Information
[Biography][Recent Exhibits][Current Activities][Professional Experience]
Biography
Michael Preble has been an
active photographer since the
late 1980s, first publishing
his Caribbean photographs with
International Voyager Media,
Miami. He is represented by
Vincent Hester Gallery, Portsmouth.
Virginia.
He has exhibited nationally and
regionally, including art festivals,
galleries and museums, and is included
in numerous public and private
collections.
Preble is also a museum professional, currently Program Director/Curator at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News, a position he has held since October 2004. Prior to coming to Hampton Roads, Michael was Deputy Director for Programming at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. He has held senior curatorial positions at the Portland Museum of Art, Maine and the Bass Museum, Miami Beach, among others.
He also served as guest curator for the William Baziotes exhibition at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy and is currently Editor of the William Baziotes Catalogue Raisonné project. He holds a BA in Art History from Cornell University and an MA in Humanities from California State University, Dominguez Hills. His wife, Anne Guthrie, is a senior planner with the City of Norfolk. They are dog enthusiasts, with two vizslas, Finley and Niko.
Statement
I have a day job, as an art curator. My business and my interests take me to some interesting places and spaces.
I take my Nikon along and here’s what I seek:
- Color or b/w, it’s all about light and space
- Serial imagery, visual surprises and asymmetry
- Compositions from unusual vantage points
- I embrace chaos, eccentricity and irony.
Of further note:
With only archival materials, the photograph says what size it should be; I don’t mass produce them in a variety of sizes.
- I occasionally make one-of-a kind works with narrative additions and drawing
- I crop through the lens and rarely make changes in the computer.
- I prefer to sneak pictures – don’t like model releases
- I occasionally think of myself as a painter with a camera.
- Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson are under-appreciated.
- Any fool can take a good picture – not every fool knows how or why.
- Everyone should know how to draw.
Michael Preble
June 2011
Recent Exhibitions (Competitive & Other) / Photographer:
2011 |
Focal Point: Fine Art and Creative Photography, Circle Gallery, Maryland Federation of the Arts, Annapolis |
2011 |
PhotoSpiva 2011, Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin, MO |
2011 |
Virginia Art Fairs: Stockley Gardens Spring (Norfolk Artist Award); Boardwalk Art Festival, Virginia Beach; Pt Warwick Art & Sculpture Festival, Newport News, VA; Seawall Art Show, Portsmouth, VA |
2011 |
National Art Fairs: Naples National Art Festival, FL; Naples Downtown Art Festival, FL; 1st Annual Kings Drive Art Walk, Festival in the Park, Charlotte, NC; 3rd Annual Hilton Head Island Art Festival, SC; Festival in the Park, Charlotte, NC |
2010 |
National Art Encounter, Naples Art Association, von Leibig Art Center, Florida |
2010 |
26TH Annual Juried Photography Exhibit, Suffolk Museum, VA |
2010 |
National Art Fairs: Cooper River Fine Art Festival, Cherry Hill, NJ; AFB@Woodland Park, Lexington Art League, KY; Roanoke Art Festival, NC |
2010 |
Virginia Art Fairs: Boardwalk Art Show & Festival, Virginia Beach; Stockley Gardens Spring Art Festival, Norfolk; Pt Warwick Art & Sculpture Festival, Newport News (Third Prize) |
2009 |
Small Wonders, Circle Gallery, Maryland Federation of the Arts, Annapolis |
2009 |
Think Small, artspace, Richmond, VA |
2009 |
Miniatures, Tidewater Art Alliance, 111 Gallery, Norfolk, VA |
2009 |
Virginia Artists 2009, CT Center, Hampton, VA |
2009 |
25th Annual Juried Photography Exhibit, Suffolk Museum, VA |
2009 |
A Dog Show, Falk Gallery, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA |
