Martin Dunn

b 1949

Martin Dunn   

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to view the human experience through the biggest possible lens.  My desire is to lean in, listening and learning more about the monotony of life as it is lived by people who have little in common with me.  The journey has taken me to nursing homes, operating rooms, county jails, homeless camps, Hispaniola, Africa, churches, temples, mosques, and synagogues.  It has cost me dearly, but with such rewards!  I’ve found that people are hard to hate close up; that children often have the clearest vision.  I’ve found that we are much more alike than we are different; that most of us are eager to communicate.  Through it all, I’ve realized that we are all connected in a very difficult-to-explain way, and that connection is unbreakable.  I can forget it for a while, but I cannot break it.

I’ve also found that there is so much more for which words have not been invented.  And that’s where art comes in.  My father was an artist.  He worked as a commercial illustrator in the days before clip art.  He was also a war hero, who suffered from PTSD for the rest of his life.  His few oil paintings are dark, monochromatic renderings of fighter planes in tight formation.  He was trying to say something that the society of that era wouldn’t let him put into words.  Wise people say that the greatest tragedy of trauma is the loss of vulnerability.  Dad could never let his guard down.  But we had a common language in our art; him instructing, me learning.  What we couldn’t share in conversation is right there on the canvas.


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FUN & REALISM                           ART THAT MATTERS

 

 

Grand Finale

 

Grand Finale ...

 

 

 

Hello Kitty

 

Hello Kitty ...

Sandpiper Sunset

 

Sandpiper Sunset

SOLD

 

 

 

Girl in Blue Dress

 

Girl in Blue

SOLD

 

 

 

Castles Made of Sand

 

Castles Made of Sand ...

 

 

 

Siesta Beach Sand Sculpture

 

Siesta Beach Sand Sculpture ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Effortless

 

Effortless ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Old Rabbi

 

The Old Rabbi...

 

 

A Quiet Moment

 

A Quiet Moment...

 

 

 

Morning Light

 

Morning Light...

 

 

 

 

Waiting Out the Storm

 

Waiting Out the Storm...

 

 

 

 

Gotcha

 

Gotcha...

 

 

SnoopyHead

 

Stoopihead

SOLD

 

 

 

Flee-Guls

 

Flee-Guls

SOLD

 

Bubbles

Bubbles

SOLD

 

 

 

Hide and Seek

 

Hide and Seek

SOLD

 

Breezy Afternoon

 

Breezy Afternoon

SOLD

 

If Pigs Could Paint

 

If Pigs Could Paint

SOLD

 

Summer Siesta

 

Summer Siesta

SOLD


Poppies

 

Poppies

SOLD


Résumé

Education


Rice University, Houston, TX, art & architecture
University of Missouri/Kansas City, undergraduate degree
University of Missouri/Columbia, medical degree
Training in pencils and oils with Suzanne Peck, Sarasota, 2009-present


Exhibits

Three pieces selected for inclusion in ‘Create’, an open, all-media juried exhibit hosted by the Bradenton Area Arts and Culture, September 8-24, 2021.  https://artcentermanatee.org/category/exhibitions/

One painting selected for inclusion in ‘We’re Doing It ALL Wrong’. A national exhibition hosted by Edward A Dixon Gallery, Dayton OH, May 1-July 31st, 2021.  https://eadgallery.com/

Two paintings selected for inclusion in ‘Elevate’, a national exhibition hosted by Webster Arts, Webster Groves, MO, March 16th-April 30th, 2021.  http://webster-arts.org

One painting selected for inclusion in ‘Beautiful Possibilities’, a national exhibition hosted by Woodwalk Galleries, Door County, WI, March 1-April 30, 2021.  www.WoodwalkGallery.com

Two pieces selected for inclusion in ‘Hindsight’, an international online show hosted by Gallery 114, Portland, OR, for the month of January, 2021.  http://www.gallery114pdx.com/

