ALEX DORDOY RUIN IS RUNE
MARCH 06 - APRIL 25, 2020 202 BOWERY, NEW YORK
GRIMM 202 BOWERY NEW YORK NY 10012
+1 (646) 484-5223 UNITED STATES
FRANS HALSSTRAAT 26 1072 BR AMSTERDAM
KEIZERSGRACHT 241 1016EA AMSTERDAM
+31 (0) 20 675 24 65 THE NETHERLANDS
INFO@GRIMMGALLERY.COM WWW.GRIMMGALLERY.COM
ALEX DORDOY RUIN IS RUNE
EXHIBITION
OPENING
Friday, March 6
th
Friday, March 6th, 2020, 6-8pm
until Saturday, April 25th 2020
GRIMM is proud to announce Ruin is Rune, Alex Dordoy’s (1985, Newcastle, UK) first solo exhibition in New York and his fourth solo exhibition with the gallery. Presented at GRIMM New York are a new series of paintings by London-based artist Alex Dordoy. The title of the exhibition, Ruin is Rune, references ruins as a symbol of impermanence and an allegory for the fragile balance between humans and nature. The artist’s paintings—ethereal and austere with an intimate focus on their subject matter— are digitally edited so that their source material takes on new symbolic meaning. Multiple renderings of a single image suggest the passage of time; as light and color change, playing poetically across the surface of forms, the feeling is one of unnatural stillness. Landscape is an important component in Dordoy’s paintings; it conveys themes of adventure, exoticism, nostalgia, and desire. However, these motifs are tinged with an ominous sensibility—as if we are presented with the remainders of a past from which we have been completely erased. The figure is conspicuously absent in each painting and instead swathes of color gradients occupy the canvas. This absence both beckons the viewer to picture themselves within these haunting spaces and elevates this perceived emptiness to become the subject matter itself. Through this body of work Dordoy continues his investigation of a visual language rooted in imagery from early 20th century advertisements. Here the vernaculars of Art Deco and Object Poster design are combined with elements from Metaphysical and Postdigital strands of painting. Two works in particular, Nature Nurture and Nurture Nature, play with this layering of references. In these colorways a Japanese screen is translated to a printed poster, to JPG, and then returns to the physicality of painting, in order to serve as the wall of Plato’s cave to an impossibly healthy water lily. Stylized and reproduced, the landscape and flower have almost had all the unruliness of nature distilled from their being; and yet they persist, even as the light begins to fade.
About the artist: Alex Dordoy (b. 1985 in Newcastle, (UK). He received his BFA from the in 2007 and completed the residenc Amsterdam (NL) in 2009.
Recent exhibitions include Summer (NL); The Moss is Dreaming at Blain Svalbard Soil at The Modern Institut The Modern Institute, Glasgow (UK The Hague (NL) and Persistencebea in Edinburgh (UK). He has also part exhibitions: Doodle & Disegno at Bla Eaters, at the Monash University Mu Use/User/Used, Zabludowicz Collec Northern Gallery for Contemporary NOING UV IT, Bergen Kunsthall, Be Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, S
Alex Dordoy’s work can be found i well as the Zabludowicz Collection Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL); the Art Foundation, Amsterdam (NL); S the KRC Collection, Voorschoten (N
About the gallery: GRIMM represents thirty internatio establishment in 2005, it has been represent and support the work of artists. The gallery has two exhibit in New York.
, UK) lives and works in London e Glasgow School of Art (UK) cy program at De Ateliers,
r’s Ego at GRIMM Amsterdam n|Southern in London (UK); From te, Glasgow (UK); Model T at K); Sleepwalker, Kunstmuseum, atsresistance at Inverleith House ticipated in the following group ain|Southern, Berlin (DE); Future useum of Art, Caufield East (AU); ction, London (UK); Crab Walk, y Art, Sunderland (UK); THE ergen (NO); and Office Space at the San Francisco (US).
in many private collections, as n, London (UK) and New York (US); e EKARD Collection; Akzo Nobel Start Museum, Shanghai (CN); and NL) among many others.