2009 |
National Art Fairs: Boardwalk Show, Ocean City, NJ; Summer Shade Art Festival, Atlanta, GA; Telfair Art Fair, Savannah, GA |
2009 |
Virginia Art Fairs: Arts in the Park, Richmond, VA; Stockley Gardens Spring Art Festival, Norfolk, VA; Pt Warwick Art & Sculpture Festival, Newport News, VA |
2008 |
Virginia Art Fairs: Northern Virginia Arts Festival, Reston VA; Stockley Gardens Fall Arts Festival, Norfolk, VA; Pt Warwick Art & Sculpture Festival, Newport News, VA |
2008 |
2 Best, Falk Gallery, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA |
2008 |
PhotoSpiva 2008, Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin, MO |
2008 |
Letter Carriers: The Written Word as Art, Shooting Star Gallery, Suffolk, VA |
2007 |
Virginia Art Fairs: Spring Art on the Half Shell, Urbanna, VA; Fall Neptune Festival, Virginia Beach (Award of Excellence); Pt Warwick Art & Sculpture Festival, Newport News, VA |
2007 |
23rd Juried Photography Exhibition, Suffolk Museum, VA (1st Place Award), Suffolk, VA |
2007 |
New Work, Hester Gallery, Portsmouth, VA |
2006 |
From Angels to Zeppelins, Celestial images in Art, Shooting Star Gallery and Suffolk Musum, Suffolk, VA |
2006 |
Virginia Arts Fairs: Spring Gosport Arts Festival, Portsmouth, VA; Virginia Art Fairs, Oct: Occasion for the Arts, Williamsburg; Port Warwick Art & Sculpture Festival, Newport News; 225th Anniversary Yorktown Celebration Art Show |
2006 |
Westmoreland Nationals, Westmoreland Community College, Latrobe, PA |
2006 |
Shenandoah III, Shenandoah Arts Council, Winchester, VA |
2006 |
20th Anniversary Arkansas Arts Council Fellowships, AR Arts Center |
| 2006 |
22nd Annual Juried Photography Exhibit, Suffolk Museum, Suffolk, VA |
| 2006 |
Aperture Show, Gallery on the York, Yorktown, VA |
| 2006 |
Art with a Heart by Artists We Love, Vincent Hester Gallery, Portsmouth, VA |
2005 |
Virginia Art Fairs: Port Warwick Art & Sculpture Festival, Newport News, VA; Occasion for the Arts, Williamsburg, VA; Stockley Gardens Fall Arts Festival, Norfolk, VA; Stockley Gardens Spring Arts Festival, Norfolk, VA; Halizo Arts Festival, Norfolk VA |
2005 |
PhotoSpiva, Spiva Art Center, Joplin, MO |
2005 |
Home Sweet Home, Shooting Star Gallery, Suffolk, VA |
2005 |
State Fair, Venice, Dogs & More, Virginia Beach Public Library |
2004 |
Virginia Art Fairs: Stockley Gardens Fall Arts Festival, Norfolk, VA; Gosport Arts Festival, Olde Towne, Portsmouth, VA |
2004 |
Photography Biennial, Rawls Museum Arts, Courtland, |
2004 |
New Waves, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia |
2004 |
La Grange XXIII National Biennial, Lamar Dodd Art Center, La Grange, GA |
2004 |
Click, Click, 3 Photographers, Vincent Hester Gallery, Olde Towne, Portsmouth, VA |
2003 |
Guest Artist, Arkansas Artists Gallery, Cox Creative Center, Little Rock |
2002 |
The Arkansas Art Exhibition, Statehouse Conv. Ctr., Little Rock (since 1999) |
2002 |
Annual Regional Art Exhibit, Renaissance Center, Dickson, TN |
2002 |
Photo National, Lancaster Museum of Art, PA |
2002 |
PhotoSpiva, Spiva Art Center, Joplin, MO |
2002 |
Annual Juried Art Competition, South Arkansas Arts Center, El Dorado |
2002 |
Works on Paper, LSU Union Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA |
2002 |
Body and Soul, Arts & Science Center, Pine Bluff, AR |
2001 |
PhotoSpiva, Spiva Art Center, Joplin, MO |
2001 |
Works on Paper, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA |
2001 |
Rosenzweig Exhibition, Arts & Science Center, Pine Bluff, AR |
2001 |
14th Small Works on Paper, Arkansas Arts Council (traveling) |
2000 |
Biennial National Juried Exhibition, University of Central Arkansas, Conway |
2000 |
Photographic Processes, Artists’ Registry, Arkansas Arts Council |
2000 |
Appropriation, University of Arkansas, Little Rock |
Current Activities
CURATOR/PROGRAM DIRECTOR, PENINSULA
FINE ARTS CENTER
Newport News, Virginia
Oct.
