DAVID MCCONNELL’s exhibition of new works entitled “Karaoke Punch Fountain”, are on view from February 13 through March 11, 2010 at ABBA FINE ART. This show is McConnell’s second solo-exhibition with Abba Fine Art and the opening reception is February 13th, 7 to 11 pm.
David McConnell’s work embodies a range of media including work on canvas, sound installation, and video all of which are central to his oeuvre. Now add to that list mixed media compositions on wood and on paper. One of these pieces lends its name to the exhibitions’ title and is emblematic of McConnell’s ongoing commentary on the relationships between the record business (in which McConnell was part of as a record producer and composer before leaving to make art in 2003) and the art world. David McConnell’s new work is a departure from his pure abstract works and are populated with text, found paper from product packaging as well as gold leaf which is applied in a manner that points to the grandiosity of saint imagery in classical art and its relation to iconography in pop culture.
The mixture of collage, layered paint and drawing dominate the paper pieces with a sense of juxtaposition while some of the wood pieces are more unified in fluid abstract form which can resemble star cluster like imagery. These pieces were layered with paint and then deconstructed with the use of power tools digging down into the wood to create line and negative space. These elements present a potential for unique and inspiring occurrences. The paper and canvas works are sometimes interrupted with bold amateurish stick figures and trees which the artist uses as a sarcastic way of addressing the cultural import placed on landscape and portrait painting.
McConnell playfully recycles his neo-Dadaist language derived from his installation work into this visual work with ironic visual references to his lower middle class suburban upbringing which was balanced between street interaction among his peers and his parents who were conservative Christians. The conflict can be seen working itself out in these images. ‘Saint Donny’ is a drummer who rocks out beneath a halo of gold leaf next to directions to McConnell’s house and studio scribbled out in a grid fashion. Several pieces declare that” Analog cannot be undone” which is a statement that not only addresses the aesthetic quality of vintage sound and visual technologies but also shows a lack of acceptance to modern digital formats marketed by today’s corporations which are promoted as easier or better although McConnell argues the opposite is true. Although McConnell is known to move away from gestures in his work this exhibition focuses on a place in between composition and cognition – a gray area where other ideas are formed.
David McConnell’s work will be included in the upcoming exhibition, The Record at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Some artists included in this exhibition are: Laurie Anderson, Felipe Barbosa, David Byrne, William Cordova, Jeroen Diepenmaat, Jasper Johns, Taiyo Kimura, Tim Lee, Christian Marclay, David McConnell, Mingering Mike, Dave Muller, Robin Rhode, Dario Robleto, Ed Ruscha, Malick Sidibe, Xaviera Simmons, Su-Mei Tse, Fatimah Tuggar, and Carrie Mae Weems.McConnell’s work is in a range of private and public collections, including the Sackner Archive of Visual and Concrete Poetry in Miami Beach, FL.
For further information about this exhibition or for a private viewing, please contact the gallery at (305) 576-4278 or via email at art@abbafineart.com <http://www.abbafineart.com/art@abbafineart.com> . For press inquiries and image requests, please contact ABBA FINE ART.