David Dornan
“Resurrection” June 14-20
David Dornan “Resurrection”
June 14-20, 2019 Solo Exhibition
On the Cover: Recovery
oil 52x56
Meyer Gallery
225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 505.983.1434 www.meyergalleries.com
David Dornan resides in Utah and has spent the past nine winters painting in the desert. Recently he resigned a 17-year university faculty position to pursue his painting career full time. David has produced a sizable body of work, focusing most recently on a series of still life motif paintings. His work is in numerous public and private collections throughout the United States. Throughout his career he has received purchase awards, prizes, best of show awards, and/or high placement in nearly every exhibition he has entered. David has also won many academic and professional awards, and he has been exhibiting nationally for nearly 20 years. Remarkable things happen to commonplace objects in David's paintings. A can or jar, a flower, a paint brush- a palette as a sole subject or as elements in a complex composition take on a monumental quality through scale changes and central placement. The objects painted assume a commanding presence through his assertive paint application. Immediacy and spontaneity are achieved not only with a brush, but also through the smear of a thumb, the wipe of a rag, and the "weight and speed" of a drip. "At a distance my paintings are depictions of familiar objects - cups and bottles, studio objects on a palette and, more recently, flowers- but the up-close view exposes the abstract juxtaposition and layering of paint, not the three-dimensional imagery. You can see the splotches, handprints, scratches - evidence of the way I put paint on canvas. There is interaction between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional aspects of my paintings. When there are objects within the abstraction I have a parameter against which to measure my technique. "When I am painting a visual dialogue develops between the medium's inherent qualities (i.e. value, color, texture, fluidity, etc.) and the form I am trying to depict. My paintings are a record of this visual dialogue. I do not begin a painting with a fixed idea of what the painting will look like. The methods and techniques, which I employ during the process of painting, determine the final results. Sometimes I dominate this process with concepts and techniques, which are too familiar to me, and the result is always lifeless. When this happens I will destroy or alter the image by employing haphazard, naive, or accidental paint applications. This will open the painting up, forcing me to react rather than to dictate. Painting is almost always more interesting to me when the process is pulling me as much as I am pushing it.
Paintings...
“The objects in my studio are like a diary,” says Utah painter David Dornan, who collects used jars, dented cans, rusted tools and other abandoned items as future subject matter for his oil paintings. “It’s something that should be in a landfill by now,” he says. “But because it’s in my painting, 500 years from now someone will see it. That’s the destruction and resurrection that has permeated
Resplendent
oil 18x16
Sloth
oil 52x60
“Resurrection” speaks not only to Dornan’s subject matter but also his creative process; according to the artist, each painting undergoes its own destruction and resurrection in the studio before reaching finality. A painting can change completely from one hour to the next, and often unexpectedly as the artist works with no final imagery in mind.my work for a long time.”
Gleam
oil 28x24
Aglow
oil 52x60
“As the viewer, we witness this creative experience through pieces like “Apron,” “Repairs,” “Hamilton Towing” and “Garrett.” In these “paintings of paintings,” a completed Dornan still life hangs in the midst of a chaotic studio environment. Paint splattered walls, toppled jars and strewn brushes symbolize the destruction a painting endures before coming to fruition. my work for a long time.”
Repairs
oil 45x50
Art Theory
oil 36x32
When viewing these works, we feel as if we are peeking into the artist’s studio during his creative process - or perhaps more accurately, into the artist’s mind. “It’s a fabricated scene,” says Dornan of his paintings. “The subject isn’t as important to me as the pretense; the objects I paint are just excuses for people to get into the world I’m seeing, which is extremely abstract.”
Cynosure
oil 10x12
Apron
oil 22x24
Other exhibition paintings depict closer views of Dornan’s “diary of objects,” which have been seemingly repurposed as painter’s tools. Tabasco jars, coffee cans and honey bear bottles are splattered or filled with paint, haphazardly arranged in a unique take on a traditional still life. These objects are not chosen randomly; each one has its own story to tell or holds symbolic meaning for the artist.
Lucent
oil 32x40
Radiance
oil 30x24
The idea of “Resurrection” has been a long-time influence for Dornan, but it now also represents something more personal. Dornan tragically lost his son last year and has since used the act of painting as a form of therapy. Seemingly ordinary or recurring objects, such as the honey bear jar, have taken on new meaning or metaphor in remembrance of Dornan’s son. “I’m putting in little pieces that have significance or importance to me – things that remind me of him,” he says about his latest paintings. “It’s like looking at a painting that is symbolic of his spirit to me. Memory in painting is everything - and it takes me to a good place.”
Lambent
oil 18x16
Rubble
oil 20x22
P’s & Q’s
oil 40x45
Goya
oil 28x24
Associates
oil 45x50
Steel Sculptures...
