Marc Sijan Biography 1946 1968 1971 Born: Serbia B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, WI M.S. in art from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, WI Lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Selected Exhibitions Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, L 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 J. Wayne Stark Gallery Texas A & M University, College Station, TX (solo) Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL (solo) Dane G. Hansen Memorial Museum, Logan, KS (solo) R.W. Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, LA (solo) Muscatine Art Center, Muscatine, IA (solo) Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL (solo) Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, Dubai, U.A.E. (group) Galeria Clave, Murcia, Spain (group) The Winged Iguanu Fine Arts, Puerto Vallarta, México (group) Cafesjan Contemporary, Museum of Art, Yerevan, Armenia (group) Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL (group) Amdur Gallery, Glenview, IL (group) San Francisco International, Art Exposition - San Francisco, CA (group) Appleton Art Center, Appleton, WI (group) Albany Museum of Art, Albany, GA (solo) Westmore Land Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA (solo) Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, MI (solo) Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, WI (solo) York Museum of Art, York, PA (solo) Gasiunasen Gallery, Palm Beach, FL (group) Los Angeles Art and Antique Fair, Los Angeles, CA (group) Art Scottsdale, Scottsdale, AZ (group) Robert Berman Fine Arts Gallery, Santa Monica, CA (group) Louisiana Art & Science, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (solo) Krasl Art Museum, Saint Joseph, MI (solo) Dane G. Hansen Memorial Art Museum, Logan, KS (solo) J. Wayne Stark Gallery Texas A & M University, College Station, TX (solo) Exposure Photo Festival, West Palm Beach, FL (group) Brunner Art Museum, Ames, IA (solo) Bregstrom-Mahler Museum of Art, Neenah, WI (solo) Art Miami, Miami, FL (group) Art Palm Springs, Palm Springs, CA (group) Sofa, Chicago, IL (group) Texas Tech University Museum, Lubbock, TX (solo) Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH (solo) Muscatine Museum of Art, Muscatine, IA (solo) Southwest Art Museum, Midland, TX (solo) Museum of Art & Science, Macon, GA (solo) Art Chicago, Chicago, IL (group) Art Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM (group) Art Palm Beach, Modern and Contemporary Fair, Palm Beach, CA (group) Los Angeles Art and Antique Fair, Los Angeles, CA (group) Art Toronto, Toronto, Canada (group) Dallas Art and Antique Fair, Dallas, TX (group) Walker Fine Art, New York, NY (group) Atlanta Contemporary Fair, Atlanta, GA (group) San Francisco International, Art Exposition - San Francisco, CA (group) Art Museum of Abilene, Abilene, TX (solo) Meadows Museum of Art, Shreveport, LA (solo) Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso, IN(solo) Owensboro Museum of Fine Arts, Owensboro, KY (solo) EFTA00522921

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1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1985 1983 1980 1978 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 Union Art Museum, Baton Rouge, LA (solo) McAllen International Art Museum, McAllen, TX (solo) Loveland Museum and Art Gallery, Loveland, CO (solo) Dane G. Hansen Memorial Art Museum, Logan, KS (solo) Midland Art Museum, Midland, MI (solo) Berman Museum of Art, PA (solo) Sunrise Museum of Art, Charleston, WV (solo) Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS (solo) Ella Caruthers Dunnegan Museum, Bolivar, MO(solo) West Bend Art Museum, West Bend, WI (solo) Paine Art Center Museum, Oshkosh, WI (solo) Cheekwood Tennessee Museum of Art, Nashville, TN (solo) Portsmouth Museum Arts Center, Portsmouth, VA Charles H. MacNider Museum, Mason City, IA (solo) Texas Tech Universtiy Museum, Lubbock, Texas (solo) Canton Art Institute, Canton, OH (solo) Bruce Lewin Gallery, New York, NY (group) Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (group) San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA (group) Byer Museum of the Arts, Evanston, IL (group) University of Texas Museum of Art, El Paso, TX (group) Park Forest Art Museum, Park Forest, IL (group) Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI (group) Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (group) Carnegie Institute of Art, Pittsburgh, PA (group) Museum of Art, University of Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI (group) Civic Art Museum, Battle Creek, MI (group) Slocum