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DAN
STATLER
Dan
Statler's parents met on the racetrack in Portland, Oregon, when
his father won the time trials heat, and fell in love with the
trophy girl. One of his earliest memories are of his father's
feet sticking out from under a racecar amidst a shower of sparks.
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"He'd
get home from work and go to the garage to get his old
Ford stock car ready to race on Sunday. He was always
under it welding because he crashed it a lot."
After studying photography at East Texas State University,
Dan moved to Southern California where he began working
in movies and television. Dan has worked for more than
15 years in the entertainment industry in the camera,
art and special effects departments. It was while working
in special effects that he got
interested in working with metal.
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"After
we destroyed the set, all that was left was the steel we'd built
to hold the miniatures and air cannons. The framework looked like
giant steel sculptures."
Dan became Monster Garage's Production Designer in September 2002,
during the Zamboni/Impala build. “Basically, that means
that I get to use all the tools in the garage when no one's around
and make a lot of really cool stuff. One of the things I do for
the show is plasma cut designs in 4' x 8' metal panels that are
hung on the walls. For every new show I try to create a different
panel that relates to the car being built, but because of scheduling
and show changes, it's not always possible.”
“The
Monster Garage is usually busy shooting or getting ready
to shoot, so I have to work the weekends before the build
when the garage is empty. This means nobody knows what
I've done until the day of the build, but it doesn't seem
to bother the producers. In fact, the only time they ever
asked me to do anything specific was to ‘please
put in the NY skyline’ for The Hot Dogster ”
“Once the car is built and the show is done, the
panels are used to decorate the set. After the garage
became “over stocked” with panels, some went
to the Original Production offices where they are hung
on the walls over the computers and fax machines. “It's
kind of funny to see a skull with flames eight feet high
next to an accountant.”
In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine commissioned him to do
a piece for their 35th Anniversary Issue: American Icons.
In that same year, Entertainment Weekly commissioned him
to create a piece for their “2003 It List Party”
in New York. This piece is now displayed in the main lobby
of the Discovery Channel’s headquarters in Maryland.
Discovery also created a section in their website dedicated
to Dan and his work in the Monster Garage.
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I
n June 2003, Dan and his wife Vivian founded Vulture Kulture,
a company dedicated to the creation of metal artwork and its promotion.
Vulture Kulture is currently working on a merchandising line based
on Dan's artwork and designs.
In August 2004, Hot Rod magazine named him “Artist of the
Month”, described his artwork as “plasma-cutting alchemy”,
and featured his most popular Monster Garage panel, “Two
Tone”, a 54 Chevy surrounded in flames.
Dan
Statler's metal artwork has been displayed at The Richman
Gallery (Leucadia, CA), Barris Kustom City Gallery (North
Hollywood, CA), Primer Nationals (Ventura, CA), and the
2005 Abbot Kinney Blvd. Art Show at Epoxybox Gallery (Venice,
CA). He will have an exhibition at Traditional Ink Tattoo
Gallery (Los Angeles, CA) in July 2006.
Dan's artwork has been featured in several magazines, including:
Rolling Stone, Popular Mechanics, Entertainment Weekly,
Rod & Custom, Hot Rod, Rumble, Import Racer, etc. His
work has also been featured in music videos (Velvet Revolver’s
“Little Dirty Thing”, Baby Bash's “Suga'
Suga'”), TV shows (Monster Garage, Monster House,
Jimmy Kimmel Live, Driveshaft, etc.), as well as in many
feature films.
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Dan's passions include the creation of different art disciplines,
including photography, literature, film and music. Since
2005, he has been directing a documentary based on “The
Bretheren of the Coast”, a group of 21st Century Pirates.
Currently, Dan is completing a 3-year endeavor, a type of
room-sculpture that is the lobby for Original Productions,
the production company for Monster Garage, Monster House,
Motorcycle Mania, Biker Build-Off, Deadliest Catch, and
many others.
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