Dan Witz "Mosh Pits, Human and Otherwise"

Jonathan LeVine Gallery

poster for Dan Witz "Mosh Pits, Human and Otherwise"

This event has ended.

Jonathan LeVine Gallery presents Mosh Pits, Human and Otherwise, recent works by Brooklyn-based artist Dan Witz, in what will be his first solo exhibition at the gallery. Mosh Pits, Human and Otherwise features large-scale oil paintings on canvas from Witz’s celebrated Mosh Pit series—produced over the past ten years—marking the first time works in the series have been exhibited together.

Dan Witz is known for hyper-realistic figurative painting, with a career spanning over three decades in both studio work and street art interventions. Applying old master techniques, he achieves impressively convincing trompe l’oeil illusions of light, shadow and depth in his finely rendered portraits, landscapes and still lifes. The artist recently added digital media tools to his process (having previously used traditional projection methods). Combining old master techniques and digital technology, he photographs his subjects, composes in photoshop, prints an a-chromatic underpainting on canvas then glazes and scumbles over this foundation using traditional representational painting. Although equally time consuming and labor intensive compared to his pre-digital practice, Witz finds that new technology provides a unique opportunity for realist painters to evolve. Through his work, Witz continues to skillfully simulate the three-dimensional quality of reality as seen through the eye (rather than the flatness of photography as seen through a camera lens) with remarkable accuracy.

Influenced by his background as a musician in post-punk noise bands during the downtown scene of New York in the early 1980s, the Mosh Pit motif marries Witz’s two passions—performing and painting, both heavily fuelled by the rebellious spirit of art and music of his generation. In contrast to paintings that portray throngs of punk youth, titled after music venues such as ABC No Rio, Witz expands upon the crowd theme to include a rush-hour herd of suit-wearing businessmen in Grand Central Station in addition to non-human subjects in other works with animals such as a pack of fighting dogs and a writhing mass of rats. Offsetting the aggressive tone and group energy of the Mosh Pits, additional works represent Witz’s captivating portraiture with isolated female subjects whose faces are illuminated by the screens of their mobile devices and a group of paintings which depict figures inspired by erotic fetish subcultures. All of Witz’s works express a provocative point of view, informed by an artist who constantly strives to challenge his audience as well as himself.

Media

Schedule

from June 30, 2011 to July 30, 2011

Opening Reception on 2011-06-30 from 18:00 to 20:00

Artist(s)

Dan Witz

  • Facebook

    Reviews

    All content on this site is © their respective owner(s).
    New York Art Beat (2008) - About - Contact - Privacy - Terms of Use