Daniel Oglander

June 11 - July 8, 2014

- INSTALLATION VIEW -

The gallery is pleased to present a body of work Admission by Daniel Oglander. In these works Daniel utilizes text as the agent to intricate conceptual metaphors, visual insights, and complex narratives. The role humorous and "simple" texts take on in this exhibition echoes the role in "art" currently as a tool which disarms the viewer, allowing them to trust the artist before they are hit with concepts and processes which often reveal the harsh realities of our current political climates and complex societies.

Daniel achieves to draw in the viewer to participate in his art with the use of bright colors and edgy designs, allowing you to try and "puzzle" together Daniel’s inner workings. His gut impulses when he sees something that makes him react in a certain way. One may find that they are mildly racist/sexist/funny/sad and out right all over the place.

These phrases are all stored in his mind. Sometimes they should be said, but he stops himself out of fear for alienating friends or loved ones. Other times his thoughts are so extreme that he has to pause and reflect; later to write the thought down. 

The artist states “Writing the phrases out is cathartic form of personal therapy. The process of outlining the letters and painting them is quite a long drawn out process...very time consuming. So it allows me to really think about the thoughts themselves and the situation in which I thought it. Sometimes my ideas are solidified, other times my mind is changed and I feel differently. I still want the thoughts to remain a secret and I don’t expect that to change.”

Daniels process when painting these elaborately large works is almost as if he has “sugar coated” these thoughts into a beautiful mystery; works of art that are so extremely filtered that we the audience have the chance to get a glimpse of his mind by taking the time to look through the sugar. And when you finally “solve” the puzzle, you find yourself either chuckling, in shock, or just perplexed. These works are striking in the fact that they are so large, so beautiful, and yet so mysterious. 

We all need secrets...they are a necessary part of a functioning society. Most people can not handle the truth, and that is normal. The truth hurts and ignorance may be bliss. These pieces serve as a way for the artist to "out himself” without being too direct or assertive. 

Daniel Oglander states "Every once in a while my mouth gets me into trouble...Ill say something extremely off color and then end up offending the people around me...usually strangers. These encounters then end up being worked over in my brain, worried about, over analyzed...then eventually, I realize that its ok. I was just being myself and I shouldn't apologize for it. But this internal conflict always takes place. Be yourself and just be crass, or temper your thoughts and appease others. These paintings are an attempt to bring out these feelings in an attempt to get them out on canvas before they come out of my mouth."

- PRESS & NEWS -

• Twelv Magazine

• Art Story by Laura Kampman