Sculptor United States
My current body of artwork is a critical response to the current geopolitical landscape, created by the disproportionate role of the Military Industrial Complex in our society. Militarism has seeped into every segment of our culture; from building “defensive” walls on our borders, to calls for arming our teachers and children. Fear and paranoia ooze from our pores as we cower in imaginary foxholes on battlefields that do not exist. Always a new enemy, always some new evil to vanquish, war without end. Ultimately the goal is not to answer the questions or propose solutions for the viewer, but hopefully to cause them to consider, with more than a cursory glance, the reality we build for ourselves through the choices we make as individuals and how those choices impact our civilization. To achieve these ends, I interpret contemporary events by drawing inspiration from moments in history and utilizing a multi-disciplinary approach with a dash of acerbic wit. No single process or material defines my practice and I take a very experimental and investigative approach to my art making. Cast objects and repetition continue to play central roles, but I continually investigate new methodologies in order to adhere to my motto of “working in ideas”. I am increasingly interested in finding ways to use materials in unexpected or unintended ways. The combination of this sensibility with my more traditional mold-making/casting training and my efforts to incorporate new digital methods into my practice, result in interesting new possibilities for my practice.
View his Artonique exclusive interview here: https://www.artonique.com/pages/dominic-sansone
2017 International Sculpture Center Artist in Residence, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ Visiting Artist, Foundry Spring
2017, School of the Art Institute Chicago, IL
2011 Best of Show, Art and Civil Liberties, American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI Community Collaboration/Hot Metal Pour Iron Artist, Franconia Sculpture Park, MN
2010 Faculty nominee for 2010 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award
2010 M.F.A. Visual Art and Public Life emphasis in Sculpture Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN
1997 B.F.A. Sculpture University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2020 Badlands, BSB Gallery, Trenton, NJ
2018 American Dark Age, 313 Gallery, Jersey City, NJ two person americandethkult, Joliet Junior College, Joliet, IL (two person cancelled due to censorship)
2017 BANG! Gotcha Joe!, Safety Kleen Gallery One, Elgin Community College, Elgin, IL two person
2016 New Millennium Mall of America, Seminole State College, Sanford, FL solo #thedronelife, College of Southern Maryland, LaPlata, MD solo
2015 The Gun Show, The Brayer, Ventura, CA solo American Dream: God, Guns, and Drones, Dittmar Memorial Gallery at Northwestern University Evanston, IL solo
2014 Drone R’Us, with CJ Hungerman, Kishwaukee College, Malta, IL two person Agents of Desensitization, University of Cincinnati Clermont College, Batavia, OH solo
2013 Recent Works, Spiva Art Gallery at Missouri Southern State University, Joplin, MO solo It Shoots Further Than We Dream, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL solo
2012 WAR-W|HOR|E|ROR|S, FM*Gallery, Chicago, IL solo S.O.S., Wug Laku’s Studio and Garage, Indianapolis, IN solo
2011 Hungry Bellows of the Minotaur, one night installation Fulton Market Gallery, Chicago, IL solo Isolation and Togetherness, The Carnegie Visual Arts Center, Covington, KY solo
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019
Breaking Criminal Traditions, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Williamsport, PA American Roulette, The Clemente Center, New York, NY - three person exhibition
2018
On the Road, Jackson Junge Gallery, Chicago, IL Warhol: Icon and Influence, Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Michigan City, IN Permutations of Vulnerability, Novado Gallery, Jersey City, NJ Chicago Sculpture International Biennial, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL In the Belly of the Beast, Stephen Smith Gallery, Birmingham, AL International Sculpture Center Digital Chapter Exhibition, Zona Maco, Mexico City, Mexico
2017
International Sculpture Center Digital Chapter Exhibition, Art Miami, Miami, FL Chornobyl: Artists Respond, Ukrainian Institute of America, New York, NY Cradle Sac of Life, Harold Washington Public Library, Chicago, IL Unprecedented: Art in Common Cause, Hubbard Street Lofts, Chicago, IL
2016
The State of the Union, ShuaSpace Gallery, Jersey City, NJ True to Form, Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN Breaking Criminal Traditions, Human Rights Institute Gallery, Kean University, Union, NJ Blueprints, CIADC, Chicago, IL Chernobyl: Impact and Beyond, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL Throes of Progress II, H.F. Johnson Gallery, Carthage College, Kenosha, WI; with Kathy Weaver and Jacqueline Moss
2015
Disruption, The Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ; curated by Tom Moran Chief Curator and Artistic Director Themes in Contemporary Sculpture, Foster Gallery, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Hidden Process, Open Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL Sculpture Invasion, Koehnline Museum of Art, Oakton Community College, Des Plaines, IL Breaking Criminal Traditions, Schoenherr Gallery of North Central College, Naperville, IL Feria, Minan Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2014
The Subject is War, Rogue Community College, Grants Pass, OR Away from this Inverted World, Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago, IL Evanston and Vicinity Biennial, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL; curated by Sergio Gomez and Allison Peters Quinn Experiences of War, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY Invoking the Absence, Elks Memorial, Chicago, IL; curated by Lucas Cowan, International Sculpture Center board member Wastelands, Gallery 313, Jersey City, NJ
2013
CONTEXT, Miami Art Week, Baang + Burne booth, Miami, FL Cohesion, Zhou B. Art Center, Chicago, IL Artists Respond to Genocide, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL Chicago Sculpture International Exhibition, Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago, IL Clothing Optional, Buckham Gallery, Flint, MI Faculty Exhibition, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
2012
6th to the Third, Lill Street Art Center, Chicago, IL ArtPrize, DeVos Place Convention Center, Grand Rapids, MI Next Wave Art Salon, The Haight, Elgin, IL Collections, FICTILIS, Seattle, WA Inspired, Warrenville Historical Society, Warrenville, IL F*ck Em/Forgive Me, Fulton Market Gallery, Chicago, IL
2011
The Pop-Up Museum of Queer History, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN Art and Civil Liberties, Fountain Street Church, Grand Rapids, MI Chain Mail, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA More is More, Lexington Art League, Lexington, KY mailto:, Drift Station Gallery, Lincoln, NE Kinsey Institute Juried Art Show, SoFA Gallery, Bloomington, IN