12 September – 18 November, 2018
Exhibition
Shane Darwent
FLAT END DOME
September 12 - October 28, 2018
*Extended through November 18, 2018
Opening Reception: Wednesday, Sept.12, 6-8pm
Spencer Brownstone Gallery is thrilled to announce Flat End Dome, our first exhibition with artist Shane Darwent. Utilizing a wide range of materials and mediums Darwent unpacks the visual vernacular of American architecture and reassembles them into monuments of urban living.
Darwent’s interests lie somewhere in between the city and the suburbs. Vinyl siding, fences with broken links, and gravel forms, familiar in any region, are featured in his work. His dismantling and collaging of veneers and faux-material exposes their mimicry and converts them into monuments to these memories.
The three large-scale sculptures, Basalt, Ballast, and Bus Stop are composed of multiple store front awnings. These illuminated monoliths are instantly recognizable and yet easily overlooked by those traversing the city. The vivid colors and drum-tight vinyl that seem to herald prosperity often fade and loosen overtime. In Darwent’s work, these events offer opportunity to patch and transform, becoming painterly swatches of colors and shapes.
Artist Bio
Shane Darwent is a studio artist whose interdisciplinary practice fuses architecture, sculpture, painting and photography to explore the poetic potential of the ex urban built vernacular. Exhibiting internationally, Darwent has been an artist-in-residence at Ragdale, the Ucross Foundation and the Jentel Artist Residency Program, as well as a Core Fellow at Penland School of Crafts. Recently named an Outstanding Student in Contemporary Sculpture by International Sculpture Center, Shane has received numerous grants including an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission. He holds his MFA from the University of Michigan and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Recent exhibition venues include the Art Gallery of Windsor, Wasserman Projects in Detroit, Belger Arts Center in Kansas City, the Spring Break Art Show in New York City, and Oklahoma Contemporary in Oklahoma City. Darwent is currently an artist-in-residence at the Tulsa Artist Fellowship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.