Dirk De Bruycker was born in Belgium. He lives and works in Santa Fe but spends quite a bit of time in Nicaragua. He studied at the City Academy of Fine Arts, Niklaas, Belgium (1964-73), St. Lucas Institute of Fine Arts, Ghent (M.A., 1977), Tamarind Institute (1979-80), University of New Mexico (graduate printmaking, 1980-81).
The painterly logic is at the heart of De Bruycker's work and it describes not only his process of instinctive physicality and precision but the life of the artist as well - "solitary creativity, living like a cat, capitalizing on the moments of focus." The vicissitudes of chance are welcome. The interaction between instinct and expertise becomes organic to the point where the consciousness of the act of decision making falls away and the painterly logic takes over. Throughout the years I have searched for a tactile but fragile beauty, a kind of dangerous beauty, a fleeting one.
His work has been in 45 solo shows, nationally and internationally in institutions including, Gebert Contemporary in Santa Fe, NM, Scott White Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, Lucas De Bruycker Fine Art, Gent Belgium, Rule Modern en Contemporary, Denver, Colorado, AAF annual art fair, NY, NY, Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, Fort Collins, CO, Lemmons Contemporary, NY, NY, Art Miami 2001, Linda Durham Contemporary Art. He has received awards including Vlaamse Executieve, Dienst Musea en Beeldende Kunst: Visual Artist Work grant, National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Artist Fellowship Grant 1988, Laureate, Visions of Excellence, Albuquerque United Artists, NM 1982 Printmaking Laureate, Province of East Flanders Award of Fine Arts, Belgium. His work is in numerous private and public collections including New Mexico Museum of Art, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Missouri, and the Ministry of Culture of the Flemish Community.