Proposed Exhibition Information
Portal – Collaborations Between Matt Ballou and Joel T Dugan
Exhibition Statement:
Since mid 2013 Matt Ballou (Associate Teaching Professor at the University of Missouri) and Joel T Dugan (Assistant Professor at Fort Hays State University) have been working together on a group of paintings – nearly 40 works in all – based on the broad notion of “portal” and mining their individual creative proclivities. Each has developed a peculiar mode of applying paint, working back into a surface, building and disrupting images, and articulating various forms of pictorial space. The pieces they have created under the portal theme engage with the history of the painted surface as a threshold between the actual physical world and an imagined, constructed “space.” Texture, bas-relief, shaped surfaces, digital tools, contact printing, and other actions drive the tradition of paint in these works. Additionally, these collaborative paintings stress the similarity and difference between two painters who were educated at Indiana University – Bloomington. The graduate program at IU has promoted a very distinctive aesthetic over the last 30 years, and both Ballou and Dugan have internalized that institutional visual dynamic. The portal paintings both embrace and challenge that history, evoking long-held influences through instinctive responses to open-ended investigation. The two artists have shown numerous times togther in exhibitions variously titled Portal, Ballougan, and Dugallou.
Sample Works (see below for an Image List):
FULL IMAGE LIST HERE: Ballou-ImageListPORTAL
Our collaborative paintings are between 8 by 8 inches and 4 by 3 feet in size, and are created in oil or acrylic on panel or canvas. Most works are 2D paintings on panel, while some are best described as bas relief. Others might be considered 3D paintings. If you are interested in this exhibition proposal, or require any additional information, you can email Matt Ballou here: (balloum (at) missouri (dot) edu).
Artist Information:
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