Dan Gunn of the land behind them
Front Cover: Paradise Scenery, 2022 (detail) Back Cover: Paradise Scenery, 2022 (detail)
Dan Gunn of the land behind them Janurary 8 - February 19, 2022
Essay by Jade Powers Edited by Staci Boris Photographed by Robert Chase Heishman
This catalogue was published on the occasion of Dan Gunn’s fourth solo exhibition at Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.
©2022
Table of Contents Introduction
10
Essay
14
Installation views
18
Artworks
30
Biographies
75
Introduction
moniquemeloche is thrilled to present of the land behind them, a solo exhibition of new works by Dan Gunn. This is Gunn’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery. of the land behind them explores the psychological and mythological implications of regional self-conception. Focusing on the Midwestern pastoral landscape, Gunn considers the urban and rural divides through elaborately carved draperies with inset landscape imagery, paper collage, and ceramic sculpture. In gallery one, visitors first encounter Gunn’s seminal work Patchwork Plateau, an expansive table-like sculpture that figuratively and visually lays the ground for the exhibition. Mounted for the first time since its Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago exhibition 10 years ago, the work reads as both topographic and domestic, weaving elements of handcraft and painting in an ambitious landscape installation. Flanking the large work are a series of sculptural paintings titled Suitcase Acts. Visually similar to letterpress drawers often used for display in antique shops and evocative of Louise Nevelson’s wall pieces of the 1950s and ’60s, the glazed stoneware works feature nestled objects representing tiny bottles, figurines, toolshaped items, and other tchotchkesthat speak to a personal landscape and sentimental attachment to American kitsch history. In gallery two, Gunn presents a new pictorial backdrop using his signature drapery style— paintings created of hand-cut and stained plywood meticulously sewn together to resemble actual hanging fabrics—and introducing low-relief elements. Titled Paradise Scenery, the sprawling tableau depicts an idyllic Ohio River landscape nestled in between two lush trees and cushioned inside a tent-like structure. Deriving from the idealized nomenclature of the American countryside, Gunn reveals the constructed nature of this language in the physical splitting of the landscape, inviting viewers to look beyond the curtain. The largescale drapery piece combines elements of hand and chip carving, whittled bird sculptures, and salvaged wood from historic sites, a nod to his paternal woodworking connection and commentary on the materials and processes that form strains of masculine subjectivity. Continuing the trajectory of the collages, Gunn mimics his puzzle pieced paintings in a smaller format through a series of paper works. Mining imagery from National Geographic magazines and the like, these works speak to both the normal and peculiar aspects of the Midwest region and the use and misuse of these images in politics and culture.
Magazine clippings of farming, eagles, fishing, quilts, La-Z-Boy sofas, and workwear are an attempt to decentralize associations of rural imagery and far-right ideologies from the wholesome connections related to Gunn’s personal experience growing up in Kansas. Taken together, the works on view offer an investigation into ideological functions of American Midwestern imagery, both in politics as a “Real America” and as stage settings for the psychological and mythological landscape that underlies the Midwest’s self-conception. Through an exploration of materials and process, the artist generates a scenic landscape ripe with unconscious associations and emotional potential as an attempt to construct a counterfactual folk art, one not riddled with nostalgia but more accurate to the current state of affairs.
Essay
Dan Gunn: of the land behind them by Jade Powers Ten years after the debut of Dan Gunn’s Patchwork Plateau (2011) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, this work sits front and center in the most recent solo exhibition of Gunn’s work of the land behind them at Monique Meloche Gallery. Patchwork Plateau provides a first glimmer into Gunn’s interest in landscape and craft that is fully formed in the works presented in this exhibition. A mobile hangs above a section of Patchwork Plateau, a table-like wooden sculpture. Complete with diamond shaped mirrored Plexi, this portion of the work resembles the design of a court jester’s costume. The placement of Patchwork Plateau allows Gunn’s Suitcase Acts (2019) works to be right in the line of sight. Named after the carnival term where a performer must fit their entire act into one suitcase that they carry with them, Gunn’s pieces hold cast ceramic replicas of old collectable items like golf balls, bottles, pieces of twine, clown figurines, small boats, and fish. The viewer finds themselves looking closer at these works imagining what type of act this performer has planned while also thinking about the history of what people choose to collect and the ways Gunn has used his interest in craft to create them. The works in of the land behind them showcase the different ways Dan Gunn is interested in conversations about performance and representation. Paradise Scenery (2020), one of Gunn’s newest low-relief wooden sculptures and the focal point in the central gallery, engages in dialogue about the ways humans interact with nature and questions mythologies that portray the Midwest as wholesome, idyllic, and pastoral. In the foreground of this lush pastoral scene is rich green space with a winding river breaking up the landscape and vibrant red and pink hues for the sky, sun, and sun’s reflection. This large-scale work highlights Gunn’s ability to manipulate wood to mimic the appearance of draped fabric. Playing with dimension and flatness, Gunn has added three-dimensional elements resembling the American folk-art practice ‘bird tree’1, where several sculptural birds are sitting on tree
1 An artform with a long history within the Pennsylvania German community. Depicting birds and trees was meant to represent rebirth and renewal. Stacy C. Hollander, “Bird Tree,” in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 346.
