In the last ten years, travels in Europe and Ireland have had a profound visual effect on my work. Upon returning from that first trip through Ireland, I began a series of paintings initially inspired by feelings and imagery experienced there. These influences were coupled with my own already established love of medieval and gothic forms, historical European religious subject matter, and Irish history. At this time I also began to aggressively explore the use of alternative, often organic materials like wax, tar, wood, and fabric to achieve a more elemental and tactile connection with the work. The exploration of ideas about memory, history, and the passage of time have become an important part of this process.
My paintings often include combinations of anatomical imagery, memorial sculpture, romantic symbolism, and religious iconography. The works are created using deep supports, like boxes, that stand out from the wall and assert themselves in the viewer's space. In many cases, the physical qualities of the work are meant to suggest the physical weightiness associated with monuments and memorial sculpture. Collaged materials, including heavy fabrics and printed matter, contribute to the initial surface of the work. After this weathered, heavily worked, abstract surface is established, it is sealed in a layer of beeswax, and the more figurative elements of the imagery are rendered in tar and varnish. The organic qualities of the wood, wax, and tar communicate a feeling of timelessness. I believe that the processes of building, weathering, eroding and layering are important to the work's identity -- it creates a history that can be traced, investigated, and experienced by the viewer. The materials and processes used emphasize the paintings as visceral objects with an evocative physical presence. Often, these materials are meant to recall and engage the physical body, and with the accompanying image, evoke a meditational response from the viewer. Through a mixed use of painterly languages, these works explore the nature of mortality, express a sense of loss, and address mankind's desire to locate spiritual meaning.
Dan Addington
My paintings often include combinations of anatomical imagery, memorial sculpture, romantic symbolism, and religious iconography. The works are created using deep supports, like boxes, that stand out from the wall and assert themselves in the viewer's space. In many cases, the physical qualities of the work are meant to suggest the physical weightiness associated with monuments and memorial sculpture. Collaged materials, including heavy fabrics and printed matter, contribute to the initial surface of the work. After this weathered, heavily worked, abstract surface is established, it is sealed in a layer of beeswax, and the more figurative elements of the imagery are rendered in tar and varnish. The organic qualities of the wood, wax, and tar communicate a feeling of timelessness. I believe that the processes of building, weathering, eroding and layering are important to the work's identity -- it creates a history that can be traced, investigated, and experienced by the viewer. The materials and processes used emphasize the paintings as visceral objects with an evocative physical presence. Often, these materials are meant to recall and engage the physical body, and with the accompanying image, evoke a meditational response from the viewer. Through a mixed use of painterly languages, these works explore the nature of mortality, express a sense of loss, and address mankind's desire to locate spiritual meaning.
Dan Addington
Dan Addington has lived and worked in Chicago since 1992 after receiving his MFA in painting from Illinois State University in Bloomington/Normal. He received a BA with a double major in art and theater from Northwestern College in Orange City, IA, and a Masters in Art and Art History from Arkansas State University.
His work has been exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions across the US, and is represented by The Rymer Gallery in Nashville, Aliya|Linstrum Gallery in Atlanta, Malton Gallery in Cincinnati, and Oglvie/Pertl in Chicago. Since moving to Chicago, Dan's work has also been shown at Gwenda Jay Gallery, Struve Gallery, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Lineage Gallery, Evan Glasman Gallery, The Contemporary Art Workshop, The Greenview Art Center, The Arlington Heights Art Center, The Riverside Art Center, The Highland Park Art Center, The Evanston Art Center, the Loyola Medical Center, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Artchicago. Addington is the owner and director of Addington Gallery in Chicago.
Addington's paintings often include combinations of anatomical imagery, romantic symbolism, and religious iconography. The works are created using a variety of materials that emphasize the paintings as visceral objects with an evocative physical presence. often, these materials are meant to recall and engage the physical body, and with the accompanying image, evoke a meditational response from the viewer. Through a mixed use of painterly languages, these works explore the nature of mortality, express a sense of loss, and address mankind's desire to locate spiritual meaning.
Education
MFA, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 1990
MA, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR 1987
BA, Theater/Art, Northwestern College, Orange City, IA 1985
Awards and Honors
Lilly Endowment grant, 2004
Third Place, 46th Spiva Annual, Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin MO 1996
Elizabeth Stein Fine Arts Grant and Award, Illinois State University, Normal IL 1989
First Graduate Painting, Illinois State University Juried Exhibition, Normal IL 1989
Best of Show, Northwestern University All-Illinois Graduate Juried Exhibition, Evanston, IL 1989
Best of Show, Museum Guild Purchase Award, 41st Mid-States Biennial, Evansville Museum of Art, Evansville IN 1989
Nomination, Awards in the Visual Arts,Southeast Center for Contemporary Art 1987
Best of Show, Jonesboro Fine Arts Council Exhibition, Jonesboro AR 1986
Best of Show, Northwestern College Juried Exhibition, Orange City IA 1984, 1985
© Dan Addington
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