To say that David Dunlop is an animated personality is an understatement. No doubt this exuberance has buoyed the success of his Emmy Award-winning PBS television series, “Landscapes Through Time with David Dunlop.” As well-versed in art history as he is neuroscience, his passion for both overflows into his creative process.
Incandescent Marsh, oil on aluminum, 36 x 36"
Drawing from artistic traditions as varied as the silk landscape paintings of the Song Dynasty and the French Impressionists, Dunlop merges the yin and yang principles of East and West, art and science, in a quest to maximize luminosity and atmosphere in his work.
“Atmosphere, such as misty air, creates an obfuscating effect in the painting and the viewer sees things that aren’t present in the painting," he says. "Through uncertainty they see a more comprehensive story than they would in delineation.”
Whether creating landscapes, cityscapes or aerial views, being a master of luminosity furthers this effect. “The source of feeling in a painting is born on the wings of light,” says Dunlop. “I try to build a painting with an internal coherent design and see what can trigger the vision to perceive it more profoundly, such as proximity, similarity, contrast, blurring through motion, exaggeration—all of those conditions will heighten the experience of the beholders, as it will for the painter.”
Autumn Abstract, oil on aluminum, 36 x 36"
Dunlop paints on metal, often aluminum, which enhances the light shining through from the surface of the work. However, one must be with the painting in situ, because this quality cannot be captured in a photograph, nor can the way his paintings shift and change under different lighting.
Incandescent Marsh,the very title of which speaks of light as a source of inspiration, is a window into how Dunlop utilizes painterly techniques and his understanding of how vision responds to light to realize his intent—to generate a quality of light ambiguous enough so that anyone looking at it can project their own memory and experience onto that visual field.
Nocturne on 5th, oil on aluminum, 36 x 36"
In the foreground of the piece are bright, abstractly-rendered reeds or marsh grass veiling a hazy landscape in the distance. “It’s like a curtain through which you can see what appears to be items on the surface of the marsh beyond,” explains Dunlop. “It’s an interface where you have to choose what to see—do I look at the vertical scrim of high-contrast orange or the information behind it? It’s like that optical illusion where if you look at it one way you see a duck and another it’s a rabbit. That will keep your mind alive and awake and keep it open to seeing what isn’t there but what you’re projecting—which is the unfolding self.”
A collection of new landscapes, florals and cityscapes, ranging from the clearly representational to works that dance on the edge of abstraction, will be showcased in Luminous Atmospheres, which opens with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. on May 19 and remains on view through June 17 at Susan Powell Fine Art.
Cascade of Wildflowers, oil on aluminum, 24 x 24"
Of Dunlop’s work, gallery owner Susan Powell says, “David looks for an inner radiance so the painting can emote its own light. He achieves his luminous effects with an original technique of applying layers of translucent glazes on brushed silver, gold and laminated aluminum, allowing the light to pass through, which further amplifies the color and vividness of the painting.” —
Susan Powell Fine Art 679 Boston Post Road Madison, CT 06443 • (203) 318-0616 • www.susanpowellfineart.com
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