For the past 20 years, artist, writer and outdoor adventurer E. Dan Klepper has resided north of Big Bend National Park in Marathon, Texas. Klepper’s renowned large-scale photo mosaics, sculptures and experimental videos carry a unique juxtaposition of subject matter rooted in the wild untamed landscape of rural Texas, crafted with high-tech tools and methods.
“Klepper tackles the landscape and photography through an investigation of history, nature and pop frontier culture,” explains Houston gallerist Sarah Foltz. “Many of his images are a kind of meditation on time, unfolding in the western landscape from seconds to hours to centuries.”
Klepper’s works can be found in The Washington Post’s InSight online magazine, as well as in collections, festivals and exhibitions across Texas, the U.S., Canada and Europe. Klepper’s book of fine art photography and essays, “Why the Raven Calls the Canyon”, is available in bookstores from Texas A&M University Press.
Of his work in “Why the Raven”, AWARD-WINNING ART CRITIC AND FORMER Glasstire editor Christina Rees writes “Celebrated Texas photographer and writer E. Dan Klepper has long traveled and captured the unsung, forgotten and undiscovered vistas of the wild and vast Texas landscape. There he finds something sublime, not only in nature itself but in humankind’s idiosyncratic and fragile relationship with the natural world.”
Born and raised in Texas, Klepper earned his Bachelor of Arts at the University of North Texas, completing his coursework with an introduction to experimental video technology, part of the discipline known as time arts, courtesy of California video artist and visiting professor David Dowe. Klepper’s INTEREST IN ART AND technology LED him to Chicago, center of a burgeoning time arts scene, where he was selected for the School of the Art Institute’s experimental video department as a fully-funded degree student. With the assistance of a work/study program, Klepper completed his master’s degree in the video arts at the Institute, then continued to create works through arts council grants and support from the non-profit media organization The Center for New Television. Throughout the 1980s and early 90s, Klepper experimental video works were represented and distributed by the Video Databank, Chicago.
Since returning to Texas, Klepper has continued his exploration of innovative technologies, often applying them to traditional art-making processes like photography, painting and sculpture. Today, his work is represented by Foltz Fine Art in Houston and can be found at his gallery and studio in Marathon.
REPRESENTATION
FOLTZ FINE ART, 2143 wESTHeimer, houston, Tx, (713)521-7500
SELECTED BIOGRAPHICAL AND CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- BFA, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas
- MFA, School of the Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois
- 1982-86, Arts Council Fellowship, Illinois
- 2009, Published 100 Classic Hikes in Texas, Mountaineers Books
- 2017, Published Why the Raven Calls the Canyon, Texas A&M University Press
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
- 2017, Fotosieptembre USA, San Antonio, Texas
- 2017, The Texas Aesthetic, Reaves/Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas
- 2018, The West Texas Mystique, Houston Fotofest 2018 Biennial, Reaves/Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas
- 2018, Birds in Art, Reaves/Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas
- 2019, The Texas Aesthetic XIII, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas
- 2019, The New Show, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas
- 2019, State of Contrast, Kinzelman Art & Foltz Fine Art, Bank of America Center Lobby, Houston, Texas
- 2019, The Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas
- 2019-20, Storied Lands, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, Texas
- 2020, Houston Center for Photography Auction, Houston, Texas
- 2020, Contemporary West – E. Dan Klepper on Art and Photography, Haley Memorial Library & History Center, Midland, Texas
- 2021, THE NATURAL AND OTHER WORLDS, FOLTZ FINE ART, HOUSTON, TEXAS
- 2021, THE TEXAS AESTHETIC XV, FOLTZ FINE ART, HOUSTON, TEXAS
- 2022-23, supernatural attraction, Foltz fine art, houston, texas
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
- CONOCO, HOUSTON, TEXAS
- LAKESIDE COUNTRY CLUB, HOUSTON, TEXAS
- TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY PRESS, COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS
- TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY, HEALTH PROFESSIONALS BUILDING, ROUND ROCK, TEXAS
- UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM, SALUD-ARTE PROGRAM, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
- WARBURG PINCUS, HOUSTON, TEXAS
- TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, STASSNEY CAMPUS, AUSTIN, TEXAS
- MARATHON OIL, HOUSTON, TEXAS
TIME ARTS (ANALOGUE AND DIGITAL VIDEO)
FESTIVALS and GROUP EXHIBITIONS
- American Film Institute Video Festival, Los Angeles, California
- Australia Video Festival, Adelaide, Australia
- European Media Art Festival, Osnabruck, Germany
- Video Shorts, Seattle, Washington
- Berlin International Film Festival, Germany
- 13th Poetry Film/Video Festival, San Francisco, California