onal artists. Since its n the gallery’s mission to emerging and mid-career tion spaces in Amsterdam and one
ALEX DORDOY
Nature Nurture 2020 Acrylic on canvas 140 x 200 cm | 55 1/8 x 78 3/4 in
202 BOWERY NEW YORK NY 10012
+1 (646) 484-5223 UNITED STATES
FRANS HALSSTRAAT 26 1072 BR AMSTERDAM
KEIZERSGRACHT 241 1016EA AMSTERDAM
+31 (0) 20 675 24 65 THE NETHERLANDS
INFO@GRIMMGALLERY.COM WWW.GRIMMGALLERY.COM
ALEX DORDOY
Detail | Nature Nurture
202 BOWERY NEW YORK NY 10012
+1 (646) 484-5223 UNITED STATES
FRANS HALSSTRAAT 26 1072 BR AMSTERDAM
KEIZERSGRACHT 241
+31 (0) 20 675 24 65 THE NETHERLANDS
INFO@GRIMMGALLERY.COM WWW.GRIMMGALLERY.COM
ALEX DORDOY
Nurture Nature 2020 Acrylic on canvas 140 x 200 cm | 55 1/8 x 78 3/4 in
202 BOWERY NEW YORK NY 10012
+1 (646) 484-5223 UNITED STATES
FRANS HALSSTRAAT 26 1072 BR AMSTERDAM
KEIZERSGRACHT 241 1016EA AMSTERDAM
+31 (0) 20 675 24 65 THE NETHERLANDS
INFO@GRIMMGALLERY.COM WWW.GRIMMGALLERY.COM
ALEX DORDOY
Ruin is Rune 2020 Acrylic on canvas 200 x 140 cm | 78 3/4 x 55 1/8 in
202 BOWERY NEW YORK NY 10012
+1 (646) 484-5223 UNITED STATES
FRANS HALSSTRAAT 26 1072BR AMSTERDAM
KEIZERSGRACHT 241 1016 EA AMSTERDAM
+31 (0) 20 675 24 65 THE NETHERLANDS
INFO@GRIMMGALLERY.COM W W W. GRIMMGALLERY.COM
ALEX DORDOY
Arpeggi 2019 Acrylic on canvas 90 x 60 cm | 35 3/8 x 23 5/8 in
ALEX DORDOY
Weird Fishes 2019 Acrylic on canvas 140 x 200 cm | 55 1/8 x 78 3/4 in
202 BOWERY NEW YORK NY 10012
+1 (646) 484-5223 UNITED STATES
FRANS HALSSTRAAT 26 1072 BR AMSTERDAM
KEIZERSGRACHT 241
+31 (0) 20 675 24 65 THE NETHERLANDS
INFO@GRIMMGALLERY.COM WWW.GRIMMGALLERY.COM
ALEX DORDOY
Detail | Weird Fishes
202 BOWERY NEW YORK NY 10012
+1 (646) 484-5223 UNITED STATES
FRANS HALSSTRAAT 26 1072 BR AMSTERDAM
KEIZERSGRACHT 241
+31 (0) 20 675 24 65 THE NETHERLANDS
INFO@GRIMMGALLERY.COM WWW.GRIMMGALLERY.COM
ALEX DORDOY
50 Years Over 40 Million (Coral Flame) 2020 Acrylic on canvas 90 x 60 cm | 35 3/8 x 23 5/8 in
ALEX DORDOY
50 Years Over 40 Million (Goldenrod) 2020 Acrylic on canvas 90 x 60 cm | 35 3/8 x 23 5/8 in
202 BOWERY NEW YORK NY 10012
+1 (646) 484-5223 UNITED STATES
FRANS HALSSTRAAT 26 1072 BR AMSTERDAM
KEIZERSGRACHT 241
+31 (0) 20 675 24 65 THE NETHERLANDS
INFO@GRIMMGALLERY.COM WWW.GRIMMGALLERY.COM
ALEX DORDOY
Regatta 2019 Acrylic on canvas 200 x 125 cm | 78 3/4 x 49 1/4 in
202 BOWERY NEW YORK NY 10012
+1 (646) 484-5223 UNITED STATES
FRANS HALSSTRAAT 26 1072 BR AMSTERDAM
KEIZERSGRACHT 241
+31 (0) 20 675 24 65 THE NETHERLANDS
INFO@GRIMMGALLERY.COM WWW.GRIMMGALLERY.COM
ALEX DORDOY
Eternal Sunshine 2019 Acrylic on canvas 75 x 50 cm | 29 1/2 x 19 3/4 in
ALEX DORDOY
Apocrypha 2019 Acrylic on canvas 75 x 50 cm | 29 1/2 x 19 3/4 in
ALEX DORDOY
Apocrypha 2019 Acrylic on canvas 75 x 50 cm | 29 1/2 x 19 3/4 in
ALEX DORDOY
Silicon Sunset 2018 Acrylic on canvas 90 x 60 cm | 35 3/8 x 23 5/8 in
202 BOWERY NEW YORK NY 10012
+1 (646) 484-5223 UNITED STATES
FRANS HALSSTRAAT 26 1072 BR AMSTERDAM
KEIZERSGRACHT 241 1016EA AMSTERDAM
+31 (0) 20 675 24 65 THE NETHERLANDS
INFO@GRIMMGALLERY.COM WWW.GRIMMGALLERY.COM
ALEX DORDOY
Golfe du Morbihan (dusk) 2019
Acrylic on canvas 200 x 140 cm | 78 3/4 x 55 1/8
ALEX DORDOY
Golfe du Morbihan (dusk) 2019 Acrylic on canvas 200 x 140 cm | 78 3/4 x 55 1/8 Sold
ALEX DORDOY
Golfe du Morbihan (dawn) 2019 202 BOWERY NEW YORK NY 10012
+1 (646) 484-5223 UNITED STATES
Acrylic on canvas 200 x 140 cm | 78 3/4 x 55 1/8
FRANS HALSSTRAAT 26 1072 BR AMSTERDAM
KEIZERSGRACHT 241
+31 (0) 20 675 24 65 THE NETHERLANDS
INFO@GRIMMGALLERY.COM WWW.GRIMMGALLERY.COM
ALEX DORDOY
Young Scottish Painters, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (UK)
b. 1985 in Newcastle (UK)
2009
Winner, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (UK)
Lives and works in London (UK)
2008
Alex Dordoy, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh (UK)
EDUCATION
Black Aspirin (with Neil Clements), The Project Rooms, Glasgow (UK)
2009
Residency Program, De Ateliers, Amsterdam (NL)
When We Say Dive, We Mean Straight Down, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow (UK)
2005
Undergraduate Exchange, California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles (US)
2007
No Man’s Land, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow (UK)
2007
BA (hons) Painting/Printmaking, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow (UK)
2006
Reasons to Worry, A405 gallery, California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles (US)
AWARDS
2008
Scottish Arts Council, Visual Arts Development Grant (UK)
2005