Commenting on representation, this beautiful depiction has subtle hints to human interaction seen in the tree stumps in the right corner and the pink smoke cloud towards the middle of the wall relief. Another addition to this series is the opening between the two central wooden panels where the white of the gallery wall breaks up the picturesque scene. By doing this, Gunn reminds the viewer that this is an illusion; that this beautiful lush green scape complete with birds, calm river, and beautiful sun is just one view of this landscape, the cut down trees and pink smoke cloud another view. Created around the same time as Paradise Scenery and part of a traveling exhibition, The Regional, co-organized by the Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Wetland Scenery (2020) is another example of how Gunn uses trompe-l’œil techniques (“optical illusions”) to demonstrate that perception is not always reality. For Gunn, the Midwest is complex and intriguing and through his depiction of these idealized landscapes the viewer must spend additional time finding all the hidden details he incorporates to discuss his complex feelings towards the region and its traditionalist ideals. Highlighting the juxtaposition of the myths of the “untapped Midwestern landscape” and the ability to build with the resources in the area, Gunn uses the lack of physical human representation in Paradise Scenery to discuss the different ways people interact with land. Further in the galleries hangs Gunn’s collage pieces that use aged and nostalgic magazines, catalogs, and coffee table books as source material. Leavings No. 3 (2022) is a collage work with a wooden stained virtually monochromatic frame where almost every animal depicted has fully dilated eyes that suggest the viewer is being watched. The images of a cowboy on horseback and another horse further down in the collage keep close Gunn’s roots in conversations related to Midwestern ideology both real and imagined. True to his inspiration in Surrealism, these works are intuitive and speak to what Gunn was thinking at the time of their creation. Possibly thinking about how the Midwest is represented, the cowboy calls to mind people searching West and the world watching them do so through American Western television shows and movies. This series also highlights Gunn’s interest in craft; the use of humble materials like magazines, wood, and stain to create these works elevate conversations of craft and its place as a legitimate art form. The idealized Midwestern experience presented in Leavings No. 3 serves as a memory of time past and the choice to have both the cowboy in the distance and the horse facing away from the viewer indicate that this narrative might no longer (or never did) represent the Midwestern region of America.
Moderntone, Pitcher with punch cups (Amethyst), 2022 (detail)
of the land behind them showcases the different ways Dan Gunn grapples with ideologies about the Midwest, representation of nostalgic imagery, and feelings of performance as well as how he uses humble materials as his chosen media to show his dedication to the importance of craft as an art form. He looks to the performative elements of what makes the Midwest significant whether it be depictions of cowboys and exaggerated eyes to discuss how people see this particular part of America in Leaving No. 3 (2022), the subtle depiction of human’s interaction with nature in Paradise Scenery (2022), the nostalgic element of gray color collectables in the Suitcase Acts (2019) series, or the malleability and playfulness of the way Gunn can manipulate wood to mimic the graceful characteristics of tapestry shown in Patchwork Plateau (2011). Throughout this exhibition and with his chosen media, Gunn negotiates representations of the Midwest and the significance of nostalgia while questioning how the Midwest has developed since the inception of past ideologies of the region.
