An active participant in the Art and Shelter program since the beginning, Dan Callis has been the point of contact for many artists who have filled the empty walls of our housing programs. Professor of Art at Biola University, Dan is a prolific painter and curator.

In the last year, Dan has organized a series of exhibitions by local painters in multiple venues, building awareness in the community of an evolving group of artists. He recently mounted a solo exhibition at Bunny Gunner in Pomona. At the end of a sabbatical and recent residency in Barcelona Spain, Callis’s work is emerging from the studio with fresh energy and a complex layering of composition and meaning.

The work reflects an appreciation for the dynamics of the material, from the board the paintings is built on top of to the way layers interact across straight lines, curves, drips, and splats. The rawness of the work brings to mind the unconscious layering of abstraction that heavily gratified walls conjure over time.

Dan Callis' art is a good reminder of the unfolding potential of abstract work to train our eyes to see more clearly the complexity of our visual environment. Though many people pass on the assumed simplicity of abstraction, the time spent with this type of work translates into a contemplative depth that helps us develop spiritual practices toward greater maturity as individual people. The work of Dan Callis is a form of art that we should live, pray, and brood over as we seek a deeper understanding of who we are in this frustratingly beautiful and tragic world.