Posted: 09 Oct 2011 08:20 PM PDT
New York City.- Waterhouse & Dodd New York is pleased to present "Ad Astra Per Asper" by Dutch artist Dylan Graham. The exhibition marks Graham’s first solo show with the gallery, comprised of exquisite cut paper and installation works. "Ad Astra Per Aspera" will be on view at the gallery from October 6th through November 9th. 'Ad astra per aspera' is a Latin phrase, which translates as 'through adversity to the stars'. Dylan Graham looks directly to the pageant of history for inspiration. The political content of his work addresses the social aspects and repercussions of colonialism and the historic and modern cultural context of immigration and forced migration. His work comments on the movements from the revolutionary missions of discovery dating back to Cortez and the Dutch East/West India Companies, to the modern day realities of the new colonialists - refugees, adventure seekers and multi-national corporations.
The paper cutouts are monochromatic works made by intricately cutting a single sheet of paper down to minute details. The imagery is rendered in a complex silhouette; the whole then decoratively embellished, taking inspiration from folk traditions from around the world. The place of art in culture and the genre of folk art is an important concern in the artist’s oeuvre. Before the first settlers came to New Zealand the Maori had no written records, their mythology and culture were recorded in stories and visual art. Graham witnessed first hand the effect of colonialism on Maori culture. In examining the icons and enduring symbols of these subjects and by juxtaposing the perspectives, from the conquered to the conquerors, from the empowered citizen to the rootless newcomer, Graham presents a subtle analysis of these historical events from the perspective of an individual living in seemingly very different times; Dramatic global events seen from both a personal and historic-cultural context.
Graham is acutely aware of his own reverse migration to Europe; it is a modern conundrum that many old Western nations are now facing. Formally Graham’s work deals with the same concerns as architects and sculptors. His aim is to achieve an inherent natural balance and harmony in every work, resulting from a struggle between what to leave in and what to take out. Working meticulously and minimally, each piece exhibits a light and decorative delicateness that stands in stark contrast to the heavy burden of its content.
The installation entitled "A Geocentric Model" takes it’s inspiration from the life and mythology surrounding Coenraad van Beuningen (1622-1693). Graham wanted to create an installation that depicted a group of lost artifacts, items strewn about, caught in a moment of being packed or unpacked for transport, lost in time. Van Beuningen wrote extensively on the consequences of the tropical winds and currents and was interested in the ideas of Descartes. He combined this with an interest for mysticism, astrology, Millennialism dream-interpretation and supernatural wonders. In his last years Van Beuningen wrote letters to the ecclesiastical authorities about the coming apocalypse, painting Hebrew and Kabbalistic signs on his house at the Amstel, supposedly written in his own blood. These drawings and words are still visible today despite attempts by many different generations to remove them and it is unknown from what substance they are made. Graham considers the role of the artifact, the links that they provide between the present and the past and how history repeats and manifests itself.
Dylan Graham was born in Otautahi, New Zealand. He lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He was awarded an MFA from Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam and a BFA from Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. His work can be found in leading international private and public collections such as the State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece, the DhondtDhaenens Museum, Deurle, Belgium, the West Collection, Philadelphia, USA and the Herbert F Johnson Museum, Ithaca, New York.
Ray Waterouse and Jonathan started working together in 1982 and formed Waterhouse & Dodd five years later. In 1989 they opened a first-floor gallery in Bond Street and in 2001 moved nearby to 26 Cork Street. Their gallery at Cork Street is now dedicated to a program of contemporary art exhibitions, whilst their Impressionist and Modern art has recently relocated to new premises at 16 Savile Row. Waterhouse & Dodd are also proud to announce the opening of their first gallery outside the UK, at Greene Street in the heart of New York's Soho district. The gallery will exhibit international contemporary art. Eleanor Cheetham has joined the company as gallery manager in New York. For more than 25 years Waterhouse and Dodd have dealt in paintings from the late 19th and 20th centuries, combining great paintings by both major and minor artists. During the 1990s they increasingly offered professional advice to collectors, a service that became formalised into one of the most respected art advisory services in the world, Fine Art Brokers. In 2008 they curated ArtRoutes, a major show of contemporary Middle Eastern and Arab Art that was the first in a series of such annual exhibitions. As well as publishing up to ten catalogues a year, their newsletter The Fine Art File is now up to issue 36. Visit the gallery's website at ...http://www.waterhousedodd.com
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