PIGMENT SPECTER
September 12 – October 5, 2014
Opening Friday, September 12, 7 – 10PM
Animation screening Friday, September 26, 8PM
Tomato House is very proud to present Erin Dunn’s Pigment Specter from September 12, 2014 until October 5, 2014. Presenting a new series of figurative watercolor paintings, Erin Dunn’s unnerving airbrushed characters seduce believers into another world. Historically, portrait painting has been used to immortalize subjects, imprinting a solid impression through layers upon layers of royally permanent oil paint. But paint, like life bleeds, flows, blends and mixes.
Dunn captures ghosts in her shadow graphics. They are tricksters, sisters, ministers and monsters but mostly she. Using watercolor on raw canvas the figures emerge as the sprayed pigments refract and crystallize. Like the Shroud of Turin, Dunn’s images spirit away an essence of her subjects. Their humor, sparkle and marrow stain the stretched cotton screens. Evanescence animated, Dunn’s latest portrait series echoes and dances in glowing neon washes. Alive!
An interdisciplinary artist, Dunn’s performances, paintings, music and sculptures coalesce in her stop-motion films. Using ephemera from her recent projects Dunn will install miniature theaters throughout the gallery. What’s more, Tomato House will present a night of animation wonder on September 26; Dunn will screen a new project alongside magical works from an array bewitching animators.
Currently Brooklyn based, Erin Dunn will premier a commissioned animation on MTV World this fall. She’s had solo shows at Roster Gallery (NY), Carl Berg Gallery (LA), and W139 (Amsterdam). She has exhibited in venues including, MOCA, The New Museum, The Kitchen (NY), Mixed Greens Gallery (NY), White Box (NY), and the RISD Museum (RI). Dunn’s work has been mentioned in, New York Times Magazine, The LA Times, Art Week LA, The Fader, Art Nexus, and Bullet Magazine among others. She holds a BFA from RISD and an MFA from Rutgers University and has completed residencies with LMCC and Residency Unlimited.
