GENESIS
In 2011, a mixed bag of Milwaukee artists formed a printmaking collaborative called the Dry Points. We modeled ourselves after a rock band with the intention of having fun, rocking out, and producing "studio albums" of original work. Like a band, each of us brought our "instruments," our cultural influences and artistic skills, to practice.
Portraits
We lay down tracks, or make marks, with an earnestness tempered by the swift play of spontaneity. Each studio album centers around a source-book of found portraits. Using the distance of time and purposeful naivete to the portraits subject, we respond to their facial features solely and create fantastic worlds for their new existence.
MAXIM
The ultimate goals are rowdy self-expression and collaborative experimentation. There are no mistakes. ERRATA NON SUNT. We are the Dry Points.
Zachary Rueter
Zachary Rueter was born in Montana and raised in Minnesota. He graduated from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2008 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Integrated Studio Arts. He now lives in Milwaukee.
His daughter Mabel, a great story teller and artist, is a big influence on his work. He's also influenced by Caravaggio, Francis Bacon, howling wolves, air horns, amateur science and religion.
His art focuses on painting, calligraphy, and digital media. He works as a designer and artist at Conrad Schmitt Studios, a nationally recognized mural decoration and stained glass company. Zack is an active member of the Milwaukee Bike Polo Club and competes nationally and internationally. He joined the Drypoints in 2012.
Fernando Gonzalez
Fernando Gonzalez is a Milwaukee born-and-raised artist. He takes breaks from art occasionally for travel and personal growth with the hope that said growth translates into his art. He is heavily influenced by early 90s hip-hop, graffiti culture, Dream Team era basketball, and the Apollo Space Program. Fernando joined the Dry Points in 2012.
Charles Dwyer
Charles Dwyer is a 1984 graduate of the Milwaukee School of Art with majors in drawing & painting and an interest in printmaking. He purchased his 30x50 Charles Brand etching press in 1988. Chuck joined Conrad Schmitt Studios in 1986 as a decorative painter. He worked for 20 years with the firm. Traveling the country, he restored and created murals for the interiors of churches, hotels, and theaters. His two favorite jobs were Holy Ghost Church, Maui, and Waldorf Astoria, NY.
Charles is the father of Ella Dwyer who lives in San Francisco and is also an artist. He has three pets, two cats named Billie and Jenny, and a Bouvier Des Flanders named Napoleon. Currently self employed as an artist with an interest in photography, sculpture, and folk art, he resides in an old warehouse known as the “Tainted Loft.” Chuck enjoys gardening and growing flowers, walking his dog along lake Michigan during severe weather, and hosting Packers parties. He is a founding member of the Dry Points.
N. Adam Beadel
N. Adam Beadel began carving & printing linoleum blocks in 2006 in Seattle, WA. In 2010, he accepted an internship at Yee-Haw Industries in Knoxville, TN to study letterpress under Kevin Bradley. In 2011, he moved to Milwaukee. While working for Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co, Beadel met Charles Dwyer and became a founding member of the Dry Points.
Beadel owns and operates Team Nerd Letterpress, a boutique print shop in the Historic Walker's Point neighborhood of Milwaukee. He makes custom posters and cards exclusively from wood & lead type and hand-carved linoleum blocks. Beadel has shown his prints in London, UK, Washington State, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and on refrigerators the world over. He enjoys stand-up comedy, musicals, bicycles, rap, red beer, dancing, and going on dates with his lady, Leslie.
Stanley Ryan Jones
Stanley Ryan Jones photographed the Punk Rock/New Wave scene in Milwaukee in the late 1970's, documenting local and national acts and their fans. In 2007, the Milwaukee Art Museum accepted 83 of his prints titled "Milwaukee's Blank Generation" into their permanent collection. Since 2011, he has had his work on continuous display as the artist-in-residence at Hi Fi Cafe in Milwaukee.
Jones has worked a variety of jobs, including five seasons as a Smokejumper, parachuting into mountainous terrain to suppress wildfires. He lives in an 113 year old house with his two cats, Hermes and Huckleberry. He joined the Dry Points in 2014.
He is the 4th cousin of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Devin Owsley-Aquilia
Devin Owsley-Aquilia moved to Milwaukee from Dayton/Cincinnati, Ohio, to attend the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. She graduated in 2015 with a bachelor of fine arts with an emphasis in printmaking, drawing and art history. In the last three years, her focus has shifted to methods of lithography, intaglio and monoprinting, furthering her investigation of process, form and female identity.
She recently moved to Chicago to continue this exploration as Artist-in-Residence at Spudnik Press. She enjoys cooking, fine wines, reading novels & memoirs, and going to record and book stores. She has a beautiful cat named Bisous who is the best buddy anyone could ask for. Devin joined the Dry Points in 2014.
KRUZ KARSTEDT
Kruz Karstedt was born in Madison, WI and lives with his family in the suburbs of Milwaukee. He's entering his sophomore year at Kettle Morraine High School and enjoys camping and dying fabric. He became the intern for the Dry Points in 2015