ARTHUR DWORIN
“IRON-Y: From Swords to Plowshares”
November 26 – December 14, 2013
Reception, Thursday, December 5, 6-8pm
Wine & Words Saturday, December 14, 4-6PM
Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present a solo exhibition of paintings by the artist ARTHUR DWORIN. The exhibit will continue from November 26 – December 14, 2013 with a reception, Thursday, December 5, 6-8pm.
Arthur Dworin’s most recent work is inspired by iron, the core of our planet Earth. Skills he acquired as a scenic artist creating props for movies with faux rusted surfaces, and his discovery of a process by which he could create a real rusted surface on paintings instigated the creation of the works in this exhibition. The imagery of this latest body of work is also influenced by the structure of DNA.
In addition to using rust as pigmentation, the artist’s new work brings the image off the surface plane through the use of textures and sculptural techniques he learned as a child and that carve into the painting surface. Many of these patterns he has created are suggestive of aerial views of crop rows or archeological forms built by ancient civilizations. Too, patterns frozen and yet moving against each other, form juxtapositions reminiscent of movements in music resulted in “Ode to MJQ”, a work inspired by the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Another ongoing theme that has become an important aspect of this body of work is the symbol of the DNA ribbon, reminding him of our “source” that connects us to the evolutionary process and to the beings of millions of years ago. The artist feels that “the creature that is our body finds it’s constitutional spec sheet in our DNA, something I find a key element to awakening understanding of who we are and even perhaps a glimpses into our purpose in being.”
A Detroit native, Dworin lived and worked in Manhattan from 1967 until recently purchasing a church in Pennsylvania that he has that he has used to create these works. Previous to creating art full time, he was a Scenic Artist for TV, movies, ballet, opera and theater. The recipient of several grants, he has regularly exhibited in Europe and the US. This is his fourth solo show at Viridian.
Dworin’s numerous private collectors include MoMA’s former Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, Peter Selz. Dr. Selz, author of 15 books on 20th century art, wrote in 2010: “Arthur Dworin’s paintings … abstract as they are, … bring a new sense of visual order to organic forms of nature.”
“Refined, complex and visually deep”—Dr. Anna Aragno, psychoanalyst and former principal ballerina in the Bolshoi and Metropolitan Opera Ballets.
“Dworin today has reached a dazzling display of lyrical passion, motion and light.”—Jerelle Kraus, former NYTimes Art Director; Author, “All the Art That’s Fit to Print (& Some That Wasn’t): Inside The New York Times Op-Ed Page,” 2010.