One piece selected for ‘Embracing Our Differences’, an international exhibition presented at Bayfront Park, Sarasota, FL, January 20 through April 1, 2021.  The exhibit was extended due to an additional grant and moved to Benderson Park for an additional four months. https://www.embracingourdifferences.org/index.php?src=directory&view=CommitteeReview&srctype=artist_review

https://www.ozarksfirst.com/local-news/local-news-local-news/drury-campus-hosting-race-in-america-art-exhibit-aiming-to-help-connect-the-springfield-community/

Three pieces selected for ‘Race in America’, a national juried show hosted by Drury University, Springfield, MO, November 6-25, 2020

Invited to participation in “Art in the Time of Corona: A Global Project”.  Hosted by Dab Art, Los Angeles.https://www.artsy.net/show/dab-art-art-in-the-time-of-corona

Distinguished admission to 2019-2020 Engage Art International Contest https://engageart.org/

12th Biennial National Art Exhibition, Visual Arts Center, Punta Gorda, FL, February-March 2020 

Art Olympia, International Art Competition, Tokyo, Japan, 2019

Corrales Old Church national invitational fine art show, Albuquerque, October 2018
Solo Exhibit, North Sarasota Public Library, June-October, 2018
Exhibit and Silent Auction, BridgeaLife annual fundraisers, April 2016, 2017, and 2018
Invitational Exhibit, Bayside Community Church, April 2018
11th Biennial National Art Exhibition, Visual Arts Center, Punta Gorda, FL, February-March 2018
Solo Exhibit, John Carl Salon, July-August, 2016
’ll Be the Judge”, Art Center of Sarasota, May 2015
“New Works”, Art Center of Sarasota, May-July, 2013
“Florida Flavor”, Art Center of Sarasota, July-September 2013
“People, Places, and Things”, Art & Frame of Sarasota, November-January 2014
“Breaking Tradition”, Art Center of Sarasota, January-February, 2014
“One World”, Art Center of Sarasota, March-April, 2014
“Perspectives”, Art Center of Sarasota, May-June 2014
 “All Things Florida”, Art & Frame of Sarasota, March-May 2014
“Coming Home”, Art Center of Sarasota, August-October 2014
“Only Fifty”, Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, September-November, 2014
 “Seasons”, Art & Frame of Sarasota, October-December 2014


Awards

Best In Show, ‘Create’, hosted by Bradenton Area Arts and Culture, September 8-24, 2021.  https://artcentermanatee.org/category/exhibitions/

Best In Show, ‘Elevate’, hosted by Webster Arts, Webster Groves, MO, March 16th-April 30th, 2021.  http://webster-arts.org

2021 Honorable Mention, The Bakhita Prize for the Visual Arts, an international competition sponsored by Dappled Things, a Catholic Arts magazine.  https://dappledthings.org/

2020 Recipient of the Marianne Oberg Foundation for Spiritual Art grant for the pursuit of spiritual art

https://www.mofsa.org/spiritual-art/mofsa-awards-2020-spiritual-art-grant/

Semi-Honorable Mention, Art Olympia International Art Competition, 2019

Honorable Mention, “I’ll Be the Judge”, Art Center of Sarasota, May 2015
Merit Award, “I’ll Be the Judge”, Art Center of Sarasota, May 2015
Honorable Mention, “Coming Home”, Art Center of Sarasota, August-October 2014
Honorable Mention, “People, Places, and Things”, Art & Frame of Sarasota, November-January 2014

 

Public Art

Sarasota Christian Church:
Beach mural, Church of the Palms Palm Center, Sarasota, installed July 2018 for permanent display
“Revelation Triptych”, installed July 2019 for permanent display
“The Adoration of the Shepherds”, December 2016
“O Holy Night”, December 2015
“Mary”, April 2015
“The Empty Tomb”, April 2014


Commissions


“The Empty Tomb”, Sarasota Christian Church, April, 2014