Art Museum, Ball State University, Muncie, In (group) Duluth Art Institute Arrowhead Biennial, Duluth, MN (group) South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN(group) Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (group) Egner Fine Arts Museum, Findlay, OH (group) Wisconsin Art Museum, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (group) Museum of Art, Delta College, Delta, MI (group) SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS: Hiromi Sano, Tokyo, Japan Museo Escultura Figurativa Internacional Contemporanea, Portugal Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH Vero Beach Museum of Art, FL Dayton Art Institute, OH Dunnegan Museum of Art, Bolivar, MO Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA EFTA00522922

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Marc Sijan's Superrealistic sculptures are "homages to humanity's fascination with its own forms - - a fascination which has compelled artists throughout the millennia to mirror life in virtually every medium." Sijan's figures are incredibly lifelike, sensuous and graceful. In fact, they are so lifelike, they seem always on the verge of movement, a mere instant away from action. The pores in the skin, the tiny hairs, and veins; even the bald spots, the blemishes, the individual shapes of the faces that make human beings so similar, yet so unique: These are the essence of what makes Marc Sijan's work so arresting. Sijan, a Milwaukee-based artist, carries on the tradition of a very old form, but his approach is very modern. His realism recalls the work of the Greek sculptors in its bold expression of human energy and poise. But Sijan is not necessarily celebrating the ideal form. His figures are more gritty, more natural -- a tribute to real people. Sijan's work is similar to that of fellow artists Duane Hansen and John DeAndrea, who use lifelike human figures to express elements of the human condition and human relationships. But whereas his colleagues tend to express a kind of static existence, Sijan tries to capture a life force in full swing. “| am seeking to freeze motion rather than suggest life," he notes. "The sculpture appears passive, but there is so much going on inside.” Sijan received his Bachelor's degree in art education from the University of Wisconsin in 1968, then went on to complete a Master of Science in Art degree three years later. It was then that he began to sculpt the human figure. His work has won him recognition throughout the country, with over 40 one-man museum exhibitions throughout North America." His inspiration? Michelangelo's David. Sijan has always been intrigued with the instinctive and sensitive way the artist treated that famous form, and with the incredible attention Michelangelo paid to details of anatomy. Sijan included anatomy among his own course work, and combined it with the very latest methods in sculptural casting and modeling. His goal was to create sculpture that could stand alone, on the verge of movement, yet somehow remain deeply silent and "spiritual." "The human figure is one of the most challenging subjects to work with," he said. "1 am working to develop a niche of my own where | can develop a believable figurative sculpture that works not only on a visual level, but on a deeper more emotional level.” Sijan's method is distinct and exacting. First, he works from live models, to produce a negative mold in plaster, and sculpts the interior with special tools and a magnifying glass to assure accurate detail. Then, he casts the figure in a polyester resin. To achieve realistic flesh tones, Sijan applies 25 coats of paint --- and adds varnish. Sijan uses oil paint in the final stages of the work. “The goal is to achieve depth, yet translucency," he says. “It can't be flat. The chest and throat texture is different from that of the arms, legs and stomach. Facial skin differs from that on the torso." To achieve the remarkably realistic product on view here today, Sijan looks for “variations.” Those are the millions of individual features we all possess -- goosebumps, skin imperfections, skin color, sunburn, birthmarks, age spots -- and Sijan spends as long as six months reproducing this detail on one piece. The process of exploring the human figure is deeply emotional, says Sijan. His work celebrates the individual, and in discovering version after version of the human figure, he notes, there is always something of oneself lying just under the surface. "It’s interesting, this fascination," he said. "The human form is the oldest artistic subject --- it was the first subject. EFTA00522923