Installation Views
Artworks
Paradise Scenery, 2022 Acrylic, light stable metalized acid dye, and polyurethane on birch plywood and poplar, salvaged old growth timber, with nylon cord 69 1/2 x 168 x 8 in 176.5 x 426.7 x 20.3 cm
Detail
Moderntone, Pitcher with punch cups (Amethyst), 2022 Acrylic, stain, furniture finish on birch plywood and poplar with nylon string 35 x 21 x 2 in 88.9 x 53.3 x 5.1 cm
Detail
Mount Pleasant, Flower Vase and Footed Cupped Bowl (Amethyst), 2020 Acrylic, stain, furniture finish, on maple plywood with nylon string 39 x 15 x 3/4 in 99.1 x 38.1 x 1.9 cm
Detail
High Horse Scenery, 2021 Acrylic, stain, furniture finish on birch plywood and aspen with nylon cord 39 x 311/2 x 3/4 in 99.1 x 80 x 1.9 cm
Detail
Patchwork Plateau, 2011 Plywood, red oak, fiberboard panel, plastic, acrylic, glass, sand, beads, wire, nylon rope, spray-paint, colored pencil, and hardware 168 x 96 x 72 in 426.7 x 243.8 x 182.9 cm
Detail
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Swan Song Scenery, 2022 Acrylic, stain, furniture finish on birch plywood and poplar with nylon cord 40 x 33 in 101.6 x 83.8 cm
Detail
Mount Pleasant, Single Light Candlestick (Black Amethyst), 2020 Acrylic, stain, furniture finish on pine plywood with nylon string 25 x 8 1/2 x 3/4 in 63.5 x 21.6 x 1.9 cm
Detail
Suitcase Act No.1, 2019 Glazed stoneware 12 1/4 x 8 x 2 in 30.5 x 20.3 x 6.1 cm
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Suitcase Act No.4, 2019 Glazed stoneware 12 1/4 x 8 x 2 in 30.5 x 20.3 x 2.5 cm
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Suitcase Act No.3, 2019 Glazed stoneware 12 1/4 x 8 x 2 in 30.5 x 20.3 x 2.5 cm
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Suitcase Act No. 5, 2019 Glazed stoneware 12 1/4 x 8 x 2 in 30.5 x 20.3 x 2.5 cm
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Leavings No. 1 (Water Frog), 2022 Hand-stained ash and birch framed paper collage 17 1/4 x 13 1/4 in 43.7 x 33.5 cm
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Leavings No. 2 (Golden Eagle), 2022 Hand-stained ash and birch framed paper collage 17 1/4 x 13 1/4 in 43.7 x 33.5 cm
Detail
Leavings No. 3 (Broad-winged hawk), 2022 Hand-stained ash and birch framed paper collage 17 1/4 x 13 1/4 in 43.7 x 33.5 cm
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Leavings No. 4 (Feet & Tractor), 2022 Hand-stained ash and birch framed paper collage 17 1/4 x 13 1/4 in 43.7 x 33.5 cm
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The Ungrateful Son, No. 6, 2018 Glazed stoneware, marbles, light fixture 13 x 19 x 24 in 33.0 x 48.3 x 61 cm
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The Ungrateful Son, No. 5, 2018 Glazed stoneware, marbles, light fixture 9 x 20 x 24 in 22.9 x 50.8 x 61.0 cm
Detail
Biographies
Dan Gunn is an artist, writer, and educator in Chicago, IL. He received an MFA in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2007 where he is now an Adjunct Assistant Professor. He was awarded residencies at the Wassaic Project 2021, University of Arkansas (2019), Anderson Ranch Art Center (2018), Vermont Studio Center (2015), and The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2012). Recent solo exhibitions include of the land behind them at Monique Meloche Gallery, Bunts at the University Club of Chicago and Ungrateful Son at Good Weather Gallery, North Little Rock, AK. Recent group shows include The Regional, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH, which will travel to Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO; With a Capital P at the Elmhurst Art Museum (IL) and Matter Matters at the University of Missouri Kansas City (MO). Other venues have included the Elephant Gallery (TN), University of Toledo, (OH), Western Exhibitions (Chicago), Marine Contemporary (Santa Monica), Art Los Angeles Contemporary, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago), Lloyd Dobler Gallery (Chicago), Columbia College (Chicago), the Poor Farm (WI), and the Loyola University Museum of Art (Chicago). His work has been reviewed in Frieze, Art in America, Artforum.com, art ltd., Artslant.com, Newcity Magazine, New American Paintings, TimeOut Chicago, and the Chicago Tribune.
Jade Powers After receiving a bachelor of arts in art history and religious studies at DePauw University (Greencastle, Indiana), Powers earned a master’s degree in religious studies at Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana) in 2015 with a focus on contemporary Asian art and culture. From 2016–2017, Powers worked at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Jade is currently an Assistant Curator at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. She spent the last year as the Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellow at the Saint Louis Art Museum. There she “created the first interpretative gallery guide ... to highlight works by African American artists in the museum’s permanent collection, and worked with the curators of prints, drawings, and photographs and modern and contemporary art to research and create text for a recent gift to the institution of eighty-one abstract works of art by African American artists,” notes an announcement. “Her responsibilities also included the implementation of public programs including, ‘If It Wasn’t for the Women,’ as well as presenting gallery talks, guided tours, and creating a teacher workshop to help teachers add information about abstract art by African American artists to their curriculum.”
Monique Meloche Gallery is located at 451 N Paulina Street, Chicago, IL 60622 For additional info, visit moniquemeloche.com or email info@moniquemeloche.com
