Bloom Dana Flores and Dan McCleary
March 3 – April 3, 2022
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Bloom by Allison Cannella
Dana Flores
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Artist Statement Selection of Work Artist CV
Dan McCleary
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Still Life Painting in Quarantine Selection of Work Artist CV
Bloom It has been said that the only permanent thing in life is impermanence. The world around us is ever-changing, shifting, growing, and moving, whether we notice it or not. It is all too easy to live unaware of realities that seemingly exist outside our own. Dana Flores and Dan McCleary live differently. These two artists look deeply at day to day realities that are momentary and often overlooked. What’s more, they immortalize instances of beauty and capture the essence of the natural world in a way that allows for prolonged enjoyment. Flores’s inspiration lies in simple objects she discovers in nature such as rocks, leaves, seeds, and flowers. She recognizes that these objects are anything but static and appreciates their every stage. “I love the flower from beginning to end,” she says, revealing
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the floral affinity she explores in her sculptural ceramic practice. Flores recounts watching a peony open and change color. When the petals eventually fall to the table, she leaves them there as they continue to transform. Similarly, McCleary chooses to focus on the ephemeral with his still-life paintings of fruit and flower arrangements. He places each object with painstaking precision: “Moving a plum a fraction of an inch to the left or right becomes a monumental decision,” he notes. Once his arrangement is in position, he spends as much time staring at it as he does putting it to canvas. He observes shifting shadows, drooping petals, softening stems, and captures them in real-time. Through entirely different artistic means, Flores and McCleary work in the mindset that though the bloom may be brief, the
memory of its beauty must be preserved. Flores chose clay as her preferred medium because of its tactile nature. She enjoys the mess that comes with working with clay and the feel of manually molding the material as she pleases. Since perfection was never her end goal, Flores moved away from the potter’s wheel over time and now primarily focuses on hand-building her forms. She likens the feel of each flower petal in her hand to a meditation, noting that “each stroke and movement across the clay helps me to breathe. I see the beauty in the world, and it always brings me back to my core.” Through the stillness and solitude of the pandemic and without human subjects to paint, McCleary began to fully focus on still life practice. “It feels right to focus on things that are so alive and silent,” he wrote in his essay, “Still Life Painting in
Quarantine.” His paintings are about the passage of time, and composition and color are of the greatest importance. He deliberately limits his color palette to allow for a more intimate understanding of the colors he sees, staying as true as possible to his observed reality. “Bloom” brings together two bodies of work that equally celebrate some of the briefest and most beautiful instances in life. Existence is impermanent; transience is inescapable. The works of Dana Flores and Dan McCleary generously provide us with the unique opportunity to linger as long as we’d like in moments that are otherwise temporary. - Allison Cannella Manager, Telluride Gallery of Fine Art
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Artist Statement I am a native Californian sculptural artist currently based in Los Angeles. I started out with a career in the entertainment industry and found myself living in Japan during the mid-1980s. My early influences originated through my travels there; I was attracted to the ceramics I’d see in restaurants, temples, residences, and museums, and started thinking seriously about clay. After returning home to California, I got my start in the ceramic arts at The Potter’s Studio in Los Angeles in 1991. I was hooked from that point on and would often work in the studio until well after midnight. In the mid90s, I decided to travel through Central and South America where I was influenced by both nature and history, from volcanoes and jungles to Mayan temples with ancient carvings and rough stoneware. Even the dainty and delicate gifts that I found in nature during my travels, such as rocks, shells, flowers, and seedpods, have stayed in my heart and psyche and are channeled in the creations of my work to this day.
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My love of the desert and its silence inspired me to retreat to Joshua Tree, a place where I go for creative rejuvenation. The time I’ve spent there during the last few years has reawakened my passion for sculptural ceramics. My experience over the last 18 years of being a chef, a business owner, and a mother to three children has been instrumental in the detail, shape, and movement of my pieces today. The works I make are fluid yet rustic and raw in form. I like to think of them as items someone might take home with them to remember a point in their journey. I’ve taken many paths in my life, but I always return to clay. It has saved me from times of significant grief and sadness by summoning me into great joy through focus. It keeps me sane and grounds me in a way that allows me to give back to those I love and those I have never met.
