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bio: CHRIS DACRE (born 1971- Elk Grove Village, IL)
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Chris Dacre describes his work as an 'exploded view of a political cartoon'. By using satire and humor he constructs environments that deal with the absurdities of war. His work is informed by experiences he had in the military along with scenes from movies, passages from books and a little imagery of playing war as a kid. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including Argentina, Brazil, China, Denmark and United Arab Emirates among others. Dacre grew up primarily in Lexington, Ohio- a small village of five thousand that borders Mansfield. A month after graduating High School he entered the Air Force and spent three years at Sembach Air Base in Germany and then a year at Minot AFB in North Dakota guarding nuclear missiles. He decided not to re-enlist and got a job working for the Tampa Port Authority and enlisted in the Air Force Reserves as an Emergency Medical Technician after discharging from Active Duty. Realizing that Florida wasn't for him, he packed up and moved north to Birmingham, AL where he enrolled in the University of Alabama at Birmingham and received a degree in Graphic Design in 2001. He then moved to Tucson, AZ for graduate studies in Printmaking at the University of Arizona and received an MFA in 2006. After graduation he did a work exchange for a studio in Tucson and lined up three consecutive one and two person shows in June, July and August of 2007- in Tucson, AZ, Norfolk, VA and Institute, WV. After the last exhibition he embarked on an eight-month trek around South America, which included a two-month long residency at El Levante in Rosario, Argentina. Upon his arrival back in the US he relocated to Seattle, WA for a year where he had two exhibitions. In May 2009 he created a series of prints during a residency at Anchor Graphics at Columbia College, Chicago. He is currently teaching Printmaking at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces for the Spring 09 and all of 2010. He was just awarded a solo exhibition at the Ingham Chapman Gallery at the University of New Mexico - Gallup and the 2011 Artist Residency and Exhibition at the Sharadin Art Gallery - Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. His work has been shown both nationally and internationally.
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Three years after my birth my family moved back to Ohio- yeah for me- and we moved around that state for awhile finally settling down in Lexington, which is basically connected to Mansfield. I always dreamed of leaving what I felt like was a dead-end place. So I talked with a recruiter for the Air Force while I was a junior in High School and left for basic training one month after graduation. What a feeling, leaving everything behind for the unknown.
I was born into a small working class family- the youngest of three siblings that involved the same parents- in the outskirts of Chicago. Three years afterwards my family migrated back to Ohio- where everyone else in the family is from. Moving seems to be the one constant in my life- I have literally lost count as to how many different places I have called home. As a kid it felt like we were picking up and moving every couple of years- either to a different city around the state or within the same city. Either way, I have become an exceptional packer and can make use of every square inch in a moving van.
At the age of 17 I graduated from high school and immediately left the 13th state in the Union and joined the Air Force as a Security Police and was quickly whisked off to Sembach Air Base, Germany. I did alot of growing up during that period of time but still had quite a bit to go. I met my first wife over there, we were young, and with the blessing of my squadron supervisor (insert sarcasm here) was allowed to marry the young 'German national'. I was assigned to Minot AFB in North Dakota for my last year of enlistment- the last place a Security Police wanted to be stationed - "Why not Minot?- Freezin's the reason"- and we spent a year in that flat, treeless place.
I re-enlisted with the Air Force Reserves and became an EMT in an AeroMedical Evacuation Squadron on MacDill AFB, Tampa, FL, enrolled in Community College and started working at the Tampa Port Authority- all around the same time. I had become part of a system that wasn't me and I had to get out of it. My marriage failed and Tampa felt like a trap, so I enrolled in one of those bartending schools and got a degree in Mixology, sold my house and moved up to Birmingham, AL.
In Birmingham I got a job waiting tables in a nice restaurant where they trained me to be a professional waiter. I think that was a major turning point in my life. Here was a job that I could work for three or four days a week, make enough to survive and have the time to take classes at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I got a cat, changed my major many times and ended up pursuing a degree in Graphic Design. That is when I started taking classes in Printmaking and, after years of toiling away at dead-end careers, started applying to graduate schools for Printmaking.
My long time girlfriend and I ended up moving to Tucson where I started my graduate studies in Printmaking at the University of Arizona. We got married and then a few years later got divorced. I taught adjunct for a semester at the University and worked as a studio assistant for a few of my professors. I also started waiting tables again and did a work exchange for studio space at Lucky Street Studios in Tucson. During an opening I had at LuLuBell Toy Bodega, I was talking with one of my past students who had just got back from South America where he had spent a year and a half. Shortly after that talk I bought a ticket to Caracas, Venezuela and used that city as my starting point for my eight month trek around the continent. During my travels I attended a two month long artist residency in Rosario, Argentina.
When I got back to the US, I packed up my stuff from Tucson and moved to Seattle, WA with my current girlfriend who is from the area. For work I got a job hanging Christmas lights for the holiday season, worked out of my cold basement studio and set up a few shows in Tacoma and Seattle, while she went to an artist residency in France. In March of 2009 we embarked on a two-month road trip to Birmingham, AL, with two cats and many adventures along the way. I was accepted into a printmaking residency at Anchor Graphics at Columbia College Chicago for the month of May where I was able to work on large-scale woodcut prints and a 5-color lithograph. Then a month in Hawai'i and just when we were figuring out our next move I got the call to teach in New Mexico.
I am currently teaching Printmaking at New Mexico State University awaiting my next move...
Chris Dacre, Friday the 13th of November, 2009
THE OLD ONE
Chris Dacre was born in a small farming community, rightly-called, Elk Grove Village in Illinois. Shortly after his birth, his family picked up and moved to the rolling hills of Richland County, Ohio. As a child, he picked apples from the family orchard and harvested gold from his grandfather's mine. After high school Chris joined the Air Force, who sent him to Texas and New Jersey for training and then shipped him out to Germany in support of Operation Desert Storm. While in Germany, Chris was able to grow a beard, take leave and trek across the European continent in search of his Bohemian roots, which he never found.
After being discharged from the military Chris settled in Florida where he learned the art of security through the rigorous training of the Tampa Port Authority. Growing weary of the beauracratic society, Chris moved to North Dakota where he swept the floors in his Uncle's automotive repair shop in exchange for a small bedroom off the side of the garage. During the long winter nights Chris taught himself how to draw by copying the cartoons from the Sunday comics of the Minot Gazetteer.
Growing restless and weary of the small town life, Chris finally started his schooling in Birmingham, Alabama where his Grandmother's family was from. After completion of his undergraduate degree in graphic design from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Chris moved to Tucson where he completed his MFA in printmaking from the University of Arizona.
He just finished a tour of South America where he had many brushes with death and is now embarking on a new chapter of his life as a holiday lighting installer in Seattle, Washington.
*Some of this is true
Chris has exhibited work both nationally and internationally including: Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Denmark, Ireland, United Arab Emirates and New Zealand