Paintings & Works on Paper by Dan Welden T H E M A R L I N A N D R E G I N A M I L L E R G A L L E R Y K U T Z T O W N U N I V E R S I T Y S E P T E M B E R 8 - O C T O B E R 1 4 , 2 0 2 2 Spectrum Sinfonia
ESSAY “SPECTRUM SINFONIA: PAINTINGS BY DAN WELDEN" © 2 0 2 2 , R O N S H I R A " D A N W E L D E N E X H I B I T I O N C A T A L O G " © 2 0 2 2 , M I L L E R A R T G A L L E R Y , K U T Z T O W N U N I V E R S I T Y
Paintings & Works on Paper by Dan Welden T H E M A R L I N A N D R E G I N A M I L L E R G A L L E R Y K U T Z T O W N U N I V E R S I T Y S E P T E M B E R 8 - O C T O B E R 1 4 , 2 0 2 2 Spectrum Sinfonia CURATED BY RON SCHIRA
Notwithstanding his own volumes of work as a printmaker, he has collaborated with dozens of well known and incredibly skilled artists such as Kiki Smith, Lynda Benglis, Dan Flavin, Kurt Vonnegut and others The list goes on and his reputation is unequaled as the expert to turn toward.
Eliciting further extolment from other creative minds, artist Kiki Smith said, “Dan is a very exuberant, enthusiastic teacher, you know he is infectious in his enthusiasm for what I’m doing.”
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Along with high praise from artist Eric Fischl, who had mentioned in the video Lasting Impressions, “Any opportunity I had to make a print. I would look for somebody to make a print with; he was at the top of the list of recommendations ” To accentuate this point further, a handmade rack holds some imagecredt: HaryHare,2022, 33"x33",zincetchingswithmixedmedia
Spectrum Sinfonia: Paintings & works on Paper
A short example or two; in a 1989 letter from Willem and Elaine de Kooning, they remarked of him, “His abilities as a master printmaker and instructor are known to us firsthand, as he produced several editions for us over the past eleven years We found him to be a superlative craftsman with the gift of communicating a range of possibilities in the media of lithography, intaglio, relief and serigraphy.”
Doubtless, artist Dan Welden is the pre eminent master of the solarplate technique, having produced innumerable prints as well as publishing Printmaking in the Sun, the definitive book and subsequent instructive video, on the process
Welden received his BA and MA degrees in the US before studying abroad at the Akademie der Bildenden Künst, in Munich where he pioneered the alternative printmaking technique known as the Solarplate Etching process. His teaching degrees were acquired at Adelphi University His work has been shown across the globe with nearly a hundred solo exhibitions worldwide and 53 artist visits in places as distant as China, Peru, Belgium, Cuba and New Zealand His many awards include a Lifetime Achievement from the A/E Foundation, a Professor Emeritus Award from the Escuela de Beas Artes in Cuzco Peru and a recent Pollock / Krasner Grant He is additionally at the forefront of safe studio practices with videos and workshops Credentials all said, we are now greeted by his latest endeavor, a series of atmospheric and color laden acrylic paintings on canvas Ranging from small to moderately large, the largest about six to seven foot a side, opalescent layers of patiently applied transparent colors lie atop or next to each other to boast his knowledge of what individual hues say to themselves, ourselves and the viewer, not so much blended as in mixing red and yellow to make orange but that those individual tones in close vicinity cause the eye to see the light near it shift to the orange side of the prismatic spectrum It bears close inspection Hearkening to his printmaking experience of multiple print captures, these works belie a complete understanding of the mechanics and facility of color That, and the smooth surface quality of the canvases offer a visibly sensual experience to what he does with his brushes as an optical manipulation, more to fool the eye with light and transparent gesture, not illusion
fifty metal spades outside of his home and studio in Sag Harbor, New York and is adorned with the names of deceased artist friends, acquaintances, and mentors written on them in bold letters, leaving his mark on the historical art community in a tribute to his artistic nonpareils.
In the jargon of artistic wordplay, one can speak, and correctly, of color field theory along with the linear break up and organization of space in his rectangular compositions. Yet the works often come to fruition as poetical and openly prosaic with meager traces of representation Line is Hearkening to his printmaking experience of multiple print captures, these works belie a complete understanding of the mechanics and facility of color.
Another large work at six foot tall, The Emperor Symphony, evokes an unveiling of mysterious forms in an amber fog as in seeing a set of trees or branches some feet away As one attempts to see nearer, however, the painted objects never come into clarity and our vision is fixated within a never ending blur of enigmatic distance Nature, in Welden's art, makes an appearance in most, if not all the paintings. One gets a sense of forest trees, branches, air or ocean breeze, beach, sand, clouds come to earth This may possibly be a result of living off the coast of rural Sag Harbor, which is near The Hamptons of NY, a favorite vacation spot for painters like Edward Hopper, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, where the light is pure, air is clean and space is open, so unlike the closeness and claustrophobic environs of his childhood in the Bronx Of course, all of this is germane to the materials and chemical malleability of acrylic paint and water media in general. The shorter drying time, solvents, mediums, and the purity of color available in today's modern formulas allow for more flexibility in its application and is consequently more vibrant in its outcome. This vibrancy, although apparent, is significantly toned down in value for a relaxed sensation that stays true to his complicated relationship with the act of printmaking and painting.
important, as their compositions are broken up with gestural separations, hints at tree branches and scribbled motility to punctuate their spaces. Certain pieces are soaked in lambent hues of ochre, pink and aqua that glow with quiet light and subtly bathes the viewer in peaceful afterglows of misty mornings or early evening sunsets.
