We are pleased to announce the opening of Portraits of a Ninja, the latest body of work by Portland-based Artist, Blakely Dadson. The exhibition opens to the public on Saturday, December 14, 2013 (6-9PM). It will be on view through January 18, 2014.
About the Exhibition
Blakely Dadson returns to The Public Trust for his second solo exhibition with the gallery. Portraits of a Ninja, is comprised of 5 mixed media works on paper and a collection of small scale drawings featuring the embattled Dancehall Reggae DJ, Ninjaman. Reggae themes and subject matter have been woven into the rich narratives of Dadson’s work throughout his career, but this body of work focuses entirely on this controversial figure, and in its process, challenges the tenets of portraiture. Ninjaman is a master of self-presentation, and the arrogant bravado and lyricism that makes a Dancehall DJ. As a legend of the genre, folklore surrounds him as a figure, and therefore beckons the question of what is truth and what is fiction. Dadson mirrors this through his process, which started with a series of ink wash drawings on paper. These drawings were scanned and digitally manipulated and collaged with other drawn and photographic elements. The pieces were then subsequently reproduced as chromira prints, that the artist then hand painted with an airbrush, utilizing vintage photo retouching techniques, along with impasto applications of acrylic paint. The final result is a series of trompe l’oeil images where the blurred line between digital and analog is as seamless as the fables of the Ninjaman.
About the Artist
B. 1978, San Jose, California. Blakely Dadson received his MFA from Texas Christian University in 2005 and his BFA from the California College of the Arts in 2002. He’s exhibited across the country and been reviewed in a variety of publications and is a recent graduate of Wieden + Kennedy’s WK+12 program. In addition to his studio practice, he is an art director for The Great Society. He lives and works in Portland, Oregon.
lordblakely.com
IMAGE: Blakely Dadson • One Drop, 2013 • mixed media on paper • 41x30 in.
Please join us for an artist talk with Misty Keasler on her latest exhibition, Black Box, presented by The Public Trust in association with PDNB Gallery. Keasler will discuss the evolution of this work, the process as well as it’s place within the scope of her acclaimed documentary projects. Beverages and light bites will be served. This exhibition will be on view through November 16th.
The Public Trust, in association with PDNB Gallery, is pleased to present Black Box, an exhibition of photographs by Dallas-based photographer, Misty Keasler. The gallery will host a reception for the artist on Saturday, October 19, 2013 from 6-9 PM.
Artist Statement About the Exhibition
I have spent a greater part of my life curious about taxidermy, simultaneously repelled and drawn to it. I began to dissect the subject in every way imaginable over a period of several years and the resulting piece is several very formal portraits of the foam armament of modern taxidermy that fill a room. The title references this unknown element of taxidermy, as a black box is a technical term for a device, system or object when it is viewed in terms of its input, output and transfer characteristics without any knowledge required of its internal workings. Black box is also a term for experimental theater consisting of a simple unadorned performance space, usually a large square room with black walls. These photographs cross discipline boundaries and borrow from both sculpture and the history of painting. I leaned heavily on the Dutch masters and the classic odalisques for inspiration when making these formal portraits. The base of the work already exists in the world in fairly prolific, common places (it is easy enough to encounter taxidermy) but we aren’t accustomed to seeing the hairless amoebic forms here. They are simultaneously lifelike and at the same time they never look like real things in the world. So much of photography is about projection and these photographs evoke sympathy and confrontation from the viewer while at the same time remaining completely empty since we know they’re inanimate objects. There is an element of false recognition between the viewer and object – the pieces seem familiar but they aren’t, at least they are nothing I know in ordinary life. The piece reverses the traditional human/animal power play of taxidermy and the viewer becomes the object of the gaze at every angle. All the prints are life size, 1-to-1 in scale.
About Misty Keasler
Misty Keasler’s work focuses on intimate portraits of people, the spaces they occupy and interesting objects. Projects include orphanages in Russia, garbage and e-waste dumps in several countries, her own family, taxidermy and most notably the Love Hotels of Japan, which was the subject of her first monograph published by Chronicle Books and accompanied by a solo museum show. Her work is included in the permanent collections of Museum of Fine Art in Houston, the Dallas Museum of Art, The Amon Carter, The Museum of Contemporary Photography Chicago, the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Art in Japan, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. She holds an undergraduate degree from Columbia College as well as an MFA from Bard College. She lives and works in Dallas, Texas.
mistykeasler.com
The Public Trust is pleased to announce the first major solo exhibition in Dallas by William Binnie. Binnie’s research interests as of late have turned towards the use of militarized drones (unmanned aerial vehicles). “My fascination with the drone is one of both awe and fear. It is not so much the drone itself that interests me, but that the drone is a potent and timely manifestation of the fear and anxiety of a secret war, concerns regarding transparency, governmental deception, and that we, as citizens and civilians, are all implicated in this situation. The drone serves as a symbol of this collision of physical removal and psychological proximity that embodies this new variety of warfare.” These research interests stem from previous works exploring modern methods of post-colonial imperialism, conquest, and the complexity of power. “Dominance over another is seldom restricted to brute force but is just as much a psychological and visual exercise.”
above image: William Binnie, Crux, installation view
Want an original by William Binnie? Just name your price
The night of the opening, the back wall of the gallery will be filled with small drawings and paintings, many of which have never been seen outside the artist’s studio. These works will be sold through a blind bidding system, where patron’s name their price and the highest bidder wins. After the opening all of the remaining works will be set to their market value.
above image: William Binnie, studio
About William Binnie
Influenced as much by the gritty aesthetics of punk, hardcore and metal as by more formal modes of art-making, William Binnie’s work is marked by a macabre sense of humor and tongue-in-cheek over-seriousness. His work is at once stark, sober, and oftentimes grim, yet rich, delicate and lush. The work is often shrouded in a sensual gloom, where morbidity, death, and decay are balanced by a vibrant and vital, if nihilistic, spirit.
For more information visit williebinnie.com
