Dalek
dal 7/1/2005 al 30/1/2005
Segnalato da
7/1/2005
Dalek
McCaig-Welles Gallery, New York
New Works
The McCaig-Welles Gallery is pleased to present an
exhibition of work by DALEK. The exhibition will open
with a private reception on Saturday, January 8, 2005
from 5-7 pm. Please RSVP before Friday, January
7, 2005 to have your name added to the guest list.
For many artists, inspiration comes from experiences
they had when they were young children. For DALEK,
these experiences were nothing short of traumatic.
''When I was in second grade, these workers were
building a deck on the back of our house. There were
lots of wooden stakes being used as markers with very
sharp points. I saw the workers throwing lots of wood
out of the back of their truck. Being a kid, I tried
to imitate them. But I was a dumb kid and I threw one
of the wooden stakes straight up in the air. It came
down and planted its self right in my skull. It did a
good job of sitting in there for a few seconds. It
bled a lot and was a very messy scene. My mom was
pretty stressed.''
This painful experience could have something to do
with the amount of decapitations and puncture wounds
often present in DALEK's Space Monkey pieces. These
creatures have become a calling card for the artist,
and continue to evolve in scope.'' The Space Monkeys
are human representations for me. They are
self-portraits in a lot of ways, and also portraits of
humanity. They are floating in nothingness. I didn't
want it to be a cartoon strip, like a Space Monkey in
a house, then a Space Monkey in a car, so I avoided
all of that. I didn't want to develop scenery like a
house and trees. Once you put Space Monkeys in that
kind of context it looses any kind of fine art quality
to me.''
Somewhere between head injuries and Space Monkeys,
DALEK found time to become a respected graffiti artist
and work extensively in the skateboard industry. As
for his future with the Space Monkeys, nothing is
certain.
''That's kind of the beauty of it. I don't have a
clue. They always transform rapidly from me drawing
the same thing repeatedly. They switch up in
undetermined ways. Where it goes depends on a lot of
things, but as long as people are interested in seeing
them I'll be able to pursue them, grow them out and
work with them. Obviously, I would love to be 90
years old and cranking out some form of the Space
Monkeys.''
Dalek was born in New London, Conneticut. He has
exhibited extensively throughout the United States and
abroad. His previous solo and group shows have been
reviewed in The New York Times, The Wall Street
Journal, New York Magazine, New American Paintings,
NYARTS, Juxtapoz, Art Papers, Art Week and others.
His work is in major private and public collections.
Melissa McCaig-Welles owner, director
McCaig-Welles Gallery
129 Roebling Street Brooklyn, NY 11211
Member of The Williamsburg Gallery Association
http://www.williamsburggalleryassociation.com