2004-present
Contact: mpreble@pfac-va.org
EDITOR,
WILLIAM BAZIOTES CATALOGUE
RAISONNE
Norfolk, Virginia
Ongoing
Contact for information: baziotes@verizon.net.
Professional Experience
GUEST CURATOR,
WILLIAM BAZIOTES
RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION
PEGGY GUGGENHEIM COLLECTION,
Venice,
Italy
2002-2005
On view, September 5, 2004-January
9, 2005
DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR PROGRAMMING & DIRECTOR,
THE MUSEUM SCHOOL,
ARKANSAS
ARTS CENTER
Little Rock, AR
1996-2003
Promoted from Curator of Education;
Associate Director
ARTS CONSULTANT,
WRITER & PHOTOGRAPHER,
Jackson, MS
1994-1995
EDITOR / VICE PRESIDENT,
PUBLISHING
INTERNATIONAL VOYAGER MEDIA,
Miami, FL
1989-1994
Promoted from Editorial Director
CHIEF CURATOR,
BASS MUSEUM
OF ART
Miami Beach, FL
1987-1989
CURATOR OF ART,
THE ARKANSAS
ARTS CENTER
Little Rock, AR
1984-1987
CURATOR OF COLLECTIONS,
PORTLAND
MUSEUM OF ART
Portland, ME
1981-1984
CURATOR OF EXHIBITIONS AND
COLLECTIONS
HUNTSVILLE MUSEUM OF ART,
Huntsville,
AL
1979-1981
EXHIBITION SUPERVISOR,
MUCKENTHALER
CULTURAL CENTER
City of Fullerton, CA
1979
GUEST CURATOR,
NEWPORT HARBOR
ART MUSEUM
Newport Beach, CA
1978
DIRECTOR,
ART GALLERY,
MT.
SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE
Walnut, CA
1974-1978
Selected Publications
2004
William
Baziotes, Paintings and Watercolors,
1938-1962,
major essay
(Passages) for retrospective
exhibition,
Peggy Guggenheim
Collection,
Venice, Italy
(published fall 2004)
2001
Introduction,
William Baziotes Watercolors.
Helman Gallery: New York.
Also for Helman Gallery: catalogue
essay, William Baziotes, Paintings
and Works on paper, 1952-1961, in
1984
1998
Twentieth
Century American Drawings
from the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation
Collection, by
Gerald Nordland with contributions
from Michael Preble, et. al.,
Grassfield Press: Miami.
Recent Experience & Honors
/
Photography & The Arts
2004-present
Numerous teaching
workshops at Peninsula Fine
Arts Center,
focusing on art
appreciation and art history
2006
Teaching: An
Introduction to Photography; An
Introduction to Drawing; Life-Long
Learners Society,
Christopher
Newport University, Newport
News, VA
2005
Teaching: The
Role of Narrative in 18th and 19th
Century Art,
Life-Long
Learners Society, CNU
2001
Arkansas
Arts Council Fellowship Award/Photography
2000
First
Prize, National Vizsla Association
Annual Photography Contest;
Contributions to Arkansas Arts
Center website (www.arkarts.com)
Internships
1971
NATIONAL
COLLECTION OF FINE ART
(now
Smithsonian American Art Museum),
Washington, DC
Museum Internship, Education Department
1970
BERNICE
P. BISHOP MUSEUM,
Honolulu, HA
Assistant to the Director:
special projects
1969
DELGADO
MUSEUM OF ART
(New Orleans Museum
of Art), LA
Museum Assistant: consolidation
of museum library
1968
METROPOLITAN
MUSEUM OF ART,
New York, NY
Museum Internship, Education
Department;
specialization
in 18th- and
19th-century French Art
Education
1976-77
CALIFORNIA
STATE UNIVERSITY, Dominguez
Hills, CA
Concentration: Art History and
Museum Studies
Degree: Master of Arts, Humanities,
1977;
Thesis: The Exhibition Experience
1970-72
UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles
and Santa Barbara, CA
Graduate Studies in Art History
1969-70
TULANE
UNIVERSITY, New Orleans, LA
Studies in Architectural History
and Educational Psychology
1965-69
CORNELL
UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, NY
Major: Art History; Minor:
Anthropology
Degree: Bachelor of Arts in
Art History, 1969