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STATEMENT
“I would define the majority of the work that I produce as contemporary
Western figurative storytelling, depicting inner meditations, conflicts, and conversations. Working with drawn and painted
media, I hope to touch upon those heartfelt interactions of Man and his world in work that is thought provoking, well crafted,
and firmly grounded in personal truth.
The dichotomy that is inherent in my work comes from one place,
I suppose that alone is my point. To see one in the other is the challenge I face. I have yet to discover what
it is that pushes my hand across a surface; still, I question the connection, and in the search, I find windows and insights
to an ever-elusive answer. If I’ve learned only one thing in my life it is that there are exceptions to every
rule. Art as a language can appear abstract, although simply viewed it is as honest as air.
I look, I see, I put my mark onto the page. With either a complex drawing process or one sweet simple stroke, each image
or form represents my moment in time.
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VITA
Paul VerBurg was born in Newfoundland, Canada, July first, 1956. By the time he was of school age, his family had
relocated to the Crystal Lake Campground in the Angeles National Forest of Southern California. This remote location became
home for the next twelve years. Paul's creativity was inspired by the mountain setting, when he wasn't making acorn muffins
for the family dog, he was building tree houses, reading, or involved in his favorite pastime, drawing.
Paul was
a good student throughout school. In High School he truly focused on Art and went on to study Art at California State University
Fullerton. College seemed to open the world of Art further for Paul, though after a year of college he dropped out and joined
the US Air Force. He was stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona where he served as an Air Traffic Controller. He filled
his spare time with Life Drawing Classes at Glendale Community College and he began offering his work for sale through Galleries
and attending rodeos in Wickenburg, Flagstaff, and Casa Grande. After his military stint, Paul went back to school at Art
Center College of Design. He studied illustration there one semester, then at twenty-three, he entered the school of life...
The following years brought about diverse changes in Paul's life, he moved to Santa Fe New Mexico where he became
more involved with the operations of Art Galleries and the shipping, handling, framing, and installation of fine art. He worked
for a time as a "hatter" building cowboy hats, and he began writing, all the while producing and selling his own
drawings and paintings.
In 1989, Arizona became home again, sales of artwork grew and invitational shows began
to contact him. He settled in the tall pines of Prescott, Arizona and with the new millennium Paul again went back to school;
with the eyes of age, it just seemed the thing to do. That adventure led him to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
where he achieved his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Drawing in 2009.
His work is available through
this site and at invitational exhibits across the country.
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SHORT
RESUME'
RECENT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2009 ****Paul
VerBurg: Prints, Pony Espresso, Prescott Valley, Arizona ****September
Featured Artist, Grayleaf Galleria, Prescott, Arizona
2002
****Poster Artist, Paul VerBurg; Territory Days,
Old Colorado City, Colorado
2001
****Paul VerBurg Rodeo Works; Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, Colorado Springs,
Colorado
1999
****Double Ex: Exploration and Experimentation; Prufrock gallery, Pasadena, California
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2009 ****Trappings of the American West; Museum of Northern
Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona
****Nippon Steel/SAIC
Presidential Awards Exhibition, Chicago, Illinois
****BFA Exhibit, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago,
Illinois
2008
****Trappings of the American West; Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona
2007
****Yavapai Community College Student Exhibition; Spring Prescott, Arizona
****Trappings of the
American West; Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona
****Phippen Museum's Miniature Masterpieces Show; Prescott,
Arizona
2006
****Trappings of the American West; Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona
****Phippen
Museum's Miniature Masterpieces Show; Prescott, Arizona
2005
****Trappings of the American West; Coconino
Center, Flagstaff, Arizona
****Phippen Museum's Miniature Masterpieces Show; Prescott, Arizona
2004
****Trappings of the American West; Coconino Center, Flagstaff, Arizona
****Phippen Museum's Miniature Masterpieces
Show; Prescott, Arizona
****Peppertree Ranch Show and Sale; Santa Ynez, California
2003
****Trappings
of the American West; Coconino Center, Flagstaff, Arizona
****Northern Exposure; Artisimo Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
2002
****Trappings of the American West; Coconino Center, Flagstaff, Arizona
2001
****Trappings
of the American West; Coconino Center, Flagstaff, Arizona
2000
****Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame 3rd Annual Show;
Colorado Springs, Colorado
1999
****Beyond the 98th Meridian, Images of the American West; Sedona,
Arizona
****Masters of the American West; Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Los Angeles, California
1998
****Beyond the 98th Meridian, Images of the American West; Sedona, Arizona
****Masters of the American West;
Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Los Angeles, California
1997
****Beyond the 98th Meridian, Images of
the American West; Sedona, Arizona
****Peppertree Ranch Show and Sale; Santa Ynez, California
1996
****Peppertree Ranch Show and Sale; Santa Ynez, California
PUBLICATIONS
Yavapai Magazine, September
2007
Western Horseman Magazine, March 1998
Art of the West Magazine, July/August 1996
Southwest
Art Magazine, November 1992
New York Times, August 19, 1990
EDUCATION
BFA School of the Art
Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 2007-09
Yavapai College, Prescott, Arizona 2003-07
Art Center
College of Design, Pasadena, California 1979
California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California 1974-75
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