Dan Hernandez - "Souvenir Plate featuring a Ruined Beacon" Large Ceramic Plate
$5,500.00
Availability:
In stock
SKU
129581
"Souvenir Plate featuring a Ruined Beacon"
Ceramic Plate.
15.5" Diameter.
Dan Hernandez
Dan Hernandez received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2000 from Northwest Missouri State (Maryville, MO) and a Master of Fine Arts in 2002 from American University (Washington, DC). Hernandez's paintings explore the visual dialog between religion, mythology, and pop culture. He is represented by Kim Foster Gallery in New York City, Galeria Meraki in Ponte de Sor, Portugal and 20 North Gallery in Toledo, OH. His work has been exhibited in recent exhibitions at Mass Art Art Museum in Boston, and at Matadero Madrid, Centro de Creacion Contemporanea, in Madrid, Spain. Dan's work has been written about and reproduced in a number of publications including ARTnews, HyperAllergic, Artillery Magazine, Arte Fuse, Gizmodo, and Der Spiegel. He was awarded Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellency Awards in 2011 and in 2015. Dan is currently an Associate Professor in the Art Department at the University of Toledo.
Artist Statement - Reset
Early video game consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) were designed with a reset button. When pressed, this button scrambled, and then rebooted, the software running on the consol. While it was not necessarily the intent of this feature, the reset button on my NES often got used in a release of frustration. My finger would jam this button in a fit of annoyance at an overly challenging level, or seemingly unbeatable computer opponent.
These works explore a landscape that is being reset. They reflect on personal change, and on the climate of change in contemporary culture. They consider the ways that narratives anchor us, and the challenges that come with trying to break those ties. They also consider the messy nature of operating outside of the story, or of resetting the narrative entirely. The work draws influence from the visual language of early video games from the 1980s and early 90s and from non-perspectival forms of narrative image-making such as illuminated manuscripts, early Christian painting, Mesoamerican art and the like.
The organization of forms in these works swings back and forth between narrative and abstract. It solidifies in places, only to fragment and break-down in others. This ebb and flow reflect on the dismantling and reframing of existing narratives that is prevalent in contemporary culture, but that is also ubiquitous throughout history. The work also employs patterning as an important visual element. This aspect of the imagery is a visual nod to both early video games and to illuminated manuscripts. It also considers the comfort that can be found in patterns, and the difficulty that comes with trying to break deeply engrained cycles. Furthermore, many of the works employ a limited palette. This design construct considers the infinite possibilities that exist in closely constrained parameters. Conversely, the use of limited palettes in these works reflects upon the insular and polarized ways in which information is consumed via the internet, social media, and cable news. The limited palette becomes a symbol for sources that feel robust and full, while offering a perspective that is purposefully narrowly controlled and constricted. The work also considers the culture of collecting that is associated with video games, and more broadly with consumerism. In many games, the player is tasked with collecting items like, coins, gems, hearts, rings, easter eggs, or other items. The pursuit of items often directs the players' actions in the game. It can also provide more expansive game play, creating additional risks, challenges, and rewards. This aspect of gaming is an apt metaphor. It reminds us of our obsession with things, the efforts that are made in service of their acquisition, and the way that collecting can distract us from achieving goals.
Souvenir Plate featuring a Ruined Beacon
Souvenirs are collected as a reminder of one's travels. Nearly every tourist site is surrounded by vendors offering a wide variety of items that commemorate one's visit to the site. This practice extends back to the Middle Ages where items were brought back from the Holy land as evidence of one's pilgrimage.
This plate is a memento from the world depicted in Hero's Journey. The abstract space outside the central tondo includes motifs that can be found throughout this world. The narrative space in the tondo depicts the ruined beacon that is centrally located in Hero's Journey. The beacon represents a point of focus. It provides direction in uncertain times. In this ruined version of the beacon, its light has been extinguished. It stands, but its power is failing.
The piece is designed to reference Plate with Pyramus and Thisbe - a piece in the Toledo Museum of Art's collection. Similarly to Plate with Pyramus and Thisbe, its design juxtaposes a narrative space with an abstract one. The relationship between narrative order and abstract organization in Souvenir Plate featuring a Ruined Beacon is purposeful. It considers the comfort that is found in storytelling and the challenges that exist when one wonders outside of the narrative.
A hero's journey is a narrative that depicts the breaking of ones existing narrative and the challenges that are faced as a new world is embraced. The hero must endure these challenges to realize their fate. This plate is a souvenir that commemorates that journey.
