Verne Dawson
25 Feb - 01 Apr 2006
VERNE DAWSON
"Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and other paintings"
Victoria Miro Gallery is delighted to present new works by American artist Verne Dawson. The exhibition comprises a series of seven paintings aligned to seven planets each depicting a certain day of the week; two large paintings, horizontal and vertical respectively, recounting the fairytales of Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk; and three new works from an ongoing series of numerical paintings.
Dawson’s paintings weave the prehistoric past into the present embracing a vast history of some 30,000 years. With a painting style that is self-effacing and grounded in the vernacular, Dawson offers careful consideration of narrative through composition and intimate detail. The works in this exhibition propose how the rhythms of life, religion and tradition are predicated on movements within the cosmos, a constant unchanged for thousands of years and one which offers a thread of shared tradition throughout the natural world.
In the fairytale paintings Dawson considers how oral traditions perpetuate prehistoric knowledge of time and methods of time-keeping. Delving into folklore and popular culture, Dawson paints Little Red Riding Hood as a tale of lunar eclipse and Jack and the Beanstalk as a tale of the solstice. Three numerical paintings, “9”, “108” and “432” refer to the powerful significance of certain numbers in the astronomical calendar.
Born in 1961 Verne Dawson divides his time between New York, Pennsylvania and Paris. In recent years he has exhibited at the Camden Arts Centre, London, Kunsthalle, Zurich, the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and The Royal Academy, London. His work was included in the 2005 Biennale de Lyon and a survey of his work is currently on view at le Consortium in Dijon.
© Verne Dawson
Sunday, 2005
oil on canvas
218.4 x 177.8 x 5.1 cm, 86 x 70 x 2 inches
"Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and other paintings"
Victoria Miro Gallery is delighted to present new works by American artist Verne Dawson. The exhibition comprises a series of seven paintings aligned to seven planets each depicting a certain day of the week; two large paintings, horizontal and vertical respectively, recounting the fairytales of Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk; and three new works from an ongoing series of numerical paintings.
Dawson’s paintings weave the prehistoric past into the present embracing a vast history of some 30,000 years. With a painting style that is self-effacing and grounded in the vernacular, Dawson offers careful consideration of narrative through composition and intimate detail. The works in this exhibition propose how the rhythms of life, religion and tradition are predicated on movements within the cosmos, a constant unchanged for thousands of years and one which offers a thread of shared tradition throughout the natural world.
In the fairytale paintings Dawson considers how oral traditions perpetuate prehistoric knowledge of time and methods of time-keeping. Delving into folklore and popular culture, Dawson paints Little Red Riding Hood as a tale of lunar eclipse and Jack and the Beanstalk as a tale of the solstice. Three numerical paintings, “9”, “108” and “432” refer to the powerful significance of certain numbers in the astronomical calendar.
Born in 1961 Verne Dawson divides his time between New York, Pennsylvania and Paris. In recent years he has exhibited at the Camden Arts Centre, London, Kunsthalle, Zurich, the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and The Royal Academy, London. His work was included in the 2005 Biennale de Lyon and a survey of his work is currently on view at le Consortium in Dijon.
© Verne Dawson
Sunday, 2005
oil on canvas
218.4 x 177.8 x 5.1 cm, 86 x 70 x 2 inches