Fine Arts Exchange scholarship, California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles (US)
2003
Samling Foundation Residency, Kielder Forest (UK)
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
Ruin is Rune, GRIMM, New York (US)
2018
Summer’s Ego, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL)
2017
The Moss is Dreaming, curated by Tom Morton, Blain|Southern, London (UK) From Svalbard Soil, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (UK)
2015
Model T, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (UK)
2014
Sleepwalker, De Ateliers Debut Series, Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL)
2013
2012
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
Away in the Hill, GRIMM, New York (US)
2018
Doodle & Disegno, Blain|Southern, Berlin (DE) Pop-up GRIMM, Brussels (BE)
2017
Future Eaters, Monash University Museum of Art, Caulfield East (AU)
2016
I still Believe in Miracles, Inverleith House, Edinburgh (UK) What’s Up, Soho Revue and Union Club, London (UK) Use/User/Used, Zabludowicz Collection, London (UK)
2015
Crab Walk, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland (UK) WINTERMUTE, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL)
Persitencebeatsresistance, Inverleith House, Edinburgh (UK)
Against Automatism, Fused Space, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Fransisco (US)
Caster and Krast Crack Autumn, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL)
Breakin’ Up Is Hard to Do, KARST, Plymouth (UK)
I’d Planned a Cloud but it Took me by Surprise, ReMap4, Athens (GR)
THE NOING UV IT, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen (NO)
Alex Dordoy, Christian Andersen, Copenhagen (DK)
2014
2010
Generation: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (UK)
Upstairs at the Modern Institute, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (UK) Demoscene, Hochstrasse 45, Berlin (with Neil Clements) (DE)
A Merman Should I Turn to Be, Laura Bartlett Gallery, London (UK) Group Show, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL)
Alex Dordoy, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (UK) 2011
Office Space, YBCA, San Francisco (USA)
2013
Does the it fit, Stephenson Works, Newcastle (UK)
Psychopomp Counsel, De Ateliers, Amsterdam (NL)
Batman Electronic, Mikael Andresen, Berlin (DE)
Pirates, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL)
Traces of Life, curated by Ariel Roger-Paris,
Wentrup, Berlin (DE) I’d planned a cloud but it took me by surprise, Remap4, Athens (GR) 2012
Recent British Painting, curated by Tom Morton, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL) A House Leaves: Second Movement, The David Roberts Art Foundation, London (UK)
2011
AKZO Nobel ARt Foundation, Amsterdam (NL) David Roberts Art Foundation, London (UK)
Look with all Your Eyes, Look, Frith Street Gallery, London (UK)
Start Museum, Shanghai (CN)
Picasso in Paris, 1900-1907, Museu Picasso, Barcelona (SP) What You See is Where You’re at, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (UK)
2009
Fears That I May Cease To Be Generator Projects, Dundee (UK)
2008
New Work Scotland, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh (UK) Neil Clements/Alex Dordoy/Morag Keil, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL) Autarchy, SWG3 Warehouse, Glasgow (UK) Mamones Ready to Go!, Norma Desmond Productions, Los Angeles (US) Art LA, Los Angeles (with The Modern Institute/Toby Webster ltd.) (US) Hell-o from Hell-a, Norma Desmond Productions, Los Angeles (US) The Degree Show 2007, Glasgow School of Art (UK) Natural Geographic, Norma Desmond Productions, Los Angeles (US)
2006
Zabludowicz Collection (UK)
EKARD collection
Picasso in Paris, 1900-1907, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (NL)
2007
Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL)
Into the Surface, Brand New Gallery, Milan (IT)
Psychopomp Counsel, Offspring De Ateliers, Amsterdam (NL)
2010
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Panoptican Event, The Panoptican, Glasgow (UK)
KRC Collection, Voorschoten (NL)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Future Eaters, Monash University Museum of Art, Caulfield East (AU) I aint the noing uv it im jus onle the showing uv it, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen (NO) Alex Dordoy, The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow (UK) Neil Clements – Alex Dordoy – Morag Keil, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL)
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