William S. Dutterer, Below The Surface: A Deep “See”

Dutterer, early 1980s.

William Sherman Dutterer (1943-2007) was an expert at wordplay, a prolific visual punster, and an audacious conversationalist with a wickedly clever wit. He possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of a vast array of subjects and a photographic memory. He was a beloved professor, an insightful mentor, generous friend, devoted husband, and painter’s painter. Dutterer was, as Jack Rasmussen, Director and Curator of the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, wrote in 2007, “the real deal”.

Dutterer’s highly inventive work, whether in the form of elegant minimalism, funky renewed figuration, or cryptic personal iconography explores the pathos of the human condition, the physicality of materials, and the undistilled sensibility of the artist. Dutterer’s compulsion to enter deep dives below both material surfaces and the veneer of the human psyche defines his work of 40 years. This exhibit is a voyage into those deep “sees”, as Dutterer called them – a journey below the surface with this complex, yet under-recognized artist’s artist.

All of the work in this exhibition was donated to the Fort Wayne Museum of Art by the William S. Dutterer Trust, founded in 2017 by Bill’s wife Jamie to preserve the artist’s legacy and continue telling his story. This exhibition is supported by the Edward D. and Ione Auer Foundation.