Mike Riegel:
Artist + Metal Worker
As a young Catholic altar boy, I was haunted by the concept of life after death and purgatory. These rituals, beliefs, and images from the church are an overarching theme in every series of my work. My mother and grandparents were deeply religious Catholics with German roots.
I found myself with my drawing pad in my secret cave under the cloaked dining room table at my grandparent’s house. My great-grandfather was an accomplished fresco church painter in Hamburg, Germany, in the 19th century. My grandfather continued the tradition with stylistic calligraphy, image-making, and whirligigs. In graduate school in Carbondale, Illinois, I was fortunate enough to study with my idol and mentor, Brent Kington, a renowned artist/blacksmith. There, I was introduced to steel and blacksmithing to make objects.
I began my artistic journey by painting with oils and drawing with graphite. At 17 years old, living in Charleston, Illinois, I attended Eastern Illinois University and discovered that working with my hands making small objects with silver and copper was exciting and rewarding.
At 29, my professional teaching career began, and I moved across the country from my family of origin to experience a whole new cultural awakening in California. I started making large-scale steel figurative sculptures. Although scale and materials have varied, the commitment to the human figure has been the one constant.
I use white chalk with a dowel rod and draw on a concrete floor to plan potential sculptures. I source influences by finding images from many different cultures and artists—African, New Guinean, Naive art, Giacometti, da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Goya. This is the profound art I have always loved.
CV
Born in Hannibal, Missouri
Works and lives in Granite Bay, Ca
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MFA Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois
MA Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois
BS Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois
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Professor Emeritus, California State University, Sacramento, CA
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Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant
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Victoria Dalkey, “Sculptor Pays Homage to Father,” Ticket, Sac Bee
Roseville Granite Bay Style, “Red Barn Studios”
Granite Bay View, “Riegel Dreams”
Victoria Dalkey, Michael Himovitz Art Gallery, Best Show of Year, Sacramento Bee, Encore
Victoria Dalkey, “An Era’s Angst – in Steel,” Sacramento Bee, Encore
“Evolution of a Sculptor,” West Art
Thomas Albright, “Personal Calligraphy to the Figure Redefined,” San francisco Chronicle
“Iron On...,” American Craft Magazine
“American Crafts: The State of the Art, “ San Francisco Chronicle
Thelma R. Newman & Jay Hartley Newman, The Container Book, New
Dona Z. Meilach, Decorative and Sculptural Ironwork Book, New York.
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Sculpture, North Natomas Regional Park, Sacramento, CA
Guardrail, Trinity/Parkway Bridge, Stockton, CA
(Stockton City Council Award Winner, 2008)Sculpture, 600 Q Street, Sacramento, CA
Plaza del Paso Building, Ironwork, North Sacramento, CA
Embassy Suites Hotel, Sacramento, Ca., Gates, Grilles, Guardrail
Urban League Center, Sacramento, Ca, Window Grilles
Student Services Center, California State University, Sacramento, CA
Wrought Iron Guardrail/Fence
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Sacramento, CA. Wrought Iron work: Gates, Grille, Guardrail & Bannister
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Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
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Shimo Center for the Arts, Sacramento, CA
B. Sakata Garo Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Northwest Reno Library Gallery, Reno, NV
Michael Himovitz Gallery, Sacramento, CA
October Art Festival, Davis, CA
Bruce Velick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Five Year Survey, Tempo Gallery, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Pamela Skinner Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Bruce Velick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Pamela Skinner, Gwenna Howard Contemporary, Sacramento, CA
College of the Redwoods, Eureka, CA
October Art Festival, Davis, CA
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Pamela Skinner Gallery, group show, Sacramento, CA
China Town Alley Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Art Space, Sacramento, CA
Group show, Skinner/Howard Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Sculpture Exhibition, Else Gallery, Cal State Univ., Sacramento, CA
Exhibition, Skinner/Howard Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Group show, Skinner/Howard Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Sculpture Exhibition, Else Gallery, Cal State Univ., Sacramento, CA
Skinner/Howard Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Two Person Show, Pamela Skinner, Gwenna Howard Contemporary Art, Sacramento, CA
Two Person Show, Excentrique Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Group Show, B. Sakata Garo, Sacramento, CA
CSUS Art Department Faculty Show, University Library Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Group Show, Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, CA
“Boat Show,” Robert Else Gallery, Sacramento, CA
“Buldog Invitational,” Encina Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA
“Sources,” California State University, Sacramento, CA
Sculpture Invitation Exhibition, Matrix Gallery, Sacramento, CA
“Sacramento Metal,” Davis Art Center, Davis, CA
Sculpture Exhibition, Library Gallery, Sierra College, Rocklin, CA
“Sacramento Collects,” Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
“Ferrous Finery,“ National Ornamental Museum, Memphis, TN
“Twenty Years of Metal,” Southern Ill. Univ., Carbondale, IL
“Blacksmiths: Decorative Ironwork, “ Bowling Green, OH
“Goldsmiths,” Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
“Blacksmith as Artist and Craftsman, 1776-1976”, Mitchell Art Gallery, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Il., Museum Of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY
“Arizona National,” Scottsdale Center for Arts, Scottsdale, AZ
Mitchell Art Gallery, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
“Forms in Metal,“ The Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY
“Design in Steel Award Program 1974-75”, New York, NY
“Craft Multiples,” Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
“Baroque ’74 “ Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, NY
“Goldsmiths,” Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C.