by Cannon Seal
This month, you can walk through the gallery in the Art building and see great works from national artists. One of those happens to be Daniel Swartz, an artist based in Indiana who works through his company Hoosier Type Co. where he produces and sells his artwork.
Swartz said his exhibit found its way to Bison Hill through his previous connections with OBU art professor Josh Brunet.
“Professor Brunet and I have been friends for a long time, since like 1999 or something like that. So we started chatting about the possibility earlier this year, and everything [just] worked out with him,” Swartz said. He then coordinated with the Ruth Jay Odom professor of fine arts and graphic design Corey Fuller about what was needed for the exhibit.
“You know, I don’t think at any [point there was a] conversation about what the work would be; that’s generally up to the artist, what they’re going to exhibit,” Swartz said. “Of course, they knew what my work was and what I was doing. And so there was already a familiarity, with what I do. And then I think probably an added bonus that, you know, I love Jesus at the same time,” he said.
Even though his exhibit landed here on campus, his art career began years ago. He began his art journey in college where began to pursue art academically.
“I went to college for art because I didn’t really know what else to pursue. I kind of like music, kind of like theater, but art was the standout thing,” he said.
After college, he began art as a career through children’s illustrating, teaching art, and graphic design.
“I wanted to do something with it, and that turned into, kind of, like, cartooning was how I entered, because that’s all I really understood,” he said. However, it was toward 2020 when he began to reflect on his career.
“You know, all those were good different seasons for different reasons. But, you know, a lot shifted in 2020 you know, a lot, and it was a good time to kind of look at, you know, and I simultaneously entered middle age at the same time. So it was, it was a good opportunity about where I’d been and where I wanted to go and what I wanted this next season to look like.”
Here he began to look toward his love for graphic design and how he could bridge the gap between digital art and traditional art. He found this bridge through letter printing. Rather than pursuing woodworking or bird watching as most people his age tend to do, he found release in letterprinting.
“I was drifting more toward fine art, absolutely, but I was also loving font design. And so there was kind of all these things that came together, and letterpress was able to do that,” he said. “It was the bright, almost digital design aspect, along with the tangible imperfections of letterprinting that drew him to pursue this art form. You know, it’s not just an ephemeral thing and a drop down menu in your toolbar. You know, it’s a real, tangible letter ‘R,’ or whatever you’re dealing with,” Swartz said.
While looking through some of his art one will see the constant themes of Gospel hymns and scripture. He said it was an intentional theme.
“I think that’s kind of a Midwest theme, and it’s not, maybe it’s not flashy, like painting is, you know, and I think there’s a lot of people in the Midwest who don’t like to put on a big show or draw attention to themselves,” he said.
“And then, of course, you know, we’re in the Bible Belt, and a lot of my stuff deals with faith, so I think you see that come through as well.”
It is through these themes that he seeks to enact his ministry through his art. Looking at more of his art one might see some that are voting or election related. One in particular has the same stamp on blue then flipped and stamped in red. This makes for a beautiful layering of red and blue creating purple where the two colors meet.
“There’s that violet color, which is maybe a way for us to start thinking about what is the middle ground. How do we compromise how we live together, even when we have such dramatic approaches to some of these themes of liberty and equality and justice,” he said.
This is just one instance of how Swartz uses his art to create meaningful commentary on contemporary topics. Later Swarts explained what he wanted the main takeaway from his art to be.
“I would say an appreciation for typography, for that art of assembling words and letter forms and fonts on the page,” he said. “I think opening up people’s eyes to the fact that art typography is an art I think that would be a great take away.”
Swartz uses his talent of graphic and traditional art as a way to reach out to people and open their eyes to the beautiful and stark contrasts of the world around them.
