Richard Dupont: 7 Islands
Lowell Ryan Projects is pleased to present Richard Dupont's second solo show at the gallery, 7 Islands, on view from July 20th to August 17th. This exhibition features seven works on paper depicting scenes of swimmers and surfers in the ocean, each measuring approximately 60 x 42 inches, in shades of pink, blue, yellow, and grey. Installed sequentially by color in the upper level of the gallery, these works are from Dupont’s ongoing drawing practice dedicated to images in nature—from the Islands series the artist depicts scenes that are just out of view of a landmass.
These drawings take the form of an imaginative exercise, once the artist approaches the paper any possible reference materials are cast aside. Whimsical in approach and immersive in scale one can almost feel the warmth of sun in the saturated pink hues or the cool water in the blue washes of color. The dash-like strokes depicting the reflection of light on the water’s surface remind the viewer of the impermanence of both the setting and the process. Captured briefly by the mind’s eye, Dupont’s method becomes both a meditation and a means of escapism.
While Dupont’s practice has explored ideas related to self-portraiture and psychological states, through his recent drawing practice he inverts his subject matter. Instead of depicting his own body as a vessel or carrier of information Dupont considers the possibility of capturing a feeling, vision, or memory with the understanding that the mind is also capable of distorting one’s own perception. What matters most is the outcome—the tactile process of making and the emotion invoked through the pleasure in a connection to nature.
Richard Dupont (b. New York, NY, 1968) received a BA from the Departments of Visual Art and Archeology at Princeton University. Dupont's works have been exhibited at numerous museums including The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, CA (2016); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2015); The Underground Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2014); The Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY (2014); The Queens Museum, Queens, NY (2013); The Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, VT (2011); and The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY (2008). He has presented major installations at Lever House, New York, NY (2008) and The Flag Art Foundation, New York, NY (2010). Dupont's works are included in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH; The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; The Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT; The Perez Art Museum Miami, Miami, FL; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; and The New York Public Library Print Collection, New York, NY; among many other public and private collections. In 2014, Dupont was awarded the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) Visionary Award. His works have been reviewed and discussed in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Artnet News, Art in America, Modern Painters, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, The Art Newspaper, ARTnews, The New Yorker, and Artforum.