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22.05.2020 #art

Gagosian Artist Spotlight

Dan Colen

I’m interested in the fragility of the moment. When painting, each brushstroke is an opportunity to consider and preserve that moment.

Gagosian Artist Spotlight

One Artist, One Work, One Week

 

DAN COLEN

 

Moving between diverse styles and subjects, Dan Colen investigates the conceptual stakes of materiality and mark making. Alongside explorations in unconventional mediums including chewing gum, flowers, and metal studs, he continually returns to oil painting and representation, conducting an ever-evolving inquiry into the objecthood and authority of painting as a medium.

Dan Colen first starting working on his cycle DISNEY PAINTINGS in 2003: paintings in which he uses the codes of Disney to suggest the imaginary and the otherworldly in familiar situations.

 

For Artist Spotlight, Dan Colen presents a painting from “HELP“, his New York exhibition. With this series, Colen focused on the 1977 animated film “The Rescuers”, its saturated colors and drawing style which expressiveness gives the final result an impression of fluidity. “HELP” manages refer to a pop culture esthetic all the while injecting it with an intense and sensitive aura. In doing so, Colen transforms the animated motif into a quasi-contemplative still life.

 

About Gagosian Artist Spotlight

 

As arts institutions worldwide temporarily close their doors to support efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, exhibitions everywhere are being canceled, postponed, or curtailed. For artists who have invested time, energy, and resources preparing shows now directly affected by the health crisis, Gagosian is launching Artist Spotlighta new, multifaceted program that invites individual artists to use the gallery’s online channels as an open platform, to present their work to the world and continue generating support for their studios.

 

Each week, Gagosian will be unveiling a rich weave of editorial features every Wednesday—including videos, interviews, essays, artists’ playlists, and more—providing insights into artistic practice and process, inspirations and influences. Each Friday at 6am edt, the gallery will present a single artwork exclusively online page, making it available with pricing information for forty-eight hours only.

Portrait:  Dan Colen. Photo: Eric Piasecki, Courtesy Gagosian
Artwork: Dan Colen, HELP, 2019–20. Oil on canvas, 71.1 x 118.1 cm. © Dan Colen, Photo Rob McKeever, Courtesy Gagosian
Video: Christopher Burke Studios/Shootart. Courtesy Gagosian.
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