- Dana Flores
Dana Flores Desert Sunset 3, 2020 White Engobe, Pink Mason Stain, Matte White Glaze, High Fire, Soldate 60 Clay 6¾ x 16 x 14½ in.
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Dana Flores (Clockwise from left: Camelia 1M, 2020, Red Iron Oxide Glaze, High Fire, Amador Clay, 4 x 13 x 13 in. Camelia 2M, 2020, Red Iron Oxide Glaze, High Fire, Amador Clay, 4 x 12 x 11 in. Camelia 3S, 2020, Red Iron Oxide Glaze, High Fire, Amador Clay, 3½ x 8½ x 8 in.
Dana Flores Peony, 2020 Red Iron Oxide, High Fire, Soldate Clay 7 x 13 x 13 in.
Dana Flores Rusted, 2020 Red Iron Oxide, High Fire, Soldate Clay 6 x 17 x 17 in.
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I pull out the flowers as if in an archeological dig, unearthing a treasure, an ancient relic of time past. I imagine the beauty of a flower not in its reality today but as a specimen from millions of years ago. To me, they are petrified and prehistoric. -Dana Flores
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Dana Flores Bone, 2020 White Engobe, Clear Glaze, B-Mix Clay 7 x 13 x 13 in.
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Dana Flores Ocean Bloom 1, 2021 Matte Blue Glaze, High Fire, LBM Clay 5 x 15 x 15 in.
Dana Flores Ocean Bloom 2, 2021 Matte Blue Glaze, High Fire, LBM Clay 4½ x 15 x 14 in.
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Dana Flores Desert Sunset 1, 2020 White Engobe, Pink Mason Stain, Matte White Glaze, High Fire, Soldate 60 Clay 6¼ x 15 x 13 in.
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Dana Flores Desert Sunset 2, 2021 White Engobe, Pink Mason Stain, Matte White Glaze, High Fire, Soldate 60 Clay 5 x 15½ x 14 in.
I chose clay because I’m very tactile. I work with my hands all the time. I love the feel. I like to get dirty, and ceramics is messy, and I love that. I’ve never looked to make something perfect. -Dana Flores
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Dana Flores Femme Fleur 1, 2020 Red Iron Oxide Glaze, High Fire, Amador Clay 5½ x 15¾ x 9 in.
Dana Flores Femme Fleur 2, 2020 Red Iron Oxide Glaze, High Fire, Amador Clay 5¼ x 15½ x 9 in.
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Dana Flores Flower Bud 1, 2020 Red Iron Oxide, High Fire, Amador Clay 4 x 8 x 4 in.
Dana Flores Flower Bud 2, 2020 Red Iron Oxide, High Fire, Amador Clay 4 x 8 x 4 in.
Dana Flores Born Burbank, CA in 1963 Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
Education 1997 Santa Monica City College, CA 1994 - 1997 Portland Community College, OR
Exhbitions and Experience 2022 “Elements of Earth”, Anza Borrego Art Institute 2021 Padua Art Festival, Claremont Museum of Fine Art 2020 “Vessel”, Telluride Gallery of Fine Art 2019 Installation of 9 Prehistoric & Bone Flowers, Private Residence 1998 “Lotus“ ceramics exhibition, Lautner Kings Road House
1994 - 1997 Apprenticed with ceramicist Andrew MacCorkindale 1993 - 1994 Travel and Resarch in Central & South America 1991 - 1993 Member, The Potters Studio, Los Angeles, CA 1991 - Present Works included in private collections nationwide
1997 Work represented by William Emmerson at Emmerson Troop
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Still Life Painting in Quarantine In between my larger figurative paintings, I usually work on small still-life paintings. For the past two years, however, I have been working almost exclusively on paintings of fruit and flowers. Each painting takes about two days to complete. I paint from life, so I take my time setting up the fruit or arranging the flowers. I keep regular hours – 10:00 am to 6:30 pm. When I am working, I spend as much time staring at what is in front of me as I do putting down on canvas the phenomena that I observe. The fruit does not change much in the time required to paint it. An apple remains static and allows me to focus on the nuances of the shape, color, and shadows. Working on the flower paintings is very different. The stems soften, the petals drop. Given these physical changes, I am more focused on the ephemeral passage of time. Unlike the fruit, the flowers are continuously moving. I am less in control. The space around the objects is as important as the objects themselves. The backgrounds become darker where they meet the lighter part of the flowers or fruit.
