION

1999     National Academy of Design Honoree

1968     Trinity University, San Antonio, TX (B.S. in Business Administration) Distinguished Alumnus Award (in 1991)

1964    Culver Military Academy, Culver IN (Cum Laude Society)
           Honorary Cum Laude (in 1985)
           Distinguished Service Award (in 1999)

OTHER INVOLVEMENTS

Dayton Art Institute Board
National Museum of American Art Board

INSTRUCTORS

Nelson Shanks, Philadelphia, PA
Warner Williams, Culver, IN

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1997     Recent Paintings, The Ralls Collection, Inc., Washington, DC

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

The Ralls Collection, Inc., Washington, DC

1999   Intimate Objects (Holiday Exhibition)
           Nudes, Landscapes & Flowers (Three-Person Photography)
1998     Intimate Objects (Holiday Exhibition)
           Air and Water (Summer Exhibition)
1997     Intimate Objects (Holiday Exhibition)
1996     Intimate Objects (Holiday Exhibition)

BENEFIT AUCTIONS

House of Ruth (for Battered Women), Washington, DC
Museum of Fly Fishing, Manchester, VT
Rotary Community Auction, New Breman, OH

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

NASA, Washington, DC
National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC
Long Beach Art Museum, Long Beach, CA
Minster Bank, Minster, OH
Crown Equipment Corporation, New Breman, OH
Eli Wilner Collection, New York, NY
Congressman Lamar Smith
Senator Joe Tydings
David Harrison
Jaime Frankfurt
Mr. and Mrs. Kim C. Anderson
Mr. and Mrs. Bret Price
Mr. and Mrs. John Safer