- Video Culture International, “New Media”, Toronto, Canada
- Great Lakes Film and Video Festival, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- San Sebastian International Video Festival, Spain
- Center for Media Arts, “Festival De Video”, Paris, France
- Art in Chicago, 1945-1995, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois
- Vipfilm 8, Berlin, Germany
- Multiples, Atlanta, Georgia
- Family Ties, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, California
- Encontros, Glubenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
- Video Drive-In, Ivam, Valencia, Spain
- Video Drive-In, Nci, Lisbon, Portugal
- Chicago Works: Art from The Windy City, Erie Museum of Art, Pennsylvania
- Kunst Video, Gallery F15, Moss, Norway
- Basically Boxes, Klein Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
- Making Myths, White Columns, New York, New York
- Chicago Survey, The Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada
- The Science of Fiction/The Fiction of Science, Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois
- Myths and Miracles, Center For New Television, Chicago, Illinois
- Chicago Scene, Mandeville Art Gallery, San Diego, California
- Chicago Video, The Kitchen, New York, New York
- Video 8, Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, New York
- Video – Chicago Style, Global Village, New York, New York
- 3 Erlanger Videotage, University of Erlanger, Germany
- Video Works, West Hubbard Street Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
- Chicago Video, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota
- Sexuality Series, Rhode Island Museum of Art, Providence, Rhode Island
- Video Pool, Winnipeg, Canada
- Modern Dangers, Hallwalls, Buffalo, New York
- New Wave Series, First Street Forum, St. Louis, Missouri
- Roles, Representations, Sexuality, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Science and Fiction, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts
- Television, N.A.M.E. Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
COMMISSIONS
- San Antonio Area Foundation
- East Post Ranch
- Tim Cuppett Architects
- Arnow Residence
- Muhlig Residence
GRANTs AND FELLOWSHIPS
- 1982, Arts Council Completion Grant, Illinois
- 1983, Arts Council Fellowship, Illinois
- 1984, Arts Council Fellowship, Illinois
- 1985, Regional Fellowship Award, Illinois
- 1986, Arts Council Fellowship, Illinois
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- “E. Dan Klepper and the Middle of Nowhere”, Dana Joseph, Cowboys & Indians Magazine, Feb/March 2018
- Show Review: State of Contrast – “E. Dan Klepper: The West Texas Mystique”, Mackenzie McCreary, Southwest Art, March 2018
- “Marathon Run”, Susan L. Ebert, Dorado Magazine, March 2016
- “Off-The-Grid”, The Washington Post, April 29, 2015
- Texas Monthly, Jordan Breal, Sept. 2011, Volume 39, Issue 9, P. 54
- American Film Institute, Catalogue, 1989, P. 13
- Video Drive-In Valencia, Catalogue (Spanish/ English), Sept 1989, P. 31
- Encontros, Catalogue (Portuguese/English), 1989, P. 126
- Screen, M. Soltis/D. Schebers, Nov 1989, P. 20
- New City, Tim Jacobs, July 1989, P. 8
- New Art Examiner, Review, Jeff Abell, “Basically Boxes”, March 1986, P. 50
- Chicago Tribune, David Prescott, May 1985, Sec. 7, P. 45
- New Art Examiner, Review, Lucas Haas, Feb. 1981, P. 17
- Visions, Satoru Fujii, Editor, Feb. 1981, P. 73
EDITORIAL
BOOKS
- Why the Raven Calls the Canyon ~ Off the Grid in Big Bend Country, Texas A&M University Press (Spring 2017)
- 100 Classic Hikes in Texas, Mountaineers Books, (Spring 2009)
- Spirit Walker ~ JD Challenger and His Art, Tide-Mark Press (2005).
- Ghostdancing ~ Sacred Medicine and The Art of JD Challenger, Stewart, Tabori And Chang, 1998. (Edwin Daniels)
- Wolf Walking, Stewart, Tabori And Chang, 1997. (Edwin Daniels)
MAGAZINES (FEATURES/ARTICLES/PHOTOGRAPHY)
- Texas Highways
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine
- Texas Coop Power
- Cowboys & Indians Magazine
- Texas Lifestyle Magazine
- Taos Magazine
- American Cowboy
- Lonestar Outdoor News
- Mountain Athletics
WRITING/PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
- 2018, Bronze, Magazine Photographer of the Year, 2018, International Regional Magazine Award
- 2018, Finalist, Magazine of the Year, 2018, International Regional Magazine Award
- 2015, Gold, Photo Series, International Regional Magazine Association
- 2015, Silver, Magazine Photographer of The Year, International Regional Magazine Association
- 2015, Merit, Travel Feature, International Regional Magazine Association
- 2014, Silver, Travel Feature, International Regional Magazine Association
- 2014, Silver, Photo Series, International Regional Magazine Association
- 2010, Silver, Historical Feature, International Regional Magazine Association
- 2009, Merit, Cultural Feature, International Regional Magazine Association
- 2009, Bronze, Historical Feature, International Regional Magazine Association
- 2006, Merit, Historical Feature, International Regional Magazine Association
- 2004, Gold, Travel Feature, International Regional Magazine Association
- Excellence in Craft, Books, Texas Outdoor Writers Association
- Excellence in Craft, Photography, Texas Outdoor Writers Association