Portraits of the Artist
03.19WHERE HE’S FROM: Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. WHERE HE STUDIED: BFA in studio art from University of North Texas. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY: Swenson’s animal sculptures run the gamut of haunting to whimsical. According to a gallery website, his work is influenced heavily by a love of dioramas, prosthetics, stage sets, and special effects. ALMOST FAMOUS: True, Swenson might not be as well known as former Dallas residents Basquiat or Julian Schnabel (yet), but he’s been praised by the New York Times (who compared him to Damian Hirst, no less) and the Los Angeles Times. PUBLIC WORKS: Swenson’s pieces are part of the permanent collections of th Dallas Museum of Art, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, The Saatchi Collection in London, and the Whitney Museum of Art in New York. WHERE TO BUY HIS WORK: Better get a ticket to NYC. James Cohan Gallery. jamescohan.com.
photography by James Bland
