international drawing annual 5 exhibition-in-print
online resource





Dennis McLeod
Glen Ellen, California




wdmcl@comcast.net

www.dennismcleod.com

pages 120-122


statement

Working with a reductive/abstractionist view, my interest centers within the use of line and mark-making. Specifically and most importantly an examination of the fundamental idea of simplicity, order, and repetition.

Using a pared down palette, mostly monochromatic, and working in a focused narrow vocabulary, I am attracted to the physicality of the juxtaposition of contrasting marks and lines, the building of layer upon layer, the repeating of a singular unit to make reference to sensory perception of space and volume, while at the same time seeking to invoke a sense of quiet pictorial stillness.

For the last few years I have focused almost entirely on Drawing. I find Drawing to be the most personal form of visual expression. It serves as a channel to exploration and provides a response to that which is a continuance, rather than that which begins and ends. It shines a light and creates a path of discovery and hope for arriving at a greater understanding of the world that fascinates me. From the smallest work on paper to huge wall drawings, the visceral experience is ultimately the same.

Recently I have become very interested in creating works that seem to have a seemingly random system whereby it builds upon itself to such a degree a world into itself. What appears as random, as chance, not planned, has by its nature a real sense of certainty creating order out of chaos.

 

bio

born: 1952, Norfolk, Virginia


education:

California College of the Arts, BFA/Drawing, 1980


selected awards/honors

Permanent Collection, Achenbach Foundation for the Graphic Arts, California Legion of Honor Museum, 2005
Millay Artist Residency Fellowship, 2008 Purchase Award, Dee Roy and Mary M. Jones Collection, California State University, Pomona 2002
Purchase Award, The University of Texas at Tyler, 1997


selected publications

Rembrandt to Thiebaud: A decade of collection works on paper, California Legion of Honor Museum, 2005


selected solo or two-person exhibits

Dennis McLeod, Traywick Contemporary, Berkeley, CA 2003


selected group shows

Homesick, Carnegie Museum of Art, Oxnard, CA, 2009
The Great Impression, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA, 2009
Rembrandt to Thiebaud: A decade of collection works on paper, California Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco, CA, 2005
American Drawing Biennial, Muscarelle Museum of Art, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, 1998

 
 
Copyright © 2006-2011 Manifest Press