Rad: Michael Dotson

Nudashank in Baltimore recently exhibited the work of Washington DC-based artist, Michael Dotson. I love the playful and “rad” nature of his work. His vibrant, straight out of the box color palette is whimsical and attractive and manages to keep things light without being trite. Some pieces, referred to on his website as “drawings”, appear to be colored marker on graph paper while his paintings are executed in acrylic. He shows clear talent with both mediums and while there is a completely different feel between the two separate bodies of work, there is a cohesive sense of vintage abstraction to them that is reminiscent of 80’s and early 90’s aesthetics. Digital landscapes, pixel play, and “80’s modern” compositions that Don Johnson would most surely have had hanging in his “Miami Vice” bachelor pad. I kinda wish they had made a Trapper Keeper with Dotson’s motifs back when I was in grade school. Hell. I kinda wish they’d make one now.

"Living Room", 2010

"Dream Car Celebration at Tyrell Corporation", 2009

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Edward Burtynsky: OIL

Edward Burtynsky is, in my opinion, one of the most important photographers of our generation. Stark, beautiful, and poignant, Burtynsky’s images capture man’s impact on his environment. Unaltered, Burtynsky’s photographs do not reply on tricks of the eye and digital enhancements to make some overt commentary. Instead, Burtynsky captures beauty in the difficult subject matter he documents, subtly probing the viewer to engage in an ethical deliberation over the implications of what they are seeing.

Now, there is a new Steidl book release and touring exhibition organized by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC. that surveys a decade of Burtynsky’s photographic work exploring the subject of oil. Edward Burtynsky has traveled internationally to chronicle the production, distribution, and use of the most critical fuel of our time.

In addition to revealing the rarely-seen mechanics of its manufacture, Burtynsky captures the effects of oil on our lives, depicting landscapes altered by its extraction from the earth, and by the cities and suburban sprawl generated around its use. He also addresses the coming “end of oil,” as we confront its rising cost and dwindling availability.

“Edward Burtynsky: Oil is the definitive photographic documentation of this hotly debated subject.”
– Paul Roth, Senior Curator of Photography, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

View the whole exhibition here.

VW Lot, Houston, TX 2004

Breezewood, Pennsylvania 2008

Oxford Tire Pile 9ab, Westley, California 1999

Shipbreaking #13, Chittagong, Bangladesh 2000

Shipbreaking #11, Chittagong, Bangladesh 2000

SOCAR Oil Fields #3, Baku, Azerbaijan 2006

 

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