Eva Wilson

[Pause]


The Brian Denis show at the Sande Webster gallery in center City Philadelphia is a collaborative mix of approaches to one main theme. This particular exhibition shows works of mixed paper, torn digital prints, large-scale rainbow dots paintings and one installation in a bay window. Though most of the works seem to be presented through different media but the common denominator is the duality of experiences one can have when faced with the uncontrollable elements of nature. The over all jester of this exhibition was the notion of how we journey through the unknown variables of life and how it feels to be controlled by something uncontrollable.
To the right of the gallery are many installments of the “ (mondays) Retreat” series. These works are made of small hanging paper, digital prints, metal leaf and wood. There is a constant color scheme of grey, black, and blue with some streaks of bold color. This series has a very subtle touch of chance and control through artist’s intentions of tearing and placement. Each work has different elements of tension, friction, elegance and texture. It is a journey through the artist’s eyes on how he addressed the unpredictable elements of chance with the torn mediums through his placement of them.
Along the walls there hangs the series “ High Castle” which are many large-scale paintings executed with meticulous dots. The works all seem to mimic one another due to the same palate each one shares along with the rainbow wave like dot patterns that flow over each surface. The placement of the paintings seems to be as important as the composition. The light of the gallery hits the paintings on the brightest point of the composition. The color of the painting gets darker the further away it gets from the light. Where there is a light source in the painting there is a literal one hitting it. Could this be apart of the artists content as well? This could further exemplify the Denis’s intentions of nature defining reality. The physical light source of the gallery is literally developing as the light source of his own work. The diverse repetitious movements of the colors all seem to cave in the wake of the light source, thus further illustrating the cause and effect of nature.
At the end of this gallery space is a large bay window in which the work “Helm Drop” is installed. It seems to be the exclamation point of the artist’s intentions. Set behind these windows is an undulating pattern of blood cell like forms made from open weave red and orange metal mess. Behind that there seems to be a network of iridescent ribbon, but this is very hard to see. This work contains luminous unknown variables, much like nature. “Helm Drop” embodies repetitious forms that are set against the variables of the out doors. This provides the obvious elements of chance and variation of nature directly into the work rather then mimicking it as it did literally with the works “ High Castle”. The changes in nature give this work it’s life and death. As the sun moves the light changes creating shadows which present the feelings of weight and mass then the light hits other parts creating the feeling of illumination, wonder, and weightlessness. But with all this constant changing one thing remains, the physical window with the installation stuck behinds steel bars. This exemplifies Dennis’s concept of the ever changing elements of nature placed against the unwavering steel bars of our own physicality.
This show reflects on emotion and our own fragility as we are placed in the uncontrollable arms of nature. Knowing the artists intentions makes the reasoning behind the execution of his work easier to grasp. All of the bodies of work seem to address these issues in different ways, all with their own strengths and weaknesses. From the boldly colored works in the series “ High Castle” to the dull works on paper in “ (mondays) Retreat” all deal with the unknown element of nature. The cause and effect that can introduce itself changing everything around it. Then the there is “Helm Drop” which pulls the show together conceptually and visually. The show is small and personal. Stop and sit on the aluminum chairs and take a moment to listen and observe the quite messages from all different directions.