Lights Flickering in the Dark Dan Attoe

 

Even if you had "freedom", you would just do the same things you did back when you were dumb.

This isn't all there is.

The world will change to where you won't recognize it. This will make you sad and angry, but it's okay.

There is still a brutality in us from not that long ago.

You don't have to listen to that shit again . . . ever.

The ghosts from our past have forgotten what you did to them.

 

These are the sort of truisms that Dan Attoe inserts into his paintings. But more than just this, they represent the very messages that his paintings convey as the artist grapples with the passage of time. Channeled through a 21st century eye, but with a keen understanding of American painters such as Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Charles Russell and Frederic Remington, Attoe presents us with insights into his work and life in the US Pacific Northwest circa right now. This new body of work also marks a major change, a transformation in fact, of Attoe from a single man, to a married man and also a father. In these works we see the artist addressing many of the issues that all men face when confronted with these important life changes, where he is transformed from a solitary being, to the head of a household, the one that guides his clan towards the righteous path.

 

Attoe's work has been widely exhibited throughout Europe and is on view as part of Secret Societiesat the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany.

 

Lights Flickering in the Dark is on view at Peres Projects Berlin Mitte (Große Hamburger Str. 17) ) from September 9 till November 5. Opening hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11am – 6pm and by appointment.