Fred Duignan | Transcending Chaos

FRED DUIGNAN TRANSCENDING CHAOS

THE COVER, DETAIL: SKETCHES OF SPAIN - MILES DAVIS , 2020, OIL & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 20 x 24”

FRED DUIGNAN TRANSCENDING CHAOS

JULY 5 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2024

CASTELLO 925, VENICE, ITALY

WITNESS , 2018, OIL ON CANVAS, 18 x 22”

CURATOR'S NOTE

Fredrick Duignan’s art is fueled by the need to transcend chaos, both the chaos of picture making and of life itself. The practical Romans considered chaos to be an unformed mess, a jumble of all the elements. The philosophical Greeks more profoundly believed that chaos was the primal substance out of which the world arose. Duignan’s art encompasses both. He started as a player in the 1980's East Village, NYC, when art burst forth as direct, unruly, seemingly naive, getting at raw personal matters of process and reality, accessing the unconscious as well as conscious intensities. For his process Duignan took a collaborative role with paint itself, allowing it to flow, skein, drip, puddle, considering it to be an “animal, fiery with purpose...ignoring all rules, unafraid,” consequently imbuing his works with vital energy. Driven by deep personal experiences of childhood abuse by the father to the family and by the journey in finding himself, his images resonate with struggle, eros, and spirit. One series directly of family and one concerning his late cancer, both with his own poetry, frame his art and his personal experience. In between Duignan immersed himself in meta issues of environmental and industrial decay and hope. Throughout he is on a spiritual quest, cracking open his Catholic heritage into painterly fragments and invented images. His journey is like that of Dante, into darkness, struggling through purgatory, seeking light and redemption. A late series, several exhibited in this exhibition, brings us to a resplendent cosmic abstraction.

SARA LYNN HENRY Professor of Art History

NEH Distinguished Professor of Humanities

Emerita, Drew University

FRED DUIGNAN

Originally from northern New Jersey, Fred Duignan, recieved a BFA and Graduate Certificate from University of California, Santa Cruz (1981, 82). He hastened back to New York City, where he dove into the East Village and New York Art Scene of the 1980's-90's. He had extensive solo shows and a role in many group exhibitions in NYC (Fashion Moda, 10th Street Gallery, Bill Bace, Blum Hellman, Asian American Arts Center, Grace Hartigan, AOT); in NJ (Farleigh Dickenson University, Paterson Museum); regionally (at the Stamford Museum; Mothership, Woodstock, NY; Green Kill, Kingston, NY); and abroad (Helsinki, Finland; Seoul, Korea). He wrote art criticism for Cover Magazine, NYC and for the NJ Herald and News and was for a number of years Curator of Contemporary Art at the Paterson Museum. All his life Duignan was an accomplished poet and wrote vivid poetry to accompany many of his art series, and in one case the poem was literally a part of his imagery in diptych form.

“After many years of harnessing technique, pursuing picturing, following trends and restating history, I now acquiesce in a secondary role, within my purpose, to the painting’s becoming what it wishes to. Painting is an experience based on the belief in my hand as a channel of the expression hidden in the materials that is unleased by painting itself in alignment with my life’s deep psychological underpinnings.”

FRED DUIGNAN, INTRODUCTION TO SLIDE PUZZLE — THE LAST ENVIRONMENTAL GAME , GRID OF 15 PAINTINGS, 2021.

“There are moments in life that define an artist's personal reckoning as they face art making in the most profound way. When first faced with the diagnosis, I looked for a diversionary outlet and once again discovered the Ken Burns documentary Jazz. In light of the film's enormous scope, gravitas and joy, I decided to approach my subject in line with individual jazz works that spoke to the little white square that I am...with a humility that I hope allows me to effectively

use this musical genius....I hope this depiction of my mortal journey plays you a tune that resonates with the depths of that unique and authentic voice. ”

FRED DUIGNAN, THE KEY TO C (A JOURNEY THROUGH CANCER) , 2023

FRED DUIGNAN

TRANSCENDING CHAOS

BUMBLE BEE - MEMPHIS MINI , 2022, [BLUES SERIES], OIL & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 16 x 20”

POWER , 2020, [UNZIPPED SERIES], OIL & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 12 x 16”

CANDY MAN BLUES - MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT , 2022, [BLUES SERIES], OIL & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 16 x 20”

ROMA - THE CORE , 2019, [UNZIPPED SERIES], OIL & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 48 x 36”

MESSAGE , 2020, [UNZIPPED SERIES], OIL & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 12 x 16”

SKETCHES OF SPAIN - MILES DAVIS , 2020, OIL & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 20 x 24”

GUARDIAN ANGEL , 2017, OIL & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 18 x 22”

UNTITLED , 2017, [BLUES SERIES], OIL ON CANVAS, 17.75 x 22”

CLEOPATRA , 2019, OIL & ACYLIC ON CANVAS, 16 x 20”

VENEZIA (ESCAPING EIGHT STREET, NYC) , 2019, [UNZIPPED SERIES], OIL & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 30 x 40”

BATTLE , 2010-2012, [SPILL SERIES], OIL & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 14 x 17.5”

FREIGHT TRAIN BLUES - TRIXIE SMITH , 2022, [BLUES SERIES], OIL & ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 18 x 24”

“Gentle,

strong, talented Fred Duignan. I have no words, only memory of a true friend, a committed artist, an eye and mind able to stay innocent and clear and firm in the turmoil of living. ”

LUCIO POZZI JUNE 2023