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The more I look, the more I see. I become aware of subtle shifts in the color of the wall, the table, and the subjects themselves. At the end of the day, I move in closer and see more details. Light in Los Angeles is fairly consistent, unchanging throughout the day, though shadows become richer in the late afternoon. Because I work in northern light, the shadows never change direction. Looking at something for many hours is, of course, very different from taking a picture. The photograph is a second’s worth of information. The paintings of the fruit and flowers also capture the passage of time, but over a longer period of time. With an end to the pandemic on the hopeful horizon, I look forward to once again drawing and painting people from life. I have no idea what this figurative work will look like. During these two years of social distancing, I have been happy to spend my time working on still-lifes and giving my sustained attention to subjects that are so alive, beautiful, and silent.
- Dan McCleary
Dan McCleary Flowers with Hyacinth, 2021 Oil on canvas 19⅛ x 15⅜ in.
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Dan McCleary Two Mangoes, 2020 Oil on canvas 12⅜ x 15⅜ in.
Dan McCleary Three Apricots, 2021 Oil on canvas 11 x 13 in.
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Dan McCleary Mixed Flowers with Tulips, 2020 Oil on canvas 18⅜ x 15⅜ in.
Dan McCleary Mixed Flowers with Ranunculus, 2021 Oil on canvas 19⅛ x 15 in.
Working on the flower paintings is very different. The stems soften, the petals drop. Given these physical changes, I am more focused on the ephemeral passage of time. Unlike the fruit, the flowers are continuously moving. I am less in control. -Dan McCleary
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Dan McCleary Mixed Flowers with Freesia, 2021 Oil on canvas 25 x 19 in.
Dan McCleary Pink Tulips, 2021 Oil on panel 20 x 20 in.
Dan McCleary Anemone, 2021 Oil on canvas 19⅛ x 15¼ in.
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When I am working, I spend as much time staring at what is in front of me as I do putting down on canvas the phenomena that I observe... The more I look, the more I see. I become aware of subtle shifts in the color of the wall, table, and the subjects themselves. -Dan McCleary
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Dan McCleary Amaryllis #1, 2021 Oil on canvas 16⅛ x 11¾ in.
Dan McCleary Amaryllis #2, 2021 Oil on canvas 16 x 11⅞ in.
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Dan McCleary Red Pears, 2019 Oil on canvas 13 1/4 x 11 3/4 in.
Dan McCleary Two Dark Plums, 2020 Oil on canvas 11 1/4 x 15 3/4 in.
Dan McCleary Apple and Pear, 2019 Oil on canvas 13 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.
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Dan McCleary (Clockwise from Top Left): White Carnations, 2020, Oil on canvas, 18 1/2 x 15 1/4 in. Flowers with Red Ranunculus, 2020, Oil on canvas, 18 1/4 x 15 1/4 in. Freesias, 2020, Oil on canvas, 25 x 19 in. Four Roses, 2020, Oil on canvas, 18 1/2 x 15 1/4 in.
Dan McCleary (Clockwise from top left): Tulips, Freesias, and Peony, 2020, Oil on canvas, 22 x 18 3/4 in. Three Roses, 2020, Oil on canvas, 18 1/2 x 15 in. Four Red Peonies, 2020, Oil on canvas, 18 1/2 x 15 1/4 in. Queen Anne’s Lace, 2020, Oil on canvas, 18 1/2 x 16 in.
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Dan McCleary Born Santa Monica, CA in 1952 Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
Education 1979 Skowhegan School, Skowhegan, ME 1972 San Francisco Art Institute, CA 1970 Santa Monica College, CA
Public Collections California Redevelopment Agency, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge, MA
Ohio State University Collection, OH
The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Laguna Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
Spencer Collection, New York Public Library, NY
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
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Catalog by Andrew Dines
Telluride Gallery of Fine Art info@telluridegallery.com www.telluridegallery.com 970.728.3300 130 E. Colorado Ave. Telluride, CO 81435
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