Martin Dull “Transubstantiation”

M. David & Co

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M. David & Co. present Martin Dull’s debut one-person exhibition in NYC, Transubstantiation.

Transubstantiation is the change of substance or essence by which the bread and wine offered in the sacrifice of the sacrament of the Eucharist become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Though Dull was raised Catholic and chose the title for the exhibition, he is not making the case that these works are a literal interpretation of this sacrament. Instead, it’s a metaphor for the alchemy of painting and a sense of secular spirituality found in the transformative practice of painting.

I find in Dull’s work there is a compression of energy, a subversion of anger and an energy released through a mitigation of that anger with a lush beautiful and wide ranging color sense. There’s also an insertion of collage elements and sensitive marking on a large scale that evoke Terra Mater and Protogenoi.

Dull is of the latest generation of gestural abstract painters that renews and extends the tradition of action painting by imbuing it with a sense of self from an underlying personal narrative. This is in contrast to the first two generations of action painters who were searching for an objective reality. Through this more subjective use of gesture, he renews this language thereby making the work crucial again.

Martin Dull has studied at The Pratt Institute, Marywood University, and the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture where, in 2015, he received his MFA. He was the 2015 recipient of the Peter Rippon/Royal Academy European Travel Grant, 2016 artist in residence at the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation, and 2017/18 Trestle Open Studio Resident. He has been a guest speaker at several institutions including the New York Studio School, Fordham University, and Hunter College. Martin has co-curated several exhibitions throughout the New York metropolitan area and has exhibited his artwork in both group and solo exhibitions, most recently John Davis Gallery in Hudson, NY and throughout the United States. He is currently represented by M David & Co. in Brooklyn, NY.