Bio
Charles F. Wickler was born, raised and educated in Platteville, Wisconsin. He taught elementary art for thirty-five years and then taught at Carroll University for several years after retirement.
He has served as president of Print Forum at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin Painters & Sculptures (now WVA) and Milwaukee Teachers of Art. He also served on the City of Waukesha Art Committee and the Waukesha Public Library Art Committee.
His work is included in numerous art collections including Neiman Marcus, Northwestern Mutual, Gehl Dairy, Milwaukee Magazine, Blount Corporation, The Hyatt Regency Collection, Arts Collection of Standard Oil, R&R Insurance Company, Carroll University Famous Wisconsin Artists Collection, Johnson Hills Press, Rexnord Corporation, Embassy Suites Hotels, U.S. Chemical, Household International Corporation, Century Fence, Waukesha Memorial Hospital, Waukesha Public Library and numerous other businesses. His work is in many private collections as well.
He has exhibited widely. Exhibitions include a solo exhibition at the Arnold Katzen Gallery (NYC), ART PRIZE (Grand Rapids, MI), Texas National, Wisconsin Artist Biennial, Artsbridge National Show (NJ), Chautauqua National Exhibition of American Art, Florida Printmakers International Print and Drawing Exhibition, FORWARD: A Survey of Wisconsin Art, Shippensburg Annual National Competition (PA), Northern National Art Competition, Watercolor Wisconsin, Beloit and Vicinity, National Juried Competition: Works on Paper (NJ), numerous Milwaukee Teachers of Art exhibitions and numerous Wisconsin Visual Artists exhibitions.
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Artist Statement
Our culture is increasingly based on visual imagery. A key component of this world is text. Text informs, stimulates, indoctrinates, sells and /or manipulates. My art uses text alone or with a variety of images in multiple media. Sometimes the text is the work of art. In other works the text expands or complements a found image that creates a conceptual interplay. These works are not meant to be decorative. They are meant to confront the viewer to stop and react to an image in a new context.
