I almost have no conceptual idea of what it might feel like being in open air at the moment considering the conditions in California, but there was so much to digest from the title of Kyle Dunn's new show at P.P.O.W. Gallery in NYC. Into Open Air. If you leave it at that, its a powerful title for the 2020 year. Whether compressed inside, both physically or emotionally, Dunn's new paintings are raw and playful, intimate and full of levity.
"There is a kind of humor and silliness to big emotions, at least when you are looking back and processing," Dunn says of his new works. "Making paintings is a way for me to distill messy situations in my life down to something understandable.” As the gallery notes, "Defying categorical restraint, Dunn combines sculptural and painterly traditions, including bas-relief and trompe l’oeil, to express the vibrancy of the masculine emotional landscape not often represented in popular visual culture. Drawing upon a range of influences such as Italian cinema as well as horror and science fiction novels, Dunn’s contorted figures ache with emotional and physical desire. In his first solo exhibition with the gallery, Dunn amplifies raw emotion within his theatrically staged and fantastically rendered reliefs."
Click here to read our recent interview with Kyle Dunn
