Dan Walsh

Pace Prints is pleased to present an exhibition of new monotypes and editions by Dan Walsh. This is the artist’s fifth solo exhibition with the gallery. The show will be on view November 2 – December 14, 2019, at Pace Prints’ 521 West 26th Street, 3rd floor, gallery. Pace Prints will host an opening reception with the artist on Friday November 1, 6-8 pm.

Known for his roots in minimalist painting from the 1960s and 1970s, Dan Walsh constructs his work from self-imposed rules and procedures. His images are perceivably relaxed, but subtle nuances ask the viewer to evaluate their logic. Enfin, a new relief edition of 20 based on his iconic painting of the same title, celebrates the artist’s joy and labor within the medium of printmaking. The making of this work was the self-imposed challenge, to find a way to recreate a complex painting with a completely new approach. Colors reveal themselves in surprising areas, merging depth with simplicity.

Highlighted in this exhibition are new works in which Walsh’s visual vocabulary has expanded. Figures, a series of luminous watercolor monotypes, continues the artist’s interest in meticulous layering to create simple form. Referencing objective sources from figurative to organic, Walsh creates forms which note universal similarity in shape and contour. The brushstrokes are pure gestures with deliberate control, and the watercolor medium allows for much more transparency. Basic actions of the brush are shown with a sense of straightforwardness, challenging complicated methods and techniques to appear effortless. Every Figure is part of a visual set, building upon a ghost image from the previous in the series. Each image grows, morphs, and changes from one to the next. Walsh is drawn to this layering process as he notes, “That’s where all of the interesting color and light exist.”

Profiles is a series of 42-inch square progressive relief monoprints. Each composition is compiled of 15 images sitting on 3 rows of 5, divided vertically in two halves. With Walsh’s color choices, halves of images are registered before the whole. Each row is categorized by his source imagery: the top is architectural, the middle is busts and vessels, and the bottom is vegetable and organic. A subtle shift in the structure of a composition can cause a shift in perception. In general, Walsh’s work shows the possibilities of form over deliberate expression. The Profiles series signifies the beginning of a new body of work for the artist, with a continued focus on shape, form, light and color.

A self-proclaimed maximalist, Walsh aims to get the most out of the least. He values the economy of means, in this instance employing the same woodblock used from the 2017 edition, Axis on his new print entitled Section. Continuing the natural evolution of Axis’ reduction, Section became a much lighter variation. Section is about restraint and progression, with marks in the form of expanding circles, which change the viewer’s perception from top to bottom. Section reiterates Walsh’s interest in perception, optics, and visual deception.

Dan Walsh was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1960 and lives and works in New York. His work is included in public collections around the world, including the Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Paris; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He was also included in the Ljubljana Biennial, Slovenia, the Lyon Biennial of Contemporary Art, France (both 2003), and the Whitney Biennial in 2014. His prints and limited-edition books were the subject of a one-person exhibition at the Cabinet des Estampes in Geneva, Switzerland. Walsh currently has a one-person exhibition entitled Dan Walsh: Pressing Matter at the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht (NL), curated by Paula van den Bosch. The show runs to January 5, 2020.