Cafeteria
mixed media 18x6x10
Art Theory 3D
mixed media 18x6x10
David Dornan Aglow Apron Art Theory 3D Art Theory Associates Cafeteria Cynosure Gleam Goya Hamilton Towing Lambent Lucent P’s & Q’s Radiance Recovery Repairs Resplendent Rubble Sloth
”Resurrection”
52x60 22x24 18x6x10 36x32 45x50 18x6x10 10x12 28x24 28x24 45x50 18x16 32x40 40x45 30x24 52x56 45x50 18x16 20x22 52x60
$20,000 $4,000 $1,100 $8,200 $16,000 $1,100 $1,000 $3,600 $3,200 $16,000 $1,600 $8,200 $12,500 $3,600 $18,000 $16,000 $1,600 $3,600 $18,000
David Dornan
Resume
Education 1982 MFA, School of Art, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 1976 BFA, Dept. of Art, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah Solo Exhibitions 1988 David Dornan: Paintings, Drawings, Monotypes and Sculptures, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City 1982 M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition, Harry Wood Art Gallery, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ Group Exhibitions 1998 “Blue”, Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 1996-97 “Tempe Suite” Group Print Portfolio 1996 "The Reality of Abstraction", Nora Eccles Harrison Museum 1995-96 Summer Show, Allan Stone Gallery, New York 1995 Bountiful Art Center, Bountiful, Utah 1984 "Out of Print", Brigham Young University 1984 "Miniatures" Olga Dollar Gallery, San Francisco 1990, 92 "Group Show", Marqulies Taplin Gallery, Bay Harbor Islands, Fla. 1990 "Contemporary Works on Paper" Utah Arts Festival, Salt Lake City 1989, 90 "Art Department Faculty Exhibition", Gittins Gallery, University of Utah, SLC, UT 1989, 90 "A View of Four", 1988 89 Visual Arts Fellowship Winners, Salt Lake Art Center, SLC, UT 1989 "Exhibition 1989: Contemporary Utah Painting", Utah Arts Festival, UT 1989-91 "14th Annual National Invitational Drawing Exhibition" Emporia State Univ., Emporia KS 1986, 89 "Art on Campus", Amerika Haus Hamburg, Hamburg, West Germany 1988 "Dornan/Wangsgard", Two person Exhibition, Gayle Weyher Gallery, UT 1987 "Interiors" Bountiful Art Center, Bountiful, UT 1987 "The Cliff Lodge Inaugural Exhibition at Snowbird, Snowbird, UT 1986 "2020 Vision Utah Arts Festival", Salt Lake City, UT 1986 "A New View Nine Utah Artists" Traveling Exhibition, State of Utah, through 1988 1986 "Utah '86 Painting/Sculpture", Utah Museum of Fine Arts, SLC, UT 1985, 86 "University of Utah Art Department Faculty Show", Harris Fine Arts Center, Provo, UT 1985 "Abstract and Non Objective Art: A Utah Perspective", Salt Lake City Awards 1989 Purchase Award, National Drawing Invitational, Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas 1987 Utah Arts Council Visual Artist Fellowship 1987 Utah Arts Festival "Impact" Project Grant 1987 Purchase Award, Cliff Lodge Inaugural Painting Exhibition, Snowbird, Utah 1984 Purchase Awards and Cash Award, "Utah '84" Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, Utah 1984 Second Place, Cash Award, Bountiful Art Center, Bountiful, Utah 1981 First Place, National Society of Arts and Letters Drawing Competition, St. Louis, Missouri 1981 Best of Show, First Honorable Mention, Arizona State University Student Art Exhibition, Arizona 1978 Purchase Award, Cash Award, Honorable Mention, "Utah '78" Utah Museum of Fine Arts
1978 Purchase Award, Cash Award, Honorable Mention, "Utah '78" Utah Museum of Fine Arts 1977 Merit Award for Drawing, Merit Award for Painting, "Utah, '77" Utah Museum of Fine Arts 1976 Second Place, "Davis County Open" Bountiful Art Center, Bountiful, Utah 1976 Best of Show, Best in Painting, "Bicentennial Student Art Competition" University of Utah 1975 Third Place, "Statewide Competition" Bertha Eccles Art Center, Ogden, Utah Honors 1988 Keynote Speaker, Utah Arts Council Annual Conference 1985 Painting Commission, Department of Health Building, Utah State Fine Art Collection, SLC 1982 Abraham & Bessie Lehrer Memorial Award, School of Art, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 1980-81 Graduate Students Academic Fellowship Arizona State University 1976 Beehive Honor Society, University of Utah Publications 2017 “Show Preview”, Southwest Art, June 2017, Laura Rintala 1996 “New American Paintings”, April ’96 #VI, pp42-43, Open Studio Press 1991 Utah Art, Vern Swanson, Robert Olpin and William Seifrit 1990 "A View of Four" Exhibition Catalogue, Text by Will South, Salt Lake Art Center 1986 A Drawing Handbook, Nathan Goldstein Teaching Experience 1991–Pres Summer Solstice/Fall Equinox Painting Workshops 1996-98 Assistant professor U of Utah, Salt Lake City 1988-96 Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 1983-87 Associate Instructor, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 1982-83 Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 1981-82 Graduate Teaching Assistant, School of Art, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 1979 Assistant Instructor, University of Utah Summer Arts Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah 1978 Associate Instructor, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 1977-78 Assistant Instructor, University of Utah, Snowbird Summer Arts Institute, Utah 1977 Instructor Granite School District Adult Education, Salt Lake City, Utah Visiting Lectures 1995 College of Eastern Utah, Price, UT 1995 Ricks College, Rexburg, Id 1990 Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 1989 Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
David Dornan “Resurrection”
Hamilton Towing
June 14-20, 2019
oil 45x50
Opening Reception Friday, June 14, 5-7 PM 225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 505.983.1434 www.meyergalleries.com