TonyBaloney,2022,48"x72" Mxedmediaoncanvas
One large piece, Tony Baloney, gives off a soft lavender luminosity that touches everything in its vicinity. Balanced between complimentary soft yellows and gentle violets, the painting seemingly glows from within, mollifying its locale with an optical fragrance
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Obviously, Welden is totally invested in his work and relies on nature and an innate sense of immediacy and self awareness.
With an almost monk like determination in both his life and art, he allows much of the work to happen on its own terms as he trusts himself to make the correct choices on the spot, and without exception they hit the mark. He says, “Our ‘labeling’ of art, flowers, birds, music, or people, takes us from our true nature of love and appreciation Our sense of wishing to identify, is usually ‘ ego ’ related and removes us from the true essence of beauty.
Welden's relationship to art additionally resonates in the music he listens to. A Classical audiophile, his tastes in the symphonies of Schubert, Beethoven and Brahms find a correlation in the harmonies of color incorporated within his work, hence the title of the show, "Spectrum Sinfonia" a symphony of color. He cites Beethoven: "Music is the wine which inspires us to new generative processes, and I am the Bacchus who presses out these glorious grapes to make mankind spiritually drunk”.
Ron Schira has been the lead art critic for the Reading Eagle Newspaper for twenty five years with over 1500 articles published. He has written reviews for RawVisions Magazine and Art Matters among others as well as curated shows for Albright College's Freedman Gallery. He has been exhibiting his own art for 50 years and hosts the NAP Connections television show on BerksCable for the New Arts Program.
Schira has additionally received a Life Achievement Award 2019 from the Yocum Institute for Arts Education and was selected in 2002 by Columbia University as one of the most read art correspondents in the country.
Regarding his printmaking, he has this to say :
As in this prior statement, our need to explain or qualify/quantify what we see is actually secondary to Welden's purpose and detracts from the experiential essence of his honed technique and delicate approach to his craft
“Pulling the print from the press and unveiling the image is one of the most exciting moments in an artist’s life. It is at that moment that the surprise culminates after the creative juices have filtered their marks onto metal, stone, wood or any material suitable for holding a matrix. The momentary anticipation does, without doubt, through the spirit of creativity, have a physiological effect on the body of the artist.”
Allow the senses to appreciate the art, rather than ‘pigeon hole’ the artist and the technique ”
Within Welden's prints and paintings, we are invited to feel the art, and allow our sensations and visual impressions to find us, right here
TONY BALONEY, 2022 48" x 72" Mixed media on canvas
MAGIC TOUCH,10"2021x16" mixed media on canvas
RIMSKY'S ESPAÑOL, 2022 20" x 24" Mixed media on canvas
EMPEROR SYMPHONY, 2021 72" x 69" Mixed media on canvas
THE GREAT SYMPHONY, 2022 33" x 42" Mixed media on canvas
SKATER'S EDGE, 2021 16" x 20" Mixed media on canvas
SENTIMENTAL REASONS, 2022 11" x 14" mixed media on canvas
VANILLA PORCH, 2021 46" x 72" Mixed media on canvas
WORLDS APART, 2021 51" x 74" Mixed media on canvas
GUNTRAM PRELUDE, 2021 58" x 79" Mixed media on canvas
PATRON'S VEINS, 2022 42" x 30" Mixed media on canvas
UNDER AND OVER, 2022 48" x 60" Mixed media on canvas
CONCRETE JUNCTURE, 2020 9" x 12" Mixed media on canvas
ABOUNDING GRACE, 2022 30" x 42" Mixed media on canvas
FROM THE FALLS, 2021 35" x 56" Mixed media on canvas
HEALING HERBS, 2021 16" x 20" Mixed media on canvas
SACHS, 2022 32" x 42" mixed media on canvas
FINLANDIA, 2022 36" x 36" Mixed media on canvas
ALABASTER TRESTLE, 2022 9" x 12" mixed media on canvas
BLUE SIGNALS, 2022 44" x 72" Mixed media on canvas
DRIFTING CAT, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings with mixed media
JOYOUS GRASSHOPPER, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings with mixed media
PROMINENT CAMEL, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings with mixed media
SPUNKEY MONKEY, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings with mixed media
STRUTTING PEACOCK, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings with mixed media
PATIENT TORTOISE, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings with mixed media
HAIRY HARE, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings with mixed media
CONSTELLATION OX, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings with mixed media
CONSTELLATION FROG, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings with mixed media
LEFTHANDED MOUSE, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings on mixed media
KIND LION, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings with mixed media
WARSAW HARE, 2022 33" x 33" Zinc etchings with mixed media
P.O. Box 730 Kutztown, PA 19530-0730 www.kutztown.edu/millerartgallery @millerartgallery kutztown