DAVID DIAO
Demolished/At Risk
May 14 - June 18, 2005
Postmasters Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works (paintings and photographs) by David Diao entitled
Demolished/At Risk. This will be Diao's 9th solo show at Postmasters which has represented his work since the gallery's
inception in 1985.
David Diao's paintings begin as monochromes created by the meticulous application of paint, layer by layer, color by color. These
surfaces then become the grounds upon which images are configured — ciphers in the form of icons, diagrams and photographs
gleaned from the history of 20th century painting and design. His subjects have ranged from high modernism — Malevich, Newman
and MoMA — to pop — Bruce Lee and Hollywood. Both are treated in a manner that alternates between homage and send-up.
As a twist on the tradition of self portraiture, he has also used his personal history of sales and exhibitions to create images as
well as posing himself in front of a Pollock or Matisse painting as if it were part of his own domestic environment.
More recently, he targeted some of the iconic figures and sites of modernist architecture. A visit to Philip Johnson's Glass House
netted snapshots of Diao lounging in the living area. It also resulted in several works documenting the carpet that gradually
shrinks in relation to the carefully placed Barcelona chairs. He memorializes a 1992 visit to Mies van der Rohe's Tugendhat House
when nature called. A vintage map giving the location of the numerous modern houses in New Canaan, CT, and the sad fact that many
have been demolished or are now at risk, became Endangered Species.
In another series, he uses the ground plan for the Green River Cemetery where Jackson Pollock is buried. He became interested in
this location when he learned that many artists had reserved plots there.
The publication of David Diao: Work 1969-2005, from Timezone 8 Books, Beijing with an essay by Michael Corris and 60 color
plates will coincide with this exhibition.
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DAVID DIAO Demolished/At Risk 2005 installation view |
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DAVID DIAO Window 2004 acrylic and silkscreen on canvas 48 x 84 inches (photograph by Geoff Spear) |
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DAVID DIAO Demolished/At Risk 2005 installation view |
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DAVID DIAO Endangered Species #2 2004 acrylic, enamel and silkscreen on canvas 84 x 108 inches |
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DAVID DIAO Sitting in the Glass House 1 2005 acrylic and silkscreen on canvas 40 x 50 inches |
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DAVID DIAO Demolished/At Risk 2005 installation view |
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DAVID DIAO Figure/Ground 2004-2005 photograph back mounted to plexiglas 40 x 68.5 inches edition of 3 |
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DAVID DIAO Demolished/At Risk 2005 installation view |
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DAVID DIAO That Close! 2002 acrylic enamel and vinyl on caanvas 79 x 115 inches |
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DAVID DIAO It Shrank! 2004-2005 acrylic on canvas 2 panels: overall 72 x 108 inches |
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DAVID DIAO Demolished/At Risk 2005 installation view |
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DAVID DIAO In Color and B/W 2004 acrylic and silkscreen on canvas 2 panels: overall 80 x 164 inches |
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DAVID DIAO Spoor (Tugendhat House) 2004 photographs mounted on plexiglass edition of 6, #4/6 and #5/6 40 x 29 inches each |