Dan Fischer
02 Jul - 02 Aug 2008
DAN FISCHER
Alison Jacques Gallery is pleased to announce the first European exhibition of the American artistDan Fischer. Fischer’s meticulous pencil drawings are based on photocopies of photographs ofseminal artist’s images from the mid-twentieth century to the present day - a practice he terms ‘Xeroxrealism’. Using a mechanical pencil and soft erasers Fischer works his surfaces until he achieves anear perfect velveteen richness akin to that generated in the photocopying process.While enrolled at Alfred University, New York, Fischer was instructed to make raster-type drawingsthat emulate the scanning patterns of parallel lines typically displayed on early black-and-whitetelevision screens. Fischer subsequently used a Polaroid taken of himself and transformed it into theequivalent of a video image, using two parallel but slightly spaced apart pieces of paper to isolatenarrow sections of the photograph and mimic the technological look of raster lines.Fischer’s first artist subject was one of Hans Namuth’s famous photographs of Jackson Pollockstanding in front of one of his drip paintings. The artist soon began employing grids, which he finallycame to favour over the raster-line format. Working with the grid allows Fischer to view his favouriteimages as a series of abstract passages and to approach the drawing process in a very mechanicalmanner.The artist’s engagement with mediated imagery continues a line of enquiry made prominent in the late1970s by Cindy Sherman, Sherrie Levine and the other “Pictures” group artists. Fischer is drawn toimages that allude to the notion of covering up or obscurification; masks or facial distortions oftenfeature in his chosen images. In this way the subjects in these particular drawings repeat the trope oflayering and accumulation that is enacted through Fischer’s use of photographs, photocopies, andfinally, graphite.Dan Fischer was born in Brooklyn (1977) and currently lives and works in Bay Shore, NY. Hegraduated with a BA in Fine Art from the School of Art and Design, Alfred University (1999). DanFischer has been included in numerous museum exhibitions including: Two Years, Whitney Museumof American Art, NY (2008); UBS Young Art, g27, Zurich (2007); On Line: Contemporary Drawing ,University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, CA (2006); Art on Paper 2004 , Weatherspoon ArtMuseum, Greensboro (2004); Process and Possibility: Contemporary Drawings at the MFAH, TheMuseum of Fine Arts, Houston (2003). In 2006, Fischer was the North American recipient of the UBSArt Scholarship. Dan Fischer’s work is included in major international collections including Tate,London; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; TheMenil Collection, Houston and The Whitney Museum, New York.
Alison Jacques Gallery is pleased to announce the first European exhibition of the American artistDan Fischer. Fischer’s meticulous pencil drawings are based on photocopies of photographs ofseminal artist’s images from the mid-twentieth century to the present day - a practice he terms ‘Xeroxrealism’. Using a mechanical pencil and soft erasers Fischer works his surfaces until he achieves anear perfect velveteen richness akin to that generated in the photocopying process.While enrolled at Alfred University, New York, Fischer was instructed to make raster-type drawingsthat emulate the scanning patterns of parallel lines typically displayed on early black-and-whitetelevision screens. Fischer subsequently used a Polaroid taken of himself and transformed it into theequivalent of a video image, using two parallel but slightly spaced apart pieces of paper to isolatenarrow sections of the photograph and mimic the technological look of raster lines.Fischer’s first artist subject was one of Hans Namuth’s famous photographs of Jackson Pollockstanding in front of one of his drip paintings. The artist soon began employing grids, which he finallycame to favour over the raster-line format. Working with the grid allows Fischer to view his favouriteimages as a series of abstract passages and to approach the drawing process in a very mechanicalmanner.The artist’s engagement with mediated imagery continues a line of enquiry made prominent in the late1970s by Cindy Sherman, Sherrie Levine and the other “Pictures” group artists. Fischer is drawn toimages that allude to the notion of covering up or obscurification; masks or facial distortions oftenfeature in his chosen images. In this way the subjects in these particular drawings repeat the trope oflayering and accumulation that is enacted through Fischer’s use of photographs, photocopies, andfinally, graphite.Dan Fischer was born in Brooklyn (1977) and currently lives and works in Bay Shore, NY. Hegraduated with a BA in Fine Art from the School of Art and Design, Alfred University (1999). DanFischer has been included in numerous museum exhibitions including: Two Years, Whitney Museumof American Art, NY (2008); UBS Young Art, g27, Zurich (2007); On Line: Contemporary Drawing ,University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, CA (2006); Art on Paper 2004 , Weatherspoon ArtMuseum, Greensboro (2004); Process and Possibility: Contemporary Drawings at the MFAH, TheMuseum of Fine Arts, Houston (2003). In 2006, Fischer was the North American recipient of the UBSArt Scholarship. Dan Fischer’s work is included in major international collections including Tate,London; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; TheMenil Collection, Houston and The Whitney Museum, New York.