All sales on original artwork are final. No discounts apply.
Ceramic Plate.
15.5" Diameter.
Dan Hernandez
Dan Hernandez received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2000 from Northwest Missouri State (Maryville, MO) and a Master of Fine Arts in 2002 from American University (Washington, DC). Hernandez's paintings explore the visual dialog between religion, mythology, and pop culture. He is represented by Kim Foster Gallery in New York City, Galeria Meraki in Ponte de Sor, Portugal and 20 North Gallery in Toledo, OH. His work has been exhibited in recent exhibitions at Mass Art Art Museum in Boston, and at Matadero Madrid, Centro de Creacion Contemporanea, in Madrid, Spain. Dan's work has been written about and reproduced in a number of publications including ARTnews, HyperAllergic, Artillery Magazine, Arte Fuse, Gizmodo, and Der Spiegel. He was awarded Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellency Awards in 2011 and in 2015. Dan is currently an Associate Professor in the Art Department at the University of Toledo.
Artist Statement - Reset
Early video game consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) were designed with a reset button. When pressed, this button scrambled, and then rebooted, the software running on the consol. While it was not necessarily the intent of this feature, the reset button on my NES often got used in a release of frustration. My finger would jam this button in a fit of annoyance at an overly challenging level, or seemingly unbeatable computer opponent.
These works explore a landscape that is being reset. They reflect on personal change, and on the climate of change in contemporary culture. They consider the ways that narratives anchor us, and the challenges that come with trying to break those ties. They also consider the messy nature of operating outside of the story, or of resetting the narrative entirely. The work draws influence from the visual language of early video games from the 1980s and early 90s and from non-perspectival forms of narrative image-making such as illuminated manuscripts, early Christian painting, Mesoamerican art and the like.
The organization of forms in these works swings back and forth between narrative and abstract. It solidifies in places, only to fragment and break-down in others. This ebb and flow reflect on the dismantling and reframing of existing narratives that is prevalent in contemporary culture, but that is also ubiquitous throughout history. The work also employs patterning as an important visual element. This aspect of the imagery is a visual nod to both early video games and to illuminated manuscripts. It also considers the comfort that can be found in patterns, and the difficulty that comes with trying to break deeply engrained cycles. Furthermore, many of the works employ a limited palette. This design construct considers the infinite possibilities that exist in closely constrained parameters. Conversely, the use of limited palettes in these works reflects upon the insular and polarized ways in which information is consumed via the internet, social media, and cable news. The limited palette becomes a symbol for sources that feel robust and full, while offering a perspective that is purposefully narrowly controlled and constricted. The work also considers the culture of collecting that is associated with video games, and more broadly with consumerism. In many games, the player is tasked with collecting items like, coins, gems, hearts, rings, easter eggs, or other items. The pursuit of items often directs the players' actions in the game. It can also provide more expansive game play, creating additional risks, challenges, and rewards. This aspect of gaming is an apt metaphor. It reminds us of our obsession with things, the efforts that are made in service of their acquisition, and the way that collecting can distract us from achieving goals.
Souvenir Plate featuring a Ruined Beacon
Souvenirs are collected as a reminder of one's travels. Nearly every tourist site is surrounded by vendors offering a wide variety of items that commemorate one's visit to the site. This practice extends back to the Middle Ages where items were brought back from the Holy land as evidence of one's pilgrimage.
This plate is a memento from the world depicted in Hero's Journey. The abstract space outside the central tondo includes motifs that can be found throughout this world. The narrative space in the tondo depicts the ruined beacon that is centrally located in Hero's Journey. The beacon represents a point of focus. It provides direction in uncertain times. In this ruined version of the beacon, its light has been extinguished. It stands, but its power is failing.
The piece is designed to reference Plate with Pyramus and Thisbe - a piece in the Toledo Museum of Art's collection. Similarly to Plate with Pyramus and Thisbe, its design juxtaposes a narrative space with an abstract one. The relationship between narrative order and abstract organization in Souvenir Plate featuring a Ruined Beacon is purposeful. It considers the comfort that is found in storytelling and the challenges that exist when one wonders outside of the narrative.
A hero's journey is a narrative that depicts the breaking of ones existing narrative and the challenges that are faced as a new world is embraced. The hero must endure these challenges to realize their fate. This plate is a souvenir that commemorates that journey.
All sales on original artwork are